Eating Vegetables Should Follow the Rainbow Effect
Most people know that eating vegetables is good for your health, but how many can actually stick to eating enough of them every day? A recent public opinion poll by the World Cancer Research Fund shows that only one-fifth of British people can eat enough of the five major types of fruits and vegetables as recommended by nutritionists. This survey has left experts from the World Cancer Research Fund very concerned. Insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables has become a major obstacle to a healthy diet for the British. So, what is the situation with vegetable consumption in China? To find out, the "Life Times" newspaper, in collaboration with the health channels of Sina and Sohu, launched an online survey titled "Vegetables, Are You Eating Enough?" The results showed that 95.3% of people eat fewer than five types of vegetables daily, and their choices are monotonous.
Ninety Percent of Chinese People Eat Too Few Vegetables
Auntie Chen, who lives in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, goes to the morning market every day to buy vegetables. Potatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, and cabbage, which she is good at cooking, have become common dishes on the table for her family of seven. Auntie Chen said that except for breakfast, she basically cooks two or three types of vegetables for the whole family for lunch and dinner. "I think eating one or two jin (500-1000 grams) of vegetables a day for the whole family is enough. Besides, I don't know how to cook many vegetables, and I usually just eat those few." Another grandpa, Mr. Ma, who has a young grandson, always stir-fries meat with vegetables. "The child doesn't like to eat vegetables alone, so I have to cook them together this way." When asked how many vegetables he eats daily, Mr. Ma said, "It's less than a jin. The child loves meat, so I try to use more meat."
Almost everyone in China is like Auntie Chen and Mr. Ma, eating vegetables with every meal, but a survey by the "Life Times" shows that more than 90% of people eat fewer than five types of vegetables on average. Among the 3,757 people surveyed, 86% ate 1 to 3 types of vegetables daily, but only 4.7% ate five or more. In terms of vegetable variety, cabbage types, solanaceous fruits, gourds, and tubers were the most popular. Tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, and eggplants were the most frequently eaten vegetables. In terms of cooking methods, stir-frying was the most common, accounting for 65.38%.
"Whether it's from survey data or from my observation of people around me, we can draw a conclusion: Chinese people still eat too few vegetables, especially in regions north of the Yangtze River," said Professor Ma Liping, Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Nutrition Society. According to the "Chinese Residents' Balanced Dietary Pagoda" recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society, each person should eat 200-400 grams of fruit and 300-500 grams of vegetables daily. However, many people not only fail to eat enough in quantity, but their variety is also very limited. Ma Liping said that due to planting types and climate, people in most southern regions have access to a wider variety of vegetables and more choices than in the north. In areas north of the Yangtze River, such as Shanxi, many places are still at the stage of using only potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., as vegetables, and leafy greens are very rare.
According to reporters, not only in China, low vegetable intake is a global problem. Since 1988, Americans' intake of vegetables and fruits has been on a downward trend. A study shows that the fruit and vegetable intake of American children is far lower than it was 10 years ago; compared to 60 years ago, British vegetable consumption has decreased by 30%; in the past 10 years, the average vegetable intake of the Italian public has decreased by 9%; and even in Japan, known for its healthy diet, vegetable intake has not increased but has decreased in the last 30 years.
Five Misconceptions About Eating Vegetables
"Although people today are more aware of the importance of fruits and vegetables than in the past, there are still many obstacles to truly integrating them into our daily lives," said Kate Mendoza, Head of Education at the World Cancer Research Fund. Wang Xufeng, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Nutrition Alliance and a national-level nutritionist, also said that people have many misconceptions about eating vegetables:
① Misconception One: Meat is nutritious, but vegetables are not.
Wang Xufeng said he often hears parents tell their children, "Eat more meat, it's nutritious and helps you grow." This unconsciously equates meat, eggs, and milk with "nutrition" and categorizes vegetables as "non-nutritious." In fact, vegetables are rich in vitamins, inorganic salts, dietary fiber, etc., and are very beneficial to human health. If every meal has more meat than vegetables, it not only fails to provide timely and effective supplementation of vitamins in the body, affecting growth and development, but may also cause other diseases. For example, insufficient intake of cellulose from vegetables can easily lead to constipation and even induce colorectal cancer; compared to people who eat no fruits and vegetables daily, those who eat five or more servings have a 12% lower risk of stroke and heart attack; a U.S. study on vegetables and aging showed that eating more vegetables can also keep the brain young.
② Misconception Two: Always eating the same few vegetables at home.
