As people's economic conditions improve, "eating less rice and more meat" has gradually become a dietary habit for Chinese people. Nowadays, the food intake of urban residents is very small. Most men consume about five or six liang of grain per day, women three or four liang, and sometimes even only two or three liang. Moreover, the trend of decreasing food intake is continuing.
Eating less rice and supplementing more protein is not advisable
For a long time, many people have had a misconception about their dietary structure: eating more rice leads to weight gain, while eating more protein is beneficial to health. On the whole, the high-quality protein in the diets of urban residents is already sufficient, but many people are still keen on supplements such as soy protein. What they don't realize is that excessive protein intake can actually increase the burden on the kidneys. Furthermore, among the protein they consume, pork accounts for 64% of the total protein. The fat content in pork is 2.8 times that of beef and 2.2 times that of chicken, but its unsaturated fatty acid content is significantly lower than that of chicken, duck, and rabbit meat. As a result, the fat energy intake of urban residents has continuously increased, exceeding the 30% limit of total energy intake recommended by the World Health Organization. High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets can easily lead to disease
The "high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet," which was once all the rage and is still widely popular today, was previously warned against by the medical community. Recently, the UK's Food Standards Agency issued a statement: completely avoiding carbohydrates is harmful and not beneficial to the body.
This low-carbohydrate diet, commonly known as the meat diet, advocates not consuming starchy foods like rice and noodles. At the same time, it increases the intake of high-protein foods to achieve rapid weight loss. This method is particularly popular in the UK. It is said that 3 million Britons have used a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss. The UK Food Standards Agency has clearly pointed out that the food fat intake of low-carbohydrate dieters is often high, which can easily increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. They recommend that for good health, one should maintain a balanced diet and should not omit any food group. Carbohydrates are an important part of a balanced diet, and a diet lacking in carbohydrates cannot be considered a balanced and healthy diet. The agency also recommends that starchy foods should account for about one-third of total food intake. A scientific diet should be structurally balanced and nutritionally balanced
Experts believe that a scientific diet should be structurally balanced and nutritionally balanced, with a reasonable ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates should provide about 60% of daily energy, fat about 25%, and protein about 15%. It can be seen that carbohydrates account for the largest proportion. People should supplement with grain foods at every meal: 30% in the morning, 30% in the evening, and a bit more at noon, around 40%. Grains are the most suitable nutritional meal
Chinese people have always relied on grain foods as their main nutritional source, but with changes in people's tastes and the need to cope with a fast-paced life, grain foods have been neglected. In fact, grains are the ideal nutritional meal for people of all ages in a modern family. Grains are rich in carbohydrates, protein, and B vitamins, and also provide a certain amount of inorganic salts. The fat content in grains is low, about 2%. Different grains have their own unique nutritional characteristics. Compared to other carbohydrates, grains are low in fat, low in cholesterol, and provide sustained energy release. How to form a healthy diet
Although nutritionists do not specify how many carbohydrates a person should eat, they suggest that the calories from carbohydrates should generally account for about 60% of total calories. This means that the amount of carbohydrates a person needs to consume is related to their total calorie intake. The elderly, due to weakened digestive and absorption functions, should consume less; teenagers, who are in a stage of growth and development, should consume more.
A healthy diet should include: sufficient grain. Men should consume 400 grams of carbohydrates per day, and women 300 grams, with an appropriate increase in the proportion of tuber foods. Drawing on the widely recommended Mediterranean dietary structure by nutritionists worldwide, potato-based tuber foods should be consumed at 170 grams per day, vegetables and fruits at 300-400 grams per day, ensure 200 grams of dairy products per day, eat more chicken, duck, goose, rabbit, and fish, and eat less pork.
For healthy individuals, daily carbohydrate intake should not be less than 150 grams (3 liang), and it is absolutely not advisable to eat no carbohydrates at all. In the absence of carbohydrate intake, the body will generate a large amount of heat by oxidizing fat. Metabolic products of fat, ketones, may accumulate in the body, causing ketosis.