The Japanese have long been known for their longevity, and according to the latest data released by the World Health Organization, the incidence of heart disease among Japanese people is also low, with the incidence of coronary heart disease being only 0.041%. This is closely related to their persistent promotion of a healthy diet.
Eat 30 different foods a day
As early as 1985, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare established the "Dietary Guidelines for a Healthy Life," advocating that people try to consume 30 different food ingredients (including cooking oil and seasonings) per day to ensure comprehensive nutrition. Since then, many people have adopted this as a daily dietary principle. For example, a five-color sushi rice bowl, with rice as the main ingredient, includes sweet shrimp, clam meat, squid meat, roe, tuna, and candied ginger. When cooking, multiple ingredients are used to make a single dish. Miso soup contains soy products, seafood, and vegetables. Even when dining out, restaurants strive to offer a variety of combinations. To prevent excessive calorie intake, the portion size of each dish is small.
Dietary diversity, especially a high intake of fruits and vegetables, is beneficial for getting adequate nutrition, protecting cardiovascular health, and extending lifespan. In view of China's current situation, the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016 Edition)" also recommends that the average number of different food types per day should be more than 12, and more than 25 per week (cooking oil and seasonings are not included). In fact, achieving this goal is not difficult. For example, a bowl of Babao congee; a bowl of egg noodles cooked with bok choy, mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms; when making stir-fried shredded pork with carrots, add green peppers and winter bamboo shoots; when stewing meat, add shiitake mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots, and kelp. In short, ensuring that you have grains, legumes, tubers, vegetables, eggs, and milk every day, eating several types of vegetables, varying your intake of fish, meat, and seafood daily, plus a few fruits and nuts as snacks, can easily meet the standard.