What is the hottest healthy food in 2021? You must be eating it every day!

In January this year, Dingxiang Doctor issued a questionnaire for the "National Health Survey", and more than 60,000 readers participated in the survey. After summarizing and analyzing all the data, the "2022 National Health Insight Report" was produced.

In this report, I was responsible for interpreting the dietary nutrition part. When I looked at the raw data in the report, several data impressed me:

1

Eating has become healthier!

First, it is gratifying that in the "stay-at-home" life caused by the epidemic, only one in ten people think that their eating habits have become unhealthy, and half of the people think that their eating habits have become healthier.

2

Body shape issues become a problem!

Second, among various health concerns, people's concern about body shape surpassed skin shape for the first time, ranking second, mainly due to obesity-related body shape concerns.

3

Sugar-free drinks are the hottest!

Third, the hot word in the food industry in 2021 is "sugar-free beverages". People mentioned that the most popular category is sugar-free beverages. Many people started to choose "sugar-free beