How to eat the healthiest "Oriental Diet"? Interpretation of the Dietary Guidelines Part 2

Many people may not have noticed that one of the highlights of the new dietary guidelines is the introduction of the "Chinese Balanced Diet Model" or the "Oriental Diet Model."

The so-called dietary pattern refers to the overall characteristics of the diet of a region, a nation, or a country. It comprehensively summarizes the general picture of food intake over a period of time, that is, the variety, quantity, and proportion of all foods in the diet, thus reflecting the local nutritional intake status and predicting what diseases people are prone to.

Dietary patterns are formed over a long period of time and are closely related to local natural resources, economic levels, cultural traditions, health awareness and nutritional knowledge.

In the past, we have heard about some healthy diet patterns from abroad, such as the "Mediterranean diet pattern", the "DASH diet pattern", the Japanese diet, etc. It seems that healthy diets are all on the other side of the ocean.

In fact, the Chinese nation has had a strong awareness of healthy diet since ancient times, and there are many healthy dietary traditions in various places. However, after the economic development, the unhealthy eating habits of the rich and powerful have become the mainstream of the catering industry, and eating big fish, big meat, big oil and big salt seem to have become a natural pursuit of gourmet food, while many healthy dietary traditions of the people have been forgotten.

For example, the traditional staple food in the northern region is rich in whole grains, beans and potatoes, not just rice and flour. Millet and yellow rice have been staple crops in the north for thousands of years. After corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes were introduced to China, they quickly became important staple food supplements. Residents in the northwest are accustomed to eating a variety of "small grains", such as naked oats, barley, highland barley, buckwheat, etc. "Miscellaneous beans" such as red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, peas, etc. are also important supplements to staple food ingredients.

Numerous studies have confirmed that appropriately increasing whole grains and beans in staple foods instead of white rice and white flour can help reduce the risk of various diseases such as obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and reduce all-cause mortality, which is conducive to health and longevity.

In many northern regions, you can see a variety of healthy ways to eat grains. For example, oat noodles, oat rolls, oat fish, oat dumplings, buckwheat noodles, buckwheat cakes, buckwheat bowls and other Northwest-style snacks are very popular and have even become famous food. Two kinds of rice (millet and rice), millet porridge, corn grits porridge, corn cakes, millet pancakes, etc. are common foods for northerners. Eight-treasure porridge, purple rice porridge, kidney bean porridge, mung bean porridge, pea yellow, kidney bean rolls, baked sweet potatoes, etc. are listed as old Beijing delicacies. Mixed bean noodles made with pea powder, kidney bean powder, etc. are traditional foods in North China. "Water rice" made from sorghum rice and corn is a favorite summer staple food in Northeast China.

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Due to the high yield of rice, as well as the developed economy and relative affluence, southerners have a higher demand for refined staple foods and eat relatively less whole grains. However, the southern region has a wide network of waterways, a mild climate, and abundant products, which has brought a diverse supply of food. People can eat more green leafy vegetables, seasonal fruits, and fish and shrimp, and obtain a richer supply of micronutrients and more omega-3 fatty acids.

Compared with the northern regions where people traditionally consume less vegetables, Jiangnan cuisine places particular emphasis on the richness of vegetable varieties. The saying "If you don't eat greens for three days, you'll see stars in your eyes" vividly illustrates how much the local residents love fresh green leafy vegetables.

At the same time, the seasoning in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and South China is relatively light, and the amount of salt used in cooking is lower than that in the north, which is conducive to reducing the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. These regions are also good at cooking less oily delicacies, such as "boiled greens", "boiled shrimp", "steamed fish", "white-cut chicken" and other eating methods, making full use of the advantages of fresh and natural ingredients, and being able to fully enjoy the deliciousness on the basis of less oil and less salt.

At the same time, our country's residents are good at cooking and eating various soy products, and they also like a variety of nuts and oilseed foods.

Northeastern China's soy products are rich in aroma and are a good source of plant protein and calcium.

Old Beijingers love to use sesame paste, which is rich in calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin E. Adding a spoonful of it when mixing cold noodles, cold dishes, making cakes and dipping sauces can just meet the daily requirement of 10 grams of nut oil seeds.

Most areas use vegetable oil as cooking oil and peanuts and melon seeds as snacks, which provide sufficient unsaturated fatty acids.

