How to eat healthy during the Spring Festival? Dietary suggestions for all kinds of people are here

The Lunar New Year is an important traditional festival of the Chinese nation. During the Spring Festival, families and friends gather together and visit relatives and friends, and fish and meat are indispensable in the diet. This also brings "a lot of pressure" to our gastrointestinal tract, especially some high-greasy and high-fat foods are very detrimental to gastrointestinal digestion, and excessive intake may cause diseases .

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How can you balance nutrition, health and deliciousness during the Spring Festival? Here are some tips on how to eat during the Spring Festival.

01

Pay attention to these 8 points when eating during the Spring Festival

Try to use less oil, less salt and less sugar

Although oil, salt and sugar can make dishes delicious, excessive intake is not good for health.

Oil contains high fat, especially during the Spring Festival, every household will cook a lot of fried food, such as fried lotus root boxes, fried prawns, fried shrimp chips, sweet and sour pork, etc. Fried food is not only high in calories and will make you fat, but also produces carcinogens such as acrylamide, benzopyrene, heterocyclic amines, etc. Eating it frequently can increase the risk of cancer.

Excessive salt intake will not only increase the risk of high blood pressure, but also promote calcium loss and increase the risk of osteoporosis; eating too many sweets will not only easily lead to tooth decay, increase the risk of gout and high blood sugar, but may also cause acne and sagging skin, affecting appearance.

Therefore, even during the Spring Festival dinner, we should try to eat less oil, salt and sugar . Eat less high-oil, high-salt and high-sugar dishes, such as three fresh vegetables, dry-fried beans, dry-fried cauliflower, rice-crusted meat, candied sweet potatoes, fried meatballs, braised pork, sweet and sour spareribs, etc.

Vegetables and fruits are essential

During the Spring Festival, people eat a lot of meat and fish, but it is easy to neglect the intake of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables not only provide us with vitamins and minerals, but also contain antioxidant ingredients, especially dark-colored vegetables, such as beta-carotene, anthocyanin, lycopene, etc., which have antioxidant properties and can also fight inflammation.

In addition, many people like to eat processed meat products such as ham, sausage, bacon, etc., which are Class 1 carcinogens. To reduce their carcinogenic effects, you should also eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Because there is evidence that the vitamin C, calcium, chlorophyll and polyphenols contained in fruits and vegetables can inhibit the formation of N-nitroso compounds or other carcinogens, and play an important role in preventing cancer.

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The staple food cannot be ignored

Many people think that the food we eat during the Spring Festival is too diverse and high in calories, so we should not eat staple foods in order to control our weight!

This practice is not recommended. If you do not eat staple foods and your carbohydrate intake is too low, your fat may not be fully metabolized and produce ketone bodies, also known as acetone. [1] Acetone has a smell similar to that of rotting and fermented fruit, which can cause this unpleasant odor in your mouth, sweat, and urine, as well as bad breath.

In addition, not eating staple foods during the Spring Festival will inevitably increase the proportion of fat and protein in the diet, and may lead to excessive intake of fish and meat, increasing the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and other diseases. In addition, carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the brain, and insufficient intake may lead to slow reactions, hypoglycemia, and fatigue.

Therefore, even if the table is full of feasts, do not neglect the intake of staple food . It is not a big problem to skip the staple food occasionally, but do not skip it for several days in a row. It is best to combine coarse and fine staple food, such as oatmeal rice, buckwheat rice, and mixed bean rice, to increase the intake of dietary fiber and B vitamins.

Choose original flavor of nuts

Nuts are an indispensable supporting role when family members are "chatting", such as melon seeds, peanuts, cashews, pistachios, etc. They are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, protein and vitamin E, and can supplement a variety of nutrients.

However, it is best to choose original flavored nuts and avoid spiced, salt-baked, and other flavors, because nuts of various flavors may have high sodium content. The dishes during the Spring Festival are already heavy in flavor, and eating nuts with high sodium content will increase the risk of high blood pressure.

In addition, try not to choose nuts that have been opened , as they are easy to deteriorate and difficult to preserve. If you eat nuts that have a moldy, bitter, rancid smell, be sure to spit them out and rinse your mouth, because such nuts are likely to have been contaminated with aflatoxin, and eating too much will increase the risk of liver cancer.

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Don’t overeat

Looking at the delicious food on the table, it is inevitable that you can't control your desire to eat. Remind everyone, don't overeat !

Overeating not only increases the risk of high blood pressure and high blood sugar, but also stimulates the secretion of gastric acid, increases the burden on the stomach, causes symptoms of indigestion, and damages the gastric mucosa.

Try to chew your food slowly and thoroughly when eating. You can drink 300 to 500 ml of water or clear soup before meals. This can enhance your sense of fullness, help you better control your appetite, and avoid overeating.

If you drink alcohol, limit the amount

Although drinking is harmful to health, it is inevitable to drink at family gatherings. More than 90% of the ethanol ingested from drinking needs to be metabolized in the liver. The liver is under great "work pressure", and long-term heavy drinking increases the risk of liver disease. [2]

If you really want to drink, control the amount. The new edition of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" recommends that both men and women should control their daily alcohol intake to less than 15 grams , which is roughly equivalent to 450 ml of beer, 150 ml of wine, 50 ml of liquor, and 30 ml of high-proof liquor.

Source: "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2022 Edition"

To reduce the harm of alcohol to the body, you can eat some staple food before drinking to slow down the absorption of alcohol and reduce damage to the gastric mucosa; don't drink beer, white wine, wine, etc. with carbonated beverages, otherwise you will get drunk faster; be sure to drink plenty of water after drinking, which can speed up the metabolism of alcohol and reduce harm to the body.

