Content Preview: As the saying goes, "Food is the first necessity of the people." Now, as people's living standards gradually improve, they are becoming more and more particular about what they eat. But don't underestimate the act of eating, which we do every day, as there's a lot of science to it. Today, "People New Weekly" has invited nutritionist Zhao Lin to talk to us about what we should eat and how we should eat.
As the saying goes, "Food is the first necessity of the people." Chinese people are the most particular about eating; even when greeting each other, they ask, "Have you eaten?" Many people like to eat whatever they feel like, and with good living conditions, they just eat whatever they love. This won't do! We can't just be gluttonous for the moment; we must pay attention to nutrition and balance. This way, we can not only enjoy delicious food but also eat our way to health. Today, we have nutrition master Zhao Lin to talk to us about the science of eating.
Zhang Quanling: Welcome to the taping of "People New Weekly."
A Qiu: Hello everyone.
Zhang Quanling: Our guest today is a nutritionist who will talk to us about eating.
A Qiu: The topic of food is something everyone is very concerned about.
Zhang Quanling: Let's welcome our guest, Chief Health Education Expert from the Central Civilization Office and the Ministry of Health, Zhao Lin.
A Qiu: Welcome, Teacher Zhao.
A Qiu: Hello, Mr. Zhao.
Zhang Quanling: Hello.
Zhang Quanling: Have you eaten?
Zhao Lin: Yes.
Zhang Quanling: Have you eaten tomatoes?
Zhao Lin: I had some this morning.
Zhang Quanling: This morning? Raw or cooked?
Zhao Lin: Raw.
A Qiu: Raw?
Zhang Quanling: Isn't it said that lycopene can only be absorbed when tomatoes are cooked?
Zhao Lin: Lycopene is a carotenoid. Of course, if you cook tomato sauce with a little oil, that's fine. But when you eat it raw, you can get a lot of Vitamin C at the same time. Right? So when you eat, your stomach isn't completely oil-free, so why can't you eat it raw?
A Qiu: Raw is fine, that's right.
Zhang Quanling: So it's fine to eat them both raw and cooked.
Zhao Lin: Yes.
Zhang Quanling: Our show has a rule: we ask every guest to guess the reason they were invited and answer three questions.
A Qiu: Fill-in-the-blanks! Come on! Three reasons, each starting with "eat," eat something, eat something, we'll ask Teacher Zhao to fill in the first one.
Zhao Lin: Eat a balanced diet.
Zhang Quanling, A Qiu: Eat a balanced diet.
A Qiu: Huh? The same one.
Zhang Quanling: Eat what you can. In your opinion, what is not edible?
Zhao Lin: According to the experience of our Chinese nation for five thousand years, anything toxic or harmful is, of course, inedible.
A Qiu: What about delicacies, wild game, snakes, pangolins? Are those considered edible?
Zhao Lin: There is the "Wildlife Protection Law" in the country. I hope you read it first. Eat only what the law allows you to eat.
A Qiu: The second one.
Zhao Lin: Second, eat healthy food.
Zhang Quanling: Eat healthy food.
A Qiu: Eat delicious food, it's almost the same.
Zhang Quanling: Yes, many people think that delicious taste is more important than health.
A Qiu: Delicious.
Zhao Lin: Yes, when I visited Germany, a German professor kept asking me, why do Chinese people always seem so hungry?
A Qiu: Hungry?
Zhao Lin: I said, what makes you say we are always hungry? He said, when I came to China, you all ask "Have you eaten?" as soon as you meet, because Chinese people always emphasize "food is the first necessity of the people."
A Qiu: Right.
Zhao Lin: You believe in God. We believe that God's grace is food. So, in the past, being full meant survival. But now China has developed. Through reform and opening up, our economy has grown. Now we want to eat delicious food. Now it's about seeking flavor, but the goal we should pursue is to eat deliciously for health.
A Qiu: The third one.
Zhao Lin: Still, you have to eat healthy, so...
A Qiu: Okay.
Zhang Quanling: Eat healthy food.
A Qiu: He can't talk about anything but health. Eat what you want, but this statement isn't necessarily right, so we added to this reason: is it okay to eat what you want?
Zhao Lin: I think this statement has limitations. Why? Many things he has eaten, I haven't. What he wants to eat, I don't know. So what he wants to eat is determined by his life experience, knowledge, and experience. So I'm afraid everyone is really different in this regard.
Zhang Quanling: Can you eat whatever you want? This is the question we want to discuss today.
A Qiu: Okay, let's all turn to Teacher Zhao for answers on these questions. Please have a seat.
Zhang Quanling: Please have a seat.
Zhang Quanling: Teacher Zhao, the most direct reason I invited you today is that I read a book that says which foods can be eaten together and which cannot. After reading it, I was dizzy. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Let's try it, can you understand if these things should be eaten together? Let's look at the first one: scallions mixed with tofu. Raise your hand if you agree they can be eaten together!
