Scientific health care in spring: eat more of 4 types of food, eat less of 3 types of food, and pay attention to 2 points

As the saying goes: A year's plan begins with spring. Spring is the season when all things flourish. Proper living and diet are crucial to the spirit of the year. At the same time, spring is also a season with many diseases. Therefore, we must pay more attention to scientific and reasonable diet.

So how should we maintain health in this season? What should we eat? In this article, we will talk about the issues that everyone is concerned about regarding spring health.

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Eat more of them for health in spring

▶ Whole grains: In order to keep warm in winter, many people have a strong appetite, which makes their weight increase significantly. The arrival of spring also indicates that the season of showing off your body is coming, and many people have started the hard journey of losing weight again.

However, in order to achieve a faster weight loss effect, many people choose not to eat staple foods. This is not acceptable. First of all, staple foods can provide us with abundant carbohydrates, which are the main source of energy for the brain. Insufficient intake may lead to slow reaction, hypoglycemia, and fatigue. Secondly, staple foods are not the culprit for gaining weight. In order to fill the stomach, not eating staple foods will increase the intake of fat and protein.

Therefore, even if you want to lose weight in spring, you cannot skip the staple food. It is recommended to combine coarse and fine grains and increase the intake of whole grains. Compared with refined white rice and flour, whole grains are not only beneficial for controlling blood sugar after meals, but also increase the intake of dietary fiber, minerals, and B vitamins, and can also enhance satiety.

Studies have shown that increasing whole grain intake in the diet can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer. It can also help maintain a normal body weight and slow weight gain. [1]

From this perspective, if you want to have a perfect body in the season of showing off your body, you should start to consume staple foods in a balanced manner in spring and increase the amount of whole grains appropriately.

▶ Fresh fruits: Spring brings everything back to life, which is not only good for the growth of plants and animals, but also provides better conditions for the reproduction of microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses, which will increase the spread of spring epidemic diseases. In order to prevent spring diseases, we must focus on improving immunity.

Vitamin C is essential for improving immunity. Vitamin C can promote the synthesis of collagen in the body, promote the differentiation of keratinocytes, prevent oxidative damage, and promote wound healing. It can also promote the production of antibodies and support the ability of neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages to phagocytize pathogens. [2]

Fresh fruits are an important way to provide vitamin C. Fruits with relatively high vitamin C content include winter dates, guava, kiwi, strawberry, orange, grapefruit, papaya, tangerine, etc.

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In addition, the vitamin C content of bell peppers among vegetables is super high, and they can be eaten raw. If you can eat 100 grams of fresh bell peppers, you can meet 130% of the average adult's daily vitamin C needs.

Therefore, if you want to stay healthy and stay away from diseases in spring, you must pay attention to the intake of fresh fruits.

▶ Dark vegetables: The dark vegetables we often talk about refer to vegetables with darker orange, dark green, and purple colors, such as carrots, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, rapeseed, purple cabbage, purple onions, tomatoes, etc.

These vegetables are rich in antioxidants such as beta-carotene, anthocyanin, lycopene, etc., which can help the body remove free radicals, fight inflammation and anti-aging, making you more energetic and having better skin in spring.

▶ Drink more milk and get more sun: In order to have a good immune system, in addition to vitamin C, protein is also required. Milk not only contains high-quality protein, but is also an important way to supplement calcium. People also believe that spring is a good time to strengthen muscles and bones.

Insufficient calcium intake increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and fractures. If you want to get enough calcium, drinking milk is a very economical choice. According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022 Edition)", you need to drink 300-500 ml of milk every day.

In addition, wearing too many clothes in winter and covering the skin too tightly will affect the synthesis of vitamin D. Vitamin D can help calcium absorption. As the weather gets warmer in spring, you must do more outdoor sports and get more sun.

Generally speaking, you can get enough vitamin D by exposing your upper and lower limbs to sunlight for 5 to 30 minutes twice a week between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Don't apply too much sunscreen. [3] However, in spring, the temperature in many areas is still low, which is difficult to do. You can also take a 10 microgram vitamin D supplement every day.

Don't eat them to nourish your liver in spring

It is often said that we should nourish the liver in spring. To nourish the liver, it is not as simple as just eating animal liver. The idea of ​​"like cures like" is not feasible. Eating animal liver may not nourish the liver. To nourish the liver, you need to eat the following foods in moderation. This is the key to nourishing the liver.

▶ Do not eat moldy food: Moldy food may contain aflatoxin, which has long been classified as a Class 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Aflatoxin is 10 times more toxic than potassium cyanide and 68 times more toxic than arsenic. [4] It is liver toxic and can increase the risk of liver cancer.

Be careful with moldy nuts, crude oil, improperly stored grains, corn, soybeans, etc. If you eat peanuts or melon seeds that have a moldy, bitter, rancid smell, be sure to spit them out and rinse your mouth.

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▶ Eat less high-fat and high-sugar foods: Long-term intake of high-fat (especially saturated fatty acids), high-cholesterol and high-fructose foods in the diet will increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. For example, fatty meat, butter, coconut oil, palm oil, fish roe, sugary drinks, etc.

▶ Drink less or no alcohol: Long-term heavy drinking can damage the health of the liver. More than 90% of the ethanol the human body ingests through drinking needs to be metabolized in the liver, which puts a great burden on the liver.

Long-term heavy drinking of ethanol and its metabolite acetaldehyde and acetic acid can cause great damage to the liver and reduce the liver's ability to detoxify certain toxins, leading to liver disease. [5]

Therefore, if you want to protect the health of your liver, drink less alcohol if possible, and don't drink alcohol if possible.

How to relieve and prevent spring dryness?

Spring is prone to make people "getting angry" and feel a bit dry. To relieve spring dryness, you can eat more foods with high water content. For example, celery, cucumber, winter melon, watermelon, lettuce, tomato, strawberry, etc., their water content is more than 90%. You should also ensure adequate water intake. It is recommended that women with light physical activity levels drink at least 1500 ml of water a day in mild climates, and men at least 1700 ml. If you don't like drinking boiled water, you can drink lemon water or light tea.

In addition, you should eat less high-sugar foods and don't eat too much sweet fruit at one time. This is because the intake of a large amount of sugar will increase the osmotic pressure of cells, leading to dry throat, discomfort in the mouth, throat, gums and other parts, which will cause the so-called "heat" symptoms.

In addition to diet, you should also pay attention to these two points

In order to maintain good health in spring, in addition to dietary recommendations, you must also get enough sleep and keep warm.

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A. Spring is a perfect time for sleeping. However, "spring sleepiness" also quietly arrives. This is a physiological change brought about by the change of seasons. To deal with "spring sleepiness", we must try our best to ensure adequate sleep, and sleep for 7 to 8 hours a day. In terms of sleep, we urge everyone to practice the "118" early bedtime action, that is, go to bed before 11 pm as much as possible and sleep for 8 hours a day. [6]

B. Although it is gradually getting warmer in spring, the temperature changes unpredictably and it is easy to catch a cold and get sick. Don't rush to take off your winter clothes, and pay special attention to keeping warm in the morning and evening.

Summary: Spring symbolizes the starting point of life, and people have a lot of expectations for health preservation. So let's lay a good foundation for health from spring and stick to it all year round!

References:

[1] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House. 2022

[2]Calder PC. Nutrition and immunity: lessons for COVID-19. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2021;75(9):1309-1318. doi:10.1038/s41430-021-00949-8

[3] Liao Xiangpeng, Zhang Zengli, Zhang Honghong, Zhu Hanmin, Zhou Jianlie, Huang Qiren, Wang Zhixu, Wang Liang, Liu Zhonghou. Vitamin D and bone health application guide for adults (2014 standard version) [J]. Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis, 2014, 20(09): 1011-1030.

[4] Zhuang Zhenhong, Zhang Feng, Li Yanyun, et al. Research progress on the carcinogenic mechanism of aflatoxin[J]. Hubei Agricultural Sciences, 2011(08):20-23.

[5] Ma Xinying. Effects of alcohol intake on liver function and serum oxidative stress factors MDA and MT levels[D]. North China Coal Medical College, 2010.

[6] China’s Work and Life Report 2022

Author: Xue Qingxin, registered nutritionist

Review | Cheng Jingmin, professor at Shanxi Medical University, national expert on school food safety and nutrition and health; Zhang Na, associate researcher at Peking University School of Public Health

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