Experts Summarize 20 Golden Standards for a Healthy Diet
Everyone eats every day, but not everyone eats scientifically. Experts have summarized 20 "golden standards" for a healthy diet. Experts point out that if you can meet 12 of these 20 standards, you can be considered to have met the standard; if you have fewer than 5, you should pay attention and correct it promptly.
1. Sit up straight while eating. When people eat, their bodies are in a relaxed state, making it easy to slouch. This puts pressure on the esophagus and stomach, affecting digestion. In addition, eating at a low table, sitting on a sofa, or squatting to eat can all compress the abdomen, affecting the blood circulation of the digestive tract, which can lead to stomach problems and affect cardiopulmonary function over time. The correct posture for a meal is to sit up straight and keep the stomach free from any pressure.
2. Drink some porridge when you are very hungry. When you are extremely hungry, your appetite is particularly strong, and you want to eat anything you see. In fact, the digestive function of the gastrointestinal tract is already impaired at this time, and overeating can easily cause food stagnation. When very hungry, you should have a small amount of semi-liquid food, such as porridge, noodles, or rice noodles, and then slowly return to a normal diet. Pay special attention not to drink milk, soy milk, yogurt, or eat sweet potatoes when you are very hungry, as this may cause digestive problems.
3. Keep an interval of 4-6 hours between meals. An interval that is too long or too short between meals will affect the body. A long interval can cause intense hunger, affecting work efficiency; an interval that is too short does not give the digestive organs adequate rest, affecting appetite and digestion. Generally, mixed food stays in the stomach for about 4-5 hours, so an interval of 4-6 hours between meals is more appropriate.
4. Eat your favorite foods first. On the table, there are definitely dishes you prefer and dislike. Which should you eat first? Experts suggest eating your favorite foods first, which will give you emotional satisfaction. A pleasant mood can lead to a feeling of fullness more quickly, avoiding overeating.
5. Don't use your brain immediately after a meal. After a meal, blood in the body flows to the digestive organs, causing relative ischemia in the brain. Using your brain at this time can cause mental stress, decreased memory, and may increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Therefore, you must rest for at least half an hour after a meal before returning to work. Listening to music or taking a walk are good choices.
6. Don't talk about unpleasant things while eating. As the saying goes, "Don't talk while eating, don't speak while sleeping." Talking while eating reduces the number of times you chew food and decreases saliva secretion, thereby affecting digestion function. A new study in the United States points out that discussing complex or unpleasant topics during a meal can affect a person's appetite and digestion; you can talk about simple and pleasant topics instead.
7. Eat a hot breakfast. In the early morning, the nerves and blood vessels in the body are still in a constricted state. Eating cold food at this time may cause the digestive system to spasm. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that breakfast should be hot to protect the stomach's energy. It is recommended to choose hot porridge, hot oatmeal, hot soy milk for breakfast, paired with dry staples like steamed buns or bread.
8. Drink tea half an hour after a meal. It is not advisable to drink tea immediately after a meal, as it will dilute gastric juice and affect food digestion. At the same time, tannic acid in tea and protein in food will form indigestible coagulated substances, adding a burden to the stomach. Drinking tea half an hour after a meal can promote digestion and absorption, and has the effects of sterilization, disinfection, and protecting teeth.
9. Don't eat cold drinks at night. After 7 PM, the body's fluid metabolism slows down. Eating cold food, especially cold drinks, at this time will not relieve fatigue but can also affect sleep.
10. Eat less dessert after meals. You have already obtained enough sugar from the main course. Eating dessert afterward will cause the body to absorb excess glucose and starch. This is especially true after eating greasy foods.
11. Eat more dark-colored vegetables. Dark-colored vegetables refer to deep green, red, and purplish-red vegetables. The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends eating half a jin (250g) of vegetables daily, of which dark-colored vegetables should account for more than half. Their vitamin C content is twice that of light-colored vegetables. For example, deep purple eggplant versus light green eggplant, purple onion versus white onion, purple cabbage versus green cabbage, purple sweet potato versus red or white sweet potato—the nutritional value of the former is significantly higher than the latter.
12. Mix animal and vegetable oils. Eating only vegetable oil can promote an increase of peroxides in the body, accelerate aging, and affect the body's absorption of vitamins, increasing the incidence of breast cancer and colon cancer. Animal oil contains beneficial polyunsaturated fatty acids, lipoproteins, etc., for the cardiovascular system. Experts remind us that using a mixed oil of 1 part animal fat and 2 parts vegetable oil can combine the strengths of both.
13. The dining environment should be quiet. A study by the University of Manchester in the UK showed that as noise increases, the subjects' sensitivity to the sweetness and saltiness of food decreases. The study also showed that a noisy dining environment can dull a person's sense of taste. Experts suggest not choosing restaurants with noisy environments for meals; having soft music as a background can make food taste better.
14. Don't eat alone. Eating alone can easily lead to negative emotions, and a monotonous diet can cause nutritional imbalances. Eating with colleagues or family members can improve your mood and increase gastric juice secretion, allowing food to be digested and absorbed more quickly. In addition, when eating with others, there is a greater variety of food, and eating a little of each can easily achieve nutritional balance.
15. Add some vinegar to bone broth. The body's absorption and utilization of calcium are constrained by many factors. Foods rich in calcium include milk, eggs, bone broth, fish and shrimp, soybeans, etc. Insufficient acidity in the gastrointestinal tract can affect calcium absorption. Therefore, adding some vinegar when cooking can convert the calcium in food into easily absorbable calcium acetate.
16. Eat a fiber-rich food once a day. When the body absorbs excess fat and protein, they can become harmful decay products when acted upon by E. coli. Fiber can surround and excrete them. Therefore, it is best to eat some coarse fiber foods daily, such as oats, brown rice, Job's tears, sweet potatoes, corn, etc.
17. Chew hard foods more. Depending on your age, you can supplement with some hard foods, such as fruits, sugarcane, raw cucumbers, etc. This is because harder foods require more effort to chew. When the number or frequency of chewing increases, blood flow to the brain increases significantly, activating the cerebral cortex, which helps prevent brain aging and Alzheimer's disease.
18. Chew slowly. Chewing slowly aids digestion. Experts suggest that after each bite, put down your chopsticks, concentrate on the chewing in your mouth, and chew each bite more than 30 times.
19. Eat less salt. The new U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that the daily salt intake per person should be reduced to less than 2300 mg (about one teaspoon). For those over 51 years of age and those with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, the daily salt intake should be reduced to less than 1500 mg.
20. Don't abuse seasonings. A study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that natural seasonings such as cinnamon and fennel contain varying amounts of safrole, which can cause liver cancer. Excessive consumption can not only lead to dry mouth, sore throat, and listlessness, but also easily cause excessive gastric acid secretion and bloating. Therefore, do not use them excessively when cooking.