Introduction: Often, we hear people around us say: "What should I do, my blood lipids are abnormal again!", "So-and-so has high blood pressure!", "I've gained weight again, what should I do? I already had fatty liver at my last check-up!" Perhaps you've experienced these problems yourself. In fact, the root of these issues often lies in "diet"—
Next, Professor Pan, a liver disease expert, will list for us the top ten "dietary" health killers:
Deadly Habit 1: Eating Too Fast
Reason: It加重 the burden on the digestive system and leads to obesity. Many office workers eat their lunch in a great hurry. Eating too quickly means food is not chewed thoroughly, which is not conducive to the initial digestion by food and salivary amylase in the mouth, thus加重 the burden on the digestive system; insufficient chewing time keeps the vagus nerve overly excited, and over the long term, this can easily lead to overeating and obesity.
Solution: Try to slow down. If you're really short on time, sacrifice some time you might spend playing cards or dozing.
Everyone knows that an unhealthy diet can lead to terrible diseases, but we often ignore small habits after a meal. Unbeknownst to us, these seemingly insignificant bad habits can become fatal "killers" of your health...
Deadly Habit 2: Too Lavish a Dinner
Reason: In the evening, the insulin level in the blood is at its peak for the day. Insulin can convert blood sugar into fat, which is then stored on the walls of blood vessels and the abdomen. A dinner that is too lavish will, over time, lead to obesity. At the same time, a prolonged lavish dinner can disrupt the body's natural biological clock, making it easy to develop insomnia.
For office workers, dinner has almost become the main meal of the day. Breakfast depends on the "clock," lunch depends on "work," and it's only in the evening that one can truly relax and sit down at the table for a satisfying meal.
Solution: First, eat dinner early. Eating dinner early can significantly reduce the incidence of urinary tract stones. Second, keep dinner light. Dinner should be primarily vegetarian, rich in carbohydrates, with an emphasis on fresh vegetables. Minimize the intake of excessive protein and fatty foods. Third, eat a small dinner. Generally, the calories from dinner should not exceed 30% of the total daily dietary calories.
Deadly Habit 3: Excessive Coffee Consumption
Reason:
1. Reduces fertility rates. For each cup of coffee a person drinks per day, the chances of conception can drop by 50%;
2. Increases the risk of heart disease. Coffee contains high concentrations of caffeine, which can alter heart function and increase cholesterol in the blood vessels;
3. Reduces work efficiency.
American medical researchers have found that a person who drinks 5 or more cups of coffee a day is twice as likely to develop heart disease as a non-drinker. The longer and more one drinks coffee, the greater the possibility of developing heart disease. A survey of 858 people aged 45-69 who suffered their first heart attack and an equal number who had never had one showed that those who drank more than 5 cups of coffee a day had a 70% increased risk of the disease.
Solution: Drink less.
Deadly Habit 4: Excessive Alcohol Consumption
Reason: Excessive or frequent drinking can cause alcohol poisoning in the liver, leading to inflammation and enlargement, and affecting the reproductive and urinary systems.
Solution: If you drink, learn how to drink—
The best types of alcohol are liquor, beer, and fruit wine. From a health perspective, red wine, a type of fruit wine, is the best choice. The French suffer less from heart disease, which is attributed to this. Researchers note that regular consumption of red wine can halve the risk of heart disease.
The best time to drink is after 2 PM. The concentration of alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach, is low in the morning. Drinking the same amount of alcohol in the morning leads to easier absorption and higher blood alcohol concentration than in the afternoon.
It causes significant damage to organs like the liver and brain. Additionally, it's not advisable to drink on an empty stomach, before bed, when you have a cold, or when you are emotionally upset, especially liquor, to avoid harming the cardiovascular system.
The best amount: A person weighing 60 kg should limit daily alcohol intake to less than 60 grams. Those weighing less than 60 kg should reduce this amount accordingly, preferably to around 45 grams. This translates to: 50 grams of 60-proof liquor, 1 kg of beer, or 250 ml of whiskey. Although red wine is beneficial to health, it should not be consumed excessively; 2 to 3 glasses per day is ideal.
The best food to accompany alcohol: From the perspective of alcohol metabolism, high-protein and vitamin-rich foods are best. These include fresh vegetables, fresh fish, lean meat, beans, and eggs. Note: Avoid using cured fish, sausages, or cured meats as accompaniments, as these foods contain large amounts of pigments and nitrosamines, which react with alcohol, damaging not only the liver but also the oral and esophageal mucosa, and even inducing cancer.
Deadly Habit 5: Smoking After a Meal
Reason: It makes it easier for harmful substances in cigarettes to enter the body.
Smoking a cigarette after a meal is more toxic than smoking ten cigarettes at other times. After a meal, gastrointestinal motility and blood circulation are strengthened. The body's ability to absorb smoke reaches its "peak state," making it easier for toxic substances in the cigarette to enter the body, thus加重 the damage to health.
Solution: Quit smoking completely.
Deadly Habit 6: Skipping Breakfast
Reason: It severely harms the stomach, prevents you from working with full energy, and also makes you "look older."
Researchers at the University of Erlangen in Germany, after a long-term study of 7,000 men and women, found that 40% of the subjects habitually skipped breakfast, and their average lifespan was 2.5 years shorter than the other 60%. Another university, in a study of people aged 80-90, found that one common trait among the long-lived was: eating a hearty breakfast every day.
Solution: Try to make your breakfast food delicious and appetizing; have sufficient quantity and good quality; be small in volume but high in energy; and be quick and easy to prepare.
We know that different foods stay in the stomach for varying lengths of time and cause different blood sugar responses. Normally, a mix of solid and liquid foods can stay in the stomach for 4-5 hours. However, liquid foods, due to their large volume, make you feel full right after eating, but they pass through the stomach very quickly. Their nutrients don't have enough time to be fully digested before being expelled, and the resulting blood sugar level drops soon after, failing to provide sustained energy. Therefore, it's important to pay attention to combining solid and liquid foods and including both meat and vegetables in your choices.