Spicy boiled hot pot soup……
Stir-frying, sautéing, deep-frying, boiling, stewing, braising, freezing……
Eating to your heart's content, deliciously, freshly, and innovatively……
Chinese cuisine emphasizes completeness and perfection, yet little do we know that problems such as excessive and unbalanced nutrition often surface after indulging in delicious food. According to a survey report on the current vitamin and mineral supplement market and consumer behavior and attitudes, initiated by Centrum: 67% of consumers believe that the nutrients in food are sufficient.
China's culinary culture is extensive and profound, with each region having its own unique dietary culture. People from different regions, due to differences in dietary customs and structures, also exhibit varying deficiencies in different nutrients.
So, let's travel from east to west, north to south, to give a nutritional review of the local flavors and see, under the standards of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents," what the nutritional issues are for each specialty.
North—Beijing people have a long-standing tradition of staple foods made from flour, with a wide variety of snacks and different preparation methods. But when asked what Beijing people love most, it has to be noodles, especially now, as summer is approaching and the heat is unbearable, it's time for cold noodles to take the stage.
However, during the preparation of cold noodles, which involves boiling and then draining, a large amount of nutrients (49% of Vitamin B1, 57% of Vitamin B2, and 22% of Niacin) is lost.
South—A concentrated embodiment of Guangdong's food culture lies in the "soup." Guangdong people simmer soup for hours on end. In reality, the gentle heat of simmering destroys highly nutritious components like vitamins and amino acids; what evaporates is actually the essence! Take the most common "pork rib soup" as an example. An ordinary family would surely consider this a highly nutritious, calcium-rich, nourishing dish, right? In fact, this is not the case. In pork bone soup cooked using common household methods, the calcium content is extremely low, averaging only 1.0–1.2mg/100ml. Compared to the 800mg of calcium that adults should consume daily, the calcium content in bone soup is far from meeting the body's needs.
West—In the vast city of Chengdu, there are countless hot pot restaurants and countless diners of all ages and genders. However, while you are chatting and laughing at the hot pot table, the nutrients in the food quietly slip away unnoticed. Take a slice of vegetable, for example. As it is repeatedly heated in the hot pot, 20% of its Vitamin C is destroyed, while heat-sensitive nutrients like Vitamin B1 and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus are also lost.
East—If there's one biggest characteristic of Shanghai cuisine, it's "exquisite." A typical Shanghai dish, from its raw ingredients to the final plating, involves time-consuming and laborious processes with many steps of preparation and processing. Through the repeated washing and processing of refined white rice, folic acid is reduced by 90%, Vitamin E is lost by over 90%, Vitamin B5 is lost by 60%, and the content of minerals such as chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, and magnesium is reduced by more than 70%. The Vitamin C and B vitamins in vegetables are also lost during soaking and chopping.
Nutrient Loss from Cooking Methods
Washing: Vitamin B1 loss in rice is 40–60%, Vitamin B2 and Niacin loss is 23–25%.
Milling: Folic acid loss in flour is 90%, Vitamin E loss is 90%, Vitamin B5 loss is 60%, and loss of minerals like chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, magnesium is 2.94%.
Boiling: Vitamin B1 loss in noodles is 19.6%, Vitamin B2 loss is 2.94%, Vitamin C loss in vegetables is 20%.
Stir-frying: Total vitamin loss in vegetables is 30%–40%, and carotene loss is 25%.
Freezing: Vitamin B6 loss in vegetables is 40%, Vitamin K1 loss is 12.5%–24.5%.
Stewing: Vitamin B1 loss in pork is 60%–65%, Vitamin B2 loss is 40%.
Frying: Vitamin B1 loss in eggs is 25%, Vitamin B2 loss is 10%.
Deep-frying: Vitamin B1 loss in fried dough sticks is 100%, Vitamin B2 and Niacin loss is 50%.
Therefore, relying solely on diet is not enough to provide comprehensive nutrition. On the basis of a reasonable diet, one should develop the habit of taking a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement. Centrum is an ideal choice; it is one of the most comprehensive multivitamin and mineral supplements on the market, with each tablet containing 30 vitamins and minerals from A-Z. Taking it daily can fully meet the body's needs for comprehensive and balanced nutrients.
Now, while savoring the delicacies from all over the country, you must have found the key to stepping onto the path of health and enjoying a healthy life!