The spring weather is unpredictable, making people highly susceptible to illness. Medical experts believe that maintaining good health requires a consistent daily health routine. Below, we introduce the "Five More, Five Less" principles to keep in mind for your spring diet.
More reducing, less oxidizing for an active brain
How can you ensure your brain stays healthy? How can you improve your brain's efficiency? Nutritionists point out: eat more reducing foods and fewer oxidizing foods.
So-called oxidizing foods are those rich in peroxidized lipid compounds, with fried foods, instant noodles, and hamburgers being prime examples. High-calorie, oily foods, fatty meats, and fruit juices also fall into this category. These foods can trigger oxidation reactions within the body, damaging the normal molecular structure of cerebral blood vessel walls, narrowing them, impeding blood flow, and adversely affecting the brain's physiological activities, leading to sluggish thinking.
Reducing foods, on the other hand, contain components like carotene and superoxide dismutase. These can prevent oxidation reactions in the cerebral blood vessel walls or "reverse" oxidation reactions that have already occurred, ensuring the blood vessels remain clear, the brain is well-supplied with blood, and stays in a constant state of alert and active health. More poultry, less livestock to protect the heart
When it comes to meat, people often have a love-hate relationship. They love it for its rich nutritional value and good taste, but fear it for its high fat content, which is often linked to hyperlipidemia and even coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. How can this dilemma be solved? One trick is to eat more poultry and less red meat.
Compared to red meats like pork, beef, and lamb, poultry fats, though also animal fats, have a different structure. Red meat fats are high in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. In contrast, poultry like goose, duck, and chicken not only contain less fat (only one-quarter to one-third of the former) but their fat structure is closer to that of olive oil, thus offering protective benefits for the heart. More raw, less cooked to reduce carcinogens
When it comes to poultry, if you have a choice between raw and cooked, which would you prefer? Cooked meat products are convenient and tasty, so you might lean towards them. However, doing so means you'll be consuming nitrites. In the process of making cooked meat products, nitrites are added for their preservative effect to keep the food fresh. But once nitrites enter the human body, they can break down into nitrosamines, substances with strong carcinogenic properties, posing a serious threat to health. More coarse, less refined to protect blood vessels
Currently, the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases like coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction is rising daily, becoming the "number one killer" for the population. In addition to the traditional "highs"—high blood lipids, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar—there is another major culprit: hyperhomocysteinemia.
Experts have found that a substance called homocysteine, when its concentration in the blood is too high, can cause atherosclerosis, ultimately leading to myocardial infarction, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. And one of the reasons for the rising levels of homocysteine in the blood is the increasing consumption of finely processed foods. More green, less white for a longer life
After analyzing the nutrients in various vegetables, nutritionists have discovered a pattern: the nutritional value of a vegetable is related to the depth of its color. The darker the color, the higher the vitamin and carotene content, and vice versa. According to this pattern, the order is: green vegetables, red and yellow vegetables, and white vegetables.
Green vegetables are rich in calcium and have high levels of folic acid and vitamin C. Additionally, they contain a particularly high amount of chlorophyll, which has anti-cancer and disease-prevention properties.