Ma Liping said that there are far more types of vegetables than people imagine. In China, there are more than 100 commonly eaten vegetables. "But many people dare not buy novel vegetables, and over time, vendors only sell a few dozen types," she said. To eat vegetables, one must not only ensure a daily intake of 300-500 grams but also consume a variety of vegetables such as leafy greens, solanaceous fruits, tubers, cabbage types, gourds, and root vegetables. Because the nutrient composition varies in each category—for example, leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, and water spinach are rich in B vitamins, vitamin C, and various inorganic salts and have high nutritional value—while carrots and peppers are rich in vitamin C and carotene. Only by eating a wide variety can nutrition be balanced.
③ Misconception Three: Vegetables are only delicious when stir-fried.
In the survey, more than half of people chose "stir-frying" as their preferred method for cooking vegetables. Ren Lili, a director and secretary-general of the Shenzhen Nutrition Society and a director of the Shenzhen Society of Food Science and Technology, said that because many people don't like to eat vegetables, they use incorrect cooking methods like adding more oil or stir-frying for a long time to change the texture. However, this causes nutrients like vitamins in vegetables to be lost too quickly. For most vegetables, blanching and then serving cold or stir-frying over high heat are good methods; for vegetables containing fat-soluble vitamins like carrots and tomatoes, a little more oil can be added, but not too much.
④ Misconception Four: Replacing vegetables with fruit.
"I didn't eat vegetables today, so eating more fruit is the same." Many people confuse vegetables and fruits, thinking they belong to the same category. But Ma Liping said that vegetables and fruits are two completely different foods and cannot be completely substituted. The vitamin, mineral, and dietary fiber content of most vegetables is higher than that of fruits; while fruits also contain beneficial components like pectin and fruit sugar.
⑤ Misconception Five: Worrying about food incompatibility and pesticide residues.
Wang Xufeng said that many people often ask him about vegetables, such as whether cucumbers and tomatoes can be eaten together. Many elderly people, influenced by rumors or unscientific claims, are afraid of "food incompatibility" and dare not buy and eat too many different vegetables together. In fact, there is no such thing as completely incompatible foods; some just require a little attention during cooking, for example, spinach containing oxalic acid is best blanched in boiling water for one minute before being eaten with tofu, which solves the problem. Additionally, some people worry about high pesticide residues on vegetables. Wang Xufeng said that the pesticides used on vegetables today are mostly highly effective, low-toxicity, and low-residue types, and most can be removed through steps like sunlight exposure and washing, so there's no need to worry too much.
Vegetables Become "Prescription Drugs" in the U.S.
① "Fruits every day, vegetables with every meal."
Wang Xufeng said the most basic principle for eating vegetables is to ensure 300-500 grams per person per day, preferably in more than five types. Ren Lili believes that the more types of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and fungi/seaweed consumed daily, the better, especially fungi and seaweed like mushrooms and black fungus, which should be eaten daily. In terms of quantity, about 100 grams of raw vegetables, when cooked, is roughly equivalent to the size of a tennis ball. Therefore, eating five tennis-ball-sized portions of cooked vegetables daily is equivalent to consuming 500 grams of raw vegetables. Furthermore, to change people's "bad habit" of not liking vegetables, experts around the world are actively brainstorming solutions.
② Eat vegetables following the rainbow effect.
The vegetables you eat daily should be as colorful as a rainbow, and the deeper the color, the higher the nutritional value. For example, the beta-carotene content in broccoli is much higher than in cauliflower, and the iron content in black beans and black fungus is significantly higher than in soybeans and tremella. Especially purple vegetables rich in anthocyanin, such as eggplant, purple onions, purple cabbage, and purple sweet potatoes, the more you eat, the better.
③ "Mix and match" various vegetables.
If you really don't know what to eat, you might as well mix and match the vegetables stored in your refrigerator and stir-fry them over high heat. This can ensure both variety and quantity.
④ Make vegetables "prescription drugs."
According to The New York Times, some places in the United States have already included spinach, beets, etc., in doctors' prescriptions to combat obesity in low-income families. We could also adopt this method, with doctors advising patients to eat more vegetables when writing prescriptions.
⑤ Ranking of the most nutritious vegetables.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest in the U.S. scored 85 common vegetables and ranked the top ten most nutritious ones for people's reference when buying. They are: spinach, kale, radish greens, lettuce, pumpkin, mustard greens, sweet potatoes with skin, broccoli, carrots, and red bell peppers.
⑥ Eating more vegetables is not always better.
Ren Lili reminds that people with anemia, poor gastrointestinal function, and children in their growth and development period should not eat too many vegetables at once. Vegetables with high crude fiber content, such as celery, are difficult to digest in large quantities. Consuming a large amount of vegetables at once can hinder the absorption of calcium and zinc in the body, affecting a child's development.