The "Eastern Dietary Pattern" recommended by the 2022 Dietary Guidelines summarizes the traditional healthy diet advantages of various parts of China. It incorporates the tradition of moderate intake of whole grains, beans and potatoes in the northern region, and brings together the dietary advantages of abundant aquatic products, diverse vegetables and low salt intake in the southeast coastal region, and incorporates the results of encouraging the intake of dairy products in recent years. Recent studies have found that

If you can follow this healthy dietary pattern, you can effectively reduce the risks of obesity, hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease and various cancers, and it will be more beneficial to your health and longevity.

Studies have confirmed that this dietary pattern is no less effective than the internationally renowned “Mediterranean Dietary Pattern” and “DASH Dietary Pattern”, and is even healthier.

So, what is this oriental diet pattern? It is the food structure recommended in the new version of the dietary pyramid.

-- Appropriate and varied staple foods: 200-300 grams of grains per day, including 50-150 grams of whole grains, plus 50-100 grams of potatoes.

——Abundant vegetables and fruits. Eat 300-500 grams of vegetables and 200-350 grams of fruits every day. A wide variety of vegetables and fruits, and eat fresh green leafy vegetables every day.

——A small amount of meat and abundant aquatic products. 200-300 grams of fish and shrimp aquatic products per week,

——Soy products, nuts and milk every day. 300-500 grams of milk every day, and about 35 grams of soybeans and nuts in total.

——Use less salt and less oil in cooking. Limit salt to 5 grams and oil to 25 grams per day.

Like the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, the Eastern dietary pattern encourages the intake of whole grains, a variety of vegetables and fruits, and dairy products that are not too high in fat, and requires regular intake of seafood.

Compared with the Mediterranean diet, the Eastern dietary pattern does not require drinking red wine, does not require cooking with olive oil, and the fish intake does not require all to be marine fish; freshwater fish are also included in the diet.

Compared with the DASH diet, the Eastern dietary pattern does not require completely eliminating white rice and white flour, nor does it require completely eliminating red meat.

In addition, this dietary pattern has three characteristics that other dietary patterns do not have. First, it requires controlling the total amount of cooking oil, even the amount of vegetable oil must be controlled; second, it encourages low-temperature cooking and avoids frying, smoking and grilling; third, it emphasizes eating fresh green leafy vegetables.

The reason why we advocate controlling the total amount of cooking oil is that although my country has maintained the cooking tradition of using vegetable oil in the past 40 years, the excessive pursuit of crispy and fragrant food taste has led to an increasing amount of oil consumption, which has exceeded 40 grams per person per day.

At the same time, deep-frying, pan-frying, and stir-frying not only introduce a lot of fat and significantly increase the calories of food, but also produce fat oxidation products, pro-inflammatory products, and trans fatty acids under high-heat conditions, which are extremely unfavorable for preventing obesity and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Excessive dietary fat intake along with carbohydrates can also reduce insulin sensitivity, which is not conducive to preventing diabetes.

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It is recommended to eat fresh green leafy vegetables cooked with less oil because green leafy vegetables are not only rich in important nutrients such as folic acid, vitamin B2, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, etc., but also rich in various phytochemicals such as lutein and flavonoids, which are beneficial for the prevention of diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cognitive decline in the elderly and various cancers.

Fortunately, my country is a rare country with sufficient production capacity of green leafy vegetables, and its production capacity can meet the nutritional needs of the people.

The introduction of the Oriental Diet Model not only reflects the Chinese people's cultural confidence in their traditional diet, but also conforms to the research results of nutrition science over the past decades. It can best meet the nutritional needs of the Chinese people and help reduce the risk of chronic diseases and cancer.

An example of a daily diet in the Oriental dietary pattern (for a non-pregnant adult female with light physical activity):

breakfast

1 multi-grain egg soft pancake with lettuce instead of crispy (millet flour + mung bean flour + standard wheat flour), 1 cup of soy milk, 2 walnut kernels

Morning snack: 2 scoops of instant oatmeal mixed with milk powder

Lunch

Chicken stewed with mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots, stir-fried Chinese cabbage with tofu and bean curd sheets, cold shredded lettuce, more than half a bowl of steamed rice (millet + rice), and 1 slice of roasted sweet potato.

Afternoon snack: 120 grams of yogurt, 1 orange

dinner

Steamed fish with fermented black beans, stir-fried black fungus, green pepper and shredded carrots, blanched lettuce, and a small bowl of brown rice.

This diet is for maintaining weight, not for losing weight. You need to take about 10,000 steps a day, including at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise. Eat well and move enough to get enough nutrition and energy every day!

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Fan Zhihong_Original Nutrition Information