A Qiu: Raise your hands! Okay!
Zhang Quanling: At first, not many people raised their hands, but then they saw the expert raise his hand.
A Qiu: Not many people.
Zhang Quanling: More people raised their hands, but this book told me they shouldn't be mixed.
Zhao Lin: I can't say this book is completely wrong. Scallions contain oxalic acid, and tofu contains calcium, and they react. But let's think, how are scallions mixed with tofu? It's a lot of tofu with a little bit of scallion, right? Tofu is a high-quality protein. Adding a little scallion is good. We know scallions are a great supplement for people with mental work. Why didn't people in Shandong get SARS during the SARS outbreak? Because they eat scallions and garlic, which are like penicillin grown in the fields. So scallions mixed with tofu is a great combination, called "scallions mixed with tofu, clear and white." Why can't we eat it today?
Zhang Quanling: Everyone remember, it's edible!
Zhang Quanling: Let's look at the next one!
A Qiu: Soy milk with eggs.
Zhang Quanling: Soy milk with eggs. Raise your hand if you agree this is a nutritious breakfast!
A Qiu: Raise your hand if you agree they can be eaten together. Six people, seven people, eight people.
Zhang Quanling: Do you agree?
Zhao Lin: This is also a dilemma for me. I've never eaten it this way. I think soy milk is a plant protein, right? And an egg is an animal protein. I don't think there's anything wrong with eating them together. From a scientific and nutritional point of view, I don't see any reaction between them.
Zhang Quanling: But this book also told me that it's not good, that it affects protein absorption.
Zhao Lin: Don't think that just because a book is published, it's scientific.
A Qiu: Right.
Zhao Lin: Many books nowadays are like the commercial ads we see. We don't have the ability to do ads. Today we are here to tell you the truth.
A Qiu: Third, eating seafood and drinking beer.
Zhang Quanling: Eating seafood and drinking beer. Is it good or bad? Raise your hand if you agree it's good.
A Qiu: Raise your hands! No one dared to raise their hand, one, two, plus me, three, seafood with beer.
Zhang Quanling: So refreshing!
Zhao Lin: Seafood is a great thing, right? And beer is also a great thing. We call beer "liquid bread." I've found that there are many gout patients in Qingdao. Why? Because they drink beer and eat seafood. After the 1980s, a wrong concept formed: that only eating meat is nutritious, which led to a sharp increase in animal-based foods, especially in coastal areas. This leads to an accumulation of uric acid in the body. As we all know, after metabolism, carbohydrates are very clean, leaving only water and carbon dioxide. But protein and other cells eventually turn into uric acid. When a large amount of uric acid accumulates in any part of the body, it causes pain, which is what we call gout.
A Qiu: Then is it okay to drink baijiu (Chinese liquor)?
Zhao Lin: According to recent research, drinking too much baijiu can also cause gout. How much baijiu does our country sell every year? 6.4 million tons. That could fill West Lake. So I think our country needs to control the consumption of baijiu; it's reached a very important stage. The U.S. now believes that the widespread high blood pressure in China is proportional to our alcohol consumption. So I think this is a big problem. People usually know this, but at the dinner table...
Zhang Quanling: They forget.
Zhao Lin: At the dinner table, once the wine glass is raised, the policy is relaxed, and there's no discipline, right? So I hope everyone pays attention to this in their lives.
Zhang Quanling: Okay!
A Qiu: Okay!
Zhang Quanling: Now, the two of us are going to shop for groceries and cook for a day. I love to eat crab the most.
A Qiu: Male shrimp, female crab. She's good at picking.
Zhang Quanling: I want to eat cucumber for weight loss. I want to eat fruit, I want to eat wood ear mushrooms, I want to drink a glass of milk, I want to eat more fruit, I want to eat fruit as a meal.
A Qiu: You're a monkey.
Zhang Quanling: I'll leave you a banana. Okay, okay, this is my meal for the day.
A Qiu: Okay, let's see my choice. Let me tell you, it must be big fish and meat. How else could my body be so good? I only eat expensive things, not good things. Shrimp! Male shrimp, female crab. Of course, eat some fruit in moderation. I love potatoes, and a little carrot. Fish, fish, fish can't be missing. Fish is delicious! I won't eat braised pork, it's too fatty. Eggs must be eaten. Then, this, this, this, I take health supplements. The rest, seasonings, green vegetables, green vegetables, that's it! I, I'm done! My good health is all thanks to big fish, meat, and high-end foods.
