To be honest, you may really not understand much about eating staple foods!

As the saying goes, "Food is the first necessity of the people."

It can be seen that diet is important to people

Three Meals a Day

It plays a large role in the composition of life

Even so

I have some questions about eating.

Many people still don’t understand

So today let’s learn about the staple food that must be eaten at every meal

Let’s see how much staple food we eat and how to eat it.

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What are the staple foods?

Staple foods generally refer to cereals and tubers rich in starch (carbohydrates). Cereals, such as rice, corn, millet, oats, wheat flour and their products, and tubers, such as sweet potatoes, taro, potatoes, lotus roots, yam and their products.

Image source: CCTV Life Circle

The main ingredients of staple food are carbohydrates, which are digested and absorbed by the intestines and turned into glucose, which is then transported to the organs of the whole body through the blood to provide energy. Carbohydrates are the most important source of energy for the human body. About 60% of the calories needed by the human body every day are provided by staple food.

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Eating too much or too little staple food will affect your life expectancy

In 2018, The Lancet Public Health published a study that found a U-shaped relationship between staple food (carbohydrate) intake and mortality risk:

1. The risk of death is lowest when energy intake from staple foods (carbohydrates) accounts for 50%-55%.

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

Image source: Science Popularization China

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

“Eating too much” will make you sick

Obesity: Excess calories are converted into fat and stored in the body, making people fat.

Fatigue: Too much food entering the digestive system will reduce the functions of other organs, making people tired and drowsy.

Stomach problems: The direct harm of eating too much is that it increases the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, causing indigestion, and is prone to discomfort such as stomach acid, bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, etc.; it can also damage the gastric mucosa and cause diseases such as gastric perforation and gastric ulcer.

Kidney disease: If you eat too much, too much non-protein nitrogen will be excreted from the kidneys, which will damage the human urinary system, increase the burden on the kidneys, and thus cause kidney disease.

Coronary heart disease: Excessive intake of calories after a full meal will cause increased blood cholesterol, which may induce arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease; it will also increase blood viscosity, induce thrombosis, and cause myocardial infarction.

Image source: Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding: Some people who already have ulcers or chronic liver disease may experience gastrointestinal bleeding and vomit brown food if they eat too much.

Eating less or no staple food will make your body worse and your appearance uglier

Poor physical condition: Eating less staple food can lead to a lack of "fuel" in human cells and tissues, and abnormal energy metabolism, which manifests as fatigue, weakness, and drowsiness.

If you use high-protein and high-fat foods to replace staple foods to fill your stomach, it can easily cause electrolyte disorders, fatigue, arrhythmias, gout, osteoporosis, renal dysfunction, etc.

If you don't eat staple foods and don't eat much meat, and only eat vegetables, it is bound to lead to a lack of protein, vitamins and minerals.

Image source: Life Times

Appearance becomes uglier: skin becomes rough, loose and dull; hair becomes dry or greasy and falls out more and more; memory declines, insomnia, strange temper and irritability occur; ketosis occurs due to low carbohydrates, and the breath smells like rotten apples; women may suffer from anemia, amenorrhea, or even ovarian atrophy.

Image source: Life Times

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How to eat staple food?

Eat more whole grain staple foods and less refined grains (refined white rice and flour). Whole grains are rich in dietary fiber and retain more protein, vitamin B1, calcium, iron and other minerals and phytochemicals such as flavonoids and polyphenols.

After being processed, refined white rice and flour lose nutrients and their nutritional value is significantly reduced. Increasing the intake of whole grains or replacing refined grains with whole grains can reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and colon cancer.

Image source: Science Popularization China

Coarse and fine grains should be matched, and the types are diverse. The choice of staple food should be a combination of coarse and fine grains. Rice can be eaten with whole grains, miscellaneous grains, and miscellaneous beans. Traditional two-grain rice, bean rice, and eight-treasure porridge are all good ways to match staple foods.

Determine the amount of staple food. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016) recommends that adults need to consume 250g~400g of staple food per day, and it is recommended that whole grains and beans account for 50g-150g, and potatoes account for 50g-100g. For example, for an adult weighing 60kg~70kg, each meal requires 2~3 taels of rice, or 1~2 steamed buns.

Image source: Science Popularization China

Choose the right cooking method. Use a soybean milk machine or grinder to make whole grains into whole grain soybean milk or whole grain rice paste. Use a pressure cooker, rice cooker, electric steamer, etc. to cook whole grain staple foods to improve the taste and increase digestion and absorption rate. Add sesame powder, raisins, and jujubes to make whole grain foods more delicious.

Source: Science Popularization China, Xinhuanet, People's Daily, Science Popularization China, Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Science Popularization Guangzhou, Life Times, CCTV Life Circle

END

Editor: Muzi