How much staple food you eat affects your lifespan! Do these 3 things to eat healthier!

In our daily diet, staple foods such as rice and noodles are indispensable. However, in recent years, there are more and more sayings such as "If you want to lose weight, you must eat less staple foods!" and "Eating too much staple foods is the culprit of getting fat and causing diabetes!" So is it really good for your health to eat less staple foods? Let's take you to find out.

01

Eating too much or too little staple food

Will affect life expectancy

In 2018, a comprehensive study published in The Lancet Public Health showed that not eating staple foods (carbohydrates) may affect life expectancy and shorten it.

In this study, researchers selected 15,428 volunteers aged 45 to 64, and then studied the relationship between carbohydrates and the risk of death . The results showed that the intake of staple foods (carbohydrates) and the risk of death showed a U-shaped relationship:

1. When the energy intake from staple foods (carbohydrates) accounts for 50% to 55%, the risk of death is the lowest;

2. When the energy intake from staple foods (carbohydrates) accounts for less than 40% or more than 70%, the risk of death increases.

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In general, if the proportion of energy provided by staple foods (carbohydrates) is less than 40% of the total daily energy intake or greater than 70% of the total daily energy intake, it will increase the risk of death and shorten life expectancy.

02

Not eating staple food for a long time

What are the hazards?

Common staple foods in my country include cereals and potatoes, and miscellaneous beans are often used as supplements to staple foods.

1. Cereals

It can also be divided into staple grains and miscellaneous grains. The staple grains are mainly rice (in the south) and wheat (in the north), and the miscellaneous grains are mainly corn, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, oats, etc.

2. Potatoes

Including potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, yam, etc.

3. Beans

The main ones are mung beans, red beans, kidney beans, flower beans, broad beans, etc.

These foods mainly provide carbohydrates to the human body, which is one of the three major nutrients that provide energy in the body. The calories we take in from carbohydrates should account for 50% to 55% every day, so we call it staple food.

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If you do not consume staple foods for a long time and your carbohydrate intake is insufficient, the body must convert carbohydrates into fat or protein in order to maintain blood sugar stability. This will bring certain side effects to the body, such as metabolic disorders.

In addition, using fat to supply energy to the body will also produce ketone bodies, and the long-term accumulation of ketone bodies will have an adverse effect on the body. If the body is supplied with energy through protein, it will cause the body's lean tissue to break down, which will cause malnutrition over time.

The most important thing is that there is a part of the brain tissue and red blood cells in the body that can only be powered by glucose. If blood sugar cannot be kept stable at this time, it will cause depression, irritability, and restlessness. Therefore, it is wrong not to eat staple foods for a long time.

03

Which staple food is healthier for the human body?

Cereals are our traditional staple food, rich in carbohydrates (about 70%~80%), and are the main source of energy, protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and minerals for the human body. However, refined cereals (refined white rice and flour) lose a large amount of nutrients due to processing, and their nutritional value decreases significantly .

In recent years, more and more studies have confirmed that refined grains are not conducive to maintaining human health. Among them, research results show that excessive intake of refined white rice will increase the risk of diabetes by 55%.

Compared with refined grains, whole grains are richer in dietary fiber, and retain more protein, vitamin B1, calcium, iron and other minerals, as well as phytochemicals such as flavonoids and polyphenols .

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Increasing the intake of whole grains or replacing refined grains with whole grains can help reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and colon cancer; increasing the intake of oats can improve dyslipidemia; increasing the intake of potatoes can help improve constipation.

It can be seen from this that increasing the intake of whole grains, potatoes and beans in the staple food can achieve more health benefits.

04

Eating staple food like this is healthy

We can switch the concept of staple food to carbohydrates, and try to consume less refined carbohydrates, such as rice, steamed buns, etc.

1. Smart Matching

Cereals, potatoes, and beans have a relatively slow blood sugar production rate. They are also rich in protein, trace elements, vitamins, dietary fiber, and phytochemicals, making them a good choice for staple foods. It is recommended to choose as many types of staple foods as possible, with a mix of coarse and fine foods, while taking into account the diversity of food.

2. Calculate the amount

China's dietary guidelines recommend that protein account for 10% to 15% of energy supply, fat account for 20% to 30%, and carbohydrates account for 50% to 65%. For people of different ages, the demand for staple food intake is also different.

● Under 20 years old: protein accounts for 15%, carbohydrates account for 50%~55%, and fat accounts for 25%~30%;

● After 20 years old: gradually increase carbohydrates, gradually reduce fat energy supply ratio, and protein does not change much;

● In old age (about 60 years old for men and about 70 years old for women): protein accounts for 10%~15% of energy, fat accounts for 20%~25% of energy, and carbohydrates account for 60%~65% of energy.

3. Good at cooking

Whole grains and cereals often have a bad taste due to their high dietary fiber content, and also have a certain impact on digestion and absorption. For the elderly with reduced chewing ability and digestive function, they should pay attention to the palatability of staple food during processing, try to choose the cooking method of "coarse grains and fine cooking", and adopt the eating method of eating small meals frequently to prevent excessive stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract.

suggestion:

For most people, coarse grains can account for 1/3 to 1/2 of all staple foods, while for the elderly, this can drop to about 1/4.

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05

Tips

1. Do not add alkali when cooking cereal foods to avoid the destruction of B vitamins.

2. Eat less fried dough sticks, French fries, fried buns and other fried cereal and potato foods, which will not only increase extra fat intake, but may also produce carcinogens such as acrylamide.

3. Do not rub the rice too hard when washing it, and do not wash it too many times to reduce the loss of B vitamins.

Source: CCTV Life Circle

Review: Li Nannan Director of Hunan Science Writers Association Deputy Director of Research and Publicity Department of Hunan Science and Technology Association Second-level Researcher Chinese Science Writer (Medical)

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