Zhao Lin: This choice shows that they have already deviated from the traditional Chinese dietary structure. Listen to these four characteristics, and you'll understand why both of them are wrong. First, Chinese people emphasize a clear distinction between staple and non-staple foods. Only in Chinese cuisine is there such a distinction. We Chinese believe that those who control the grain prosper, and those who lose it perish. "Eating the five grains cures a hundred illnesses." Rice porridge warms the stomach and nourishes qi, especially porridge. The thick rice soup we boil, the one with a layer of film on top, what did Li Shizhen call it? He called it "rice oil." Rice oil is the life-saving soup for the poor. Eating rice oil for a hundred days will make one plump. So I think they both, in their original choices, didn't include the five grains and cereals, but now A Qiu has stolen one, which shows he knows he's wrong but won't change.
Zhang Quanling: I have to tell you specifically, a woman who wants to maintain her figure shouldn't eat staple foods.
Zhao Lin: This view is actually wrong. Because fat can only burn in the flame of carbohydrates. If you don't eat carbohydrates or the five grains and cereals, it's a form of slow suicide. Second, our country places great importance on the role of vegetables. Chinese people have always had the principle, "One cannot go without green food for three days, or one's eyes will sparkle." This fully illustrates the problem of insufficient vegetable intake. What does "cai" (vegetable) mean? It means "to gather grass." But what about "shu" (vegetable)? It means "to clear blockages." This means if you want to have regular bowel movements and clear blockages in your body, you must eat vegetables, because vegetables contain large amounts of vitamins and phytochemicals. So just now, A Qiu bringing over vegetables was quite smart.
A Qiu: I brought it over early.
Zhang Quanling: But this is what I think. Because, for example, many children don't like to eat vegetables, my solution is to give them fruit.
Zhao Lin: Can fruit replace vegetables? This is a question many people are confused about. Everyone knows that fruit is for enjoyment, while vegetables are for survival. The amount of many vitamins and dietary fiber in fruit cannot compare to that in vegetables.
There is an ancient poem that explains it clearly: "The five grains nourish, but without beans, it's not good. Ancient teachings are beneficial, but excess is harmful. The five vegetables are for filling, fresh and green, yellow, and red. The five fruits are for assistance." What are fruits for? To assist. Eat a little, but eat more grains. A couple of years ago, in our hospital's gynecology department, there were two pregnant women who gave birth to babies weighing ten and twelve jin respectively. On examination, both had congenital diabetes. Later I asked the mothers what they ate during pregnancy. They said, "Now there's only one child, and they are key protected persons!" She said, "Whenever I ate grapes, I ate a whole jin. When I ate watermelon, I ate half a one. Just eating foolishly, and in the end, I ate myself silly." So everyone understands, fruit is something you can eat, but what is fruit for? It is to assist you. You absolutely cannot use it to replace vegetables. Third, Chinese people place special importance on beans. I was just wondering, why are there no beans in your choices?
Zhang Quanling: Here's a bowl of soy milk.
A Qiu: Oh, there is soy milk.
Zhang Quanling: I think drinking milk is the same for me.
Zhao Lin: We Chinese say, "One can go a day without meat, but not a day without beans." "Green vegetables and tofu ensure peace." Fourth, we Chinese cook our food at low temperatures. We cook noodles, boil dumplings, steam rice, and steam buns all in a water environment, all around 100 degrees Celsius, right? In 2002, the Swedish National Food Safety Agency found that fried French fries and potato chips in Western fast food contain very high levels of acrylamide, a suspected carcinogen. And we now know that bread and biscuits also contain this substance, and it is produced as long as the temperature exceeds 180 degrees.
A Qiu: What about these health supplements, Vitamin C tablets, some calcium, are they useful?
Zhang Quanling: I see this as an ideal. My ideal is that in the future, when work is especially busy, we won't have to eat; we'll just take a handful of pills.
Zhao Lin: In fact, as long as you get enough vegetables and a balanced diet, you can naturally get sufficient vitamins. Vitamin tablets and the elements in vegetables are two different concepts. The Vitamin C and beta-carotene in a tablet, from the day they are synthesized, are strong reducing agents and are constantly being oxidized. By the expiration date, the tablet can become toxic. But the Vitamin C and beta-carotene you get from vegetables and fruits are very stable. So I think if you are especially tired and cannot get enough vegetables and fruits, you can take vitamins, but I don't advocate taking them every day.
A Qiu: You can't eat them as a meal.
Zhao Lin: Right. In 2005, the U.S. published an observation study of 8,000 infants that started in 1991. They found that children who were heavily supplemented with vitamins before the age of one and a half had food allergies at age three if they were white, or asthma if they were black. Why? Because humans have evolved for millions of years, and we get our nutrition from natural foods. The complex food structure has given us more complex digestive functions. If a child only eats medicine from a young age, they don't know how to process food. It's a case of "use it or lose it," and of course, they will develop allergies. So I can summarize in two sentences: Food is created by "God" (with quotation marks), and pills are made by man. Pills can never replace whole food. This is my view.
A Qiu: Oh, I've been eating wrong my whole life.
Zhao Lin: Let me give you an example. Why is A Qiu so short? Many of us now hope our children will grow tall.
Zhang Quanling: Yes, yes, yes