A scientific breakfast should include grains, meat (eggs), dairy, and fruits and vegetables, and the combinations should be frequently varied.
With the rapid development of China's economy, "modern malnutrition" is also quietly approaching people who have become affluent. According to data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the overweight and obesity rates among adults in large and medium-sized cities are as high as 30.0% and 12.3%, respectively. The number of "obese children" is also increasing at an annual rate of 7-8%. "If the dietary structure of the Chinese people is not improved soon, the harm caused by 'modern malnutrition' will become more and more serious!" Jia Jianbin is deeply concerned about this.
So-called "modern malnutrition" refers to nutritional imbalance, including both nutritional deficiency and excess. Medical experts point out that this condition is caused by "overindulgence in rich and fatty foods." After living conditions improved, modern people generally prefer to eat large amounts of high-calorie, high-fat, and high-protein foods like meat and fish, believing that these are nutritious. What they don't realize is that it is the excessive consumption of such foods that leads to an excess of "animal-based nutrients" in the body, while the intake of certain essential "plant-based nutrients" is too low. This results in nutritional imbalance, leading to various diseases such as obesity, fatty liver, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and diabetes. In severe cases, it can even be life-threatening. People's indifference to this phenomenon has made "modern malnutrition" an "invisible killer" threatening people's lives. About 40% of Chinese residents do not eat whole grains
According to a survey by the Chinese Nutrition Society, about 40% of Chinese residents do not eat whole grains, and the consumption of grains in their diet has significantly decreased. In fact, a normal person needs to ensure a daily intake of 300-500 grams of grains for nutrition, with particular attention to the intake of grain nutrients at breakfast. However, the 2006 "Survey Report on the Nutrition and Health Status of Chinese Residents" shows that among the survey subjects, 3.2% do not eat breakfast, and the proportion of young people in cities who skip breakfast is as high as 4.6%.
Jiang Zhuoqin, a professor in the Department of Nutrition at Sun Yat-sen University, stated that no single food's natural ingredients can fully meet the human body's needs. Although grain foods are highly nutritious, they must be reasonably consumed in combination with other foods to achieve nutritional balance.
So, how should a breakfast be reasonably搭配 (搭配 - collocated/combined)?
Jiang Zhuoqin stated that attention should be paid to the diverse combination of foods. The most nutritious breakfast combination should include grains, dairy, eggs, and fruits. For young people, a combination of grains and dairy is sufficient for adequate nutrition; for the elderly, a fruit should be added to this combination; for children, an egg should also be added. The ratio of plant-based to animal-based foods should be 7:1
In fact, the steamed buns, bread, and other foods people eat for daily breakfast all belong to the grain category, but they are all refined grains that have been processed, and their nutritional value is not as high as unprocessed coarse grains. Therefore, experts point out that besides paying attention to the diversity of food types, one should also choose coarse grains for breakfast to truly achieve nutritional balance.
For scientific food and nutrition collocation, Jia Jianbin highly推崇 (推崇 - advocates) the "grains as the foundation" dietary culture that has been passed down in China for thousands of years. He said: "The *Huangdi Neijing* (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon of Medicine) believes that diet should be based on 'grains as nourishment, fruits as supplement, livestock as benefit, and vegetables as fulfillment.' To achieve a balanced diet, one must follow the principle of 'diversity of foods, with grains as the mainstay."
Modern nutrition, on the other hand, believes that to achieve nutritional balance, the ratio of plant-based to animal-based foods should be around 7:1.
Relevant experts believe that to curb the rampant spread of "modern malnutrition," it is necessary to establish the concept of a balanced diet, return to traditional Chinese dietary culture, and choose a healthy lifestyle. Taking grains as an example, Chinese people are both familiar with and unfamiliar with them. They are familiar because for thousands of years, grains have been our most traditional food. They are unfamiliar because as high-fiber grain foods gradually became popular and mainstream breakfast foods in developed countries in Europe and America, they have become increasingly distant from the Chinese breakfast. Why eat grains and coarse grains?
The National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS) strongly recommends the consumption of grain foods because they are rich in complex carbohydrates, which provide "plant-based energy" and are beneficial for nutritional balance. Grains are also rich in fiber, which helps improve intestinal function, lower blood cholesterol levels, and has a preventive effect on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. In addition, grains also provide plant protein, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and various B vitamins.
What are grain foods:
Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a notice to give a clear definition of whole grain foods, defining them as foods composed entirely of grain products. The grains mentioned here include barley, corn, rice, oats, and wheat. Below are the nutritional and medicinal values of several common grain foods:
1. Japonica rice. This is rice or polished rice. It has the effects of replenishing qi, benefiting the spleen and stomach, and is a good dietary remedy for weakened gastrointestinal function after illness, as well as for vexation and thirst, deficiency-cold, and dysentery.
2. Glutinous rice. It can replenish qi, warm the spleen and stomach, and stop deficiency-cold. It is especially suitable for the elderly or those with spleen and stomach diseases for dietary therapy.
3. Wheat. Wheat has the effects of clearing heat, relieving vexation, and nourishing the heart to calm the spirit, and is praised as "the most precious of the five grains."
4. Corn. Corn can lower cholesterol, prevent atherosclerosis and hypertension, and stimulate brain cells to enhance brainpower and memory.
5. Millet. Millet has the effects of nourishing kidney qi, removing stomach heat, quenching thirst (diabetes), and promoting urination.
6. Black rice. Black rice has the effects of replenishing qi, warming the spleen to stop deficiency, strengthening the brain and kidneys, and tonifying the body.
7. Buckwheat. It can prevent hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and other diseases.
8. Oats. Known as a good product for lowering lipids, it also has good effects on preventing and treating atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, and fatty liver.
9. Job's tears (Coix seed). The protein content of job's tears is higher than other grains, and it also contains coix seed oil, coixenolide, polysaccharides, and B vitamins. Among these, coixenolide and polysaccharides have the effects of enhancing the human immune function and inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.