Dinner shouldn't be too late: Ten eating habits for a long life
When it comes to longevity, someone updates the "list of longevity foods" almost every year. If you were to score the most common and cheapest anti-aging foods, believe that vegetables, fruits, grains, black tea... would all make the list. However, from another perspective, "how to eat" is sometimes more important than "what to eat." Recently, the American MSN website published an article stating that as long as you steadfastly stick to the following 10 small habits, you can find the key to longevity.
1. Drink two glasses of water before each meal. Controlling weight is a "protracted war" for most people. Not long ago, researchers found that drinking two small glasses of water before a meal can reduce hunger and food intake, with a more significant effect than dieting. Brenda Davy, a researcher at Virginia Tech University, said: "Drinking water is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to control weight." People who drink water before a meal can consume nearly 300 fewer calories a day. Professor Mike Lean, an obesity expert at the University of Glasgow, also pointed out that in addition to drinking water, eating fruits, vegetables, and oatmeal before a meal also contains few calories and helps increase satiety.
2. Take multivitamins after meals. Eating refined foods in life can lead to a significant loss of B vitamins; soaking vegetables for too long can wash away a large amount of water-soluble vitamins; or prolonged storage of food, as well as cooking methods like frying and baking, can all reduce vitamin content. At this time, supplementing with multivitamins is like adding an "insurance policy," and it's best to take them after meals. Water-soluble vitamins like folic acid, vitamins B and C, if taken on an empty stomach before a meal, quickly pass through the stomach into the small intestine to be absorbed and are excreted through urine before being fully utilized by the body. Fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K must be dissolved in fatty foods to be absorbed. If taken on an empty stomach, most of them will not be absorbed.
3. Eating raw onions prevents heart disease. Many people carefully pick out onions when eating dishes, which is a big mistake. Dr. Victor Gurewich, a cardiologist at Harvard Medical School, pointed out that onions contain a large amount of heart-protecting flavonoids. Eating half a raw onion daily, or drinking an equivalent amount of onion juice, can increase "good cholesterol" in heart patients by about 30%. Especially when eating unhealthy foods like grilled meat, the onion inside is like your "lifeline." Onions are indeed beneficial for patients with high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and cardiovascular diseases, and eating them raw or in a cold salad is best.
4. Brew black tea with cool boiled water. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that compared to green vegetables or carrots, black tea contains more antioxidants that can effectively help you resist wrinkles and cancer. A new study in Japan shows that people who drink more than two cups of black tea a day have a 30% lower chance of being infected with the flu virus than those who don't. Brewing tea with hot water releases more caffeine and tannins than with cold water, leading to periodic headaches, insomnia, and other symptoms, while brewing tea with cool boiled water allows the beneficial substances to dissolve slowly without being destroyed.
5. Eat some high-fiber foods before bed. Dr. Judith Wurtman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: "Eating a low-calorie carbohydrate snack, like cereal, half an hour before bed can help with sleep." Most people only consume half of their daily fiber requirement (25-35 grams), so it's recommended to take this opportunity to supplement before sleep.
6. Some vegetarian dishes should be cooked with "meat." Eating too much oil is not good, but not eating any at all is even worse. Pumpkin and carrots contain a large amount of beta-carotene, so they shouldn't be cooked too lightly; stir-frying them with oil is more beneficial for nutrient absorption. If pumpkin is used to congee, make sure other dishes contain oil so that the nutrients can meet in the digestive system.
7. Use the dressing from cold dishes for dipping. Many people like to order a large mixed salad or fruit salad when eating out, thinking this can supplement vitamins. In fact, the dressing in these dishes can add a lot of calories to an otherwise healthy dish. It's best to put the prepared dressing in a small bowl and dip the cut vegetables in it. This way, you'll only need one-sixth of the original amount of dressing.
8. Wash meat with cold water and vegetables with hot water. Many people like to soak meat in hot water before washing it. What they don't realize is that washing meat with warm or hot water not only makes it spoil easily but also affects the texture of the cooked meat. Most importantly, it accelerates the loss of protein, amino acids, and B vitamins in the meat. Conversely, washing various fruits and vegetables with warm water is better. He Hongju, a researcher at the National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, pointed out that warm water is more effective than cold water in removing pesticide residues from the surface of fruits and vegetables.
9. Dark-colored fruits fight aging. When you can't decide what fruit to buy, choose the dark-colored one. Compared to light-colored fruits, dark-colored fruits contain more antioxidants, vitamins, selenium, iron, calcium, zinc, and other substances, with effects like preventing cancer, fighting cancer, and anti-aging.
10. An early dinner is better than a late one. The peak time for calcium excretion in the body is 4-5 hours after a meal. Eating dinner too late not only affects sleep and leads to fat storage but can also easily cause urinary tract stones. The best time for dinner for the elderly is preferably at 6 or 7 in the evening, and they should avoid or eat less late-night snacks.