Don't eat these foods raw

While enjoying family meals, you should also pay attention to food safety. For example, raw pickled food, salmon, water chestnuts, houttuynia cordata, lotus root, eggs, etc. should not be eaten raw, as they are likely to be contaminated by parasites and bacteria. Pay attention to food hygiene and be careful about eating unclean raw food.

If you are making cold dishes, make sure to wash them thoroughly, keep raw and cooked ingredients separate on the chopping board , and eat them on the same day.

Promote separate dining

Most families in my country do not have the habit of eating separately. Many people eat from the same plate, sharing delicious food as well as saliva and bacteria. This increases the risk of spreading many diseases, such as the most common Helicobacter pylori infection (HP). Data show that the HP infection rate in my country is 40% to 90%, with an average of 59%, which means that about 1 in 2 people carries Helicobacter pylori. [3] If meals are not separated, the disease can be transmitted between family members.

Therefore, we should popularize this knowledge to our family members. No matter where we eat, it is best to implement the system of separate meals , use public chopsticks and spoons, and do not use your own chopsticks to pick up food for each other.

02

Special groups of people eat like this

During the Spring Festival holiday every year, many patients with chronic diseases seek medical treatment due to improper eating and drinking, aggravated conditions or acute attacks. So, what should chronic disease patients and special groups such as the elderly and children pay attention to in their diet ?

Diabetic patients

Diabetic patients and people who need to lose weight should eat in a reasonable way and try to diversify their food, because mixed meals will keep blood sugar levels relatively stable after meals. For example, the GI value of eating steamed bread alone is generally above 80, which is a high-GI food and causes a large blood sugar reaction after meals, while the GI value of steamed bread + celery scrambled eggs is only 49, which is a low-GI food and keeps blood sugar levels relatively stable after meals.

Every meal should include staple food + protein + vegetables. You can eat some nuts before meals to reduce your appetite, balance nutrition and avoid greasy food. The staple food should be a combination of coarse and fine, and eat less refined white rice and flour. You can add whole grains such as oatmeal, buckwheat, black rice, mung bean, chickpea, etc. to the rice to make a multi-grain rice, which is more conducive to controlling postprandial blood sugar.

When blood sugar is stable, you can eat some fruit as a snack. It is recommended to choose low GI fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, grapes, and oranges, and control the intake to about 250 grams per day.

Cardiovascular disease patients

Try to eat a low-salt, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, and eat less or no fried foods, ham, bacon, fatty meat, animal oil, butter, coconut oil, and other foods high in saturated fatty acids that are not conducive to controlling blood lipids. You can increase the intake of foods rich in unsaturated fatty acids such as salmon, mackerel, cod, and nuts, which help regulate blood lipids and are beneficial to cardiovascular diseases.

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In addition, foods with high cholesterol content, such as squid, whitefish, crab roe, animal offal, animal brains, etc., should also be eaten less.

Patients with gastrointestinal diseases

People with poor gastrointestinal function should eat small meals frequently and avoid overeating . Food should be cooked as finely, softly and rotten as possible to make it easy to digest. Boiling, steaming and stewing are recommended as the main cooking methods. Eat less fried, deep-fried and smoked food.

Also be careful not to drink alcohol, carbonated drinks, strong tea or strong coffee.

Gout patients

If people with gout and hyperuricemia want to avoid the pain of gout attacks, they must pay special attention to their diet and avoid eating foods high in purine .

Common high-purine foods include animal offal such as pork liver, chicken liver, duck liver, and crustaceans such as river crabs, hairy crabs, lobsters, mantis shrimps, scallops, oysters, clams, mussels, etc. In addition, you should also pay attention to drinking less broth, sugary drinks, and alcohol.

Elderly and children

The gastrointestinal functions of the elderly and children are relatively fragile, so it is best for them to eat soft, light, and easily digestible foods . For example, during the Spring Festival, families cook fish, which means "abundance every year." The elderly are best to choose fish belly, which is the part of the fish belly. The meat is soft and easy to digest and absorb, and it is rich in EPA and DHA, which is beneficial for controlling blood lipids. At the same time, you should pay attention to removing fish bones to avoid being stuck by fish bones. [4]

For elderly people over 80 years old, their chewing and swallowing abilities are limited, so they should try to avoid eating large, hard, rough, and greasy foods.

Children should drink less sweet drinks to avoid increasing the risk of tooth decay and obesity . Adults should not use chopsticks or spoons to dip in wine to "tease" children during meals. This is not only unfunny, but also disgusting and bad for children's health. Drinking alcohol not only affects children's liver health and bone development, but also affects brain development, leading to decreased memory and learning ability.

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For infants and young children, adults should be present when they eat to avoid choking, especially whole nuts, grapes, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes, raisins, peanuts, jelly, etc., which are all "dangerous elements".

03

Summarize

During the Spring Festival, you should also eat a variety of foods and a balanced diet. Especially since many people have not fully recovered from the "Yang Kang" period, you must not be careless and must supplement nutrition, drink less, rest more, and avoid strenuous exercise .

References:

[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537084/

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

[3] Chinese Medical Association, Chinese Medical Association Journal, Chinese Medical Association General Practice Branch, Chinese Medical Association Gastroenterology Branch Helicobacter pylori Study Group, Chinese Medical Association "Chinese Journal of General Practitioners" Editorial Committee, Digestive System Disease Primary Care Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines Expert Group. Primary Care Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for Helicobacter pylori Infection (2019) [J]. Chinese Journal of General Practitioners, 2020, 19(05): 397-402.

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

Author | Xue Qingxin, registered dietitian

Review | Jia Kai Director of the Nutrition Department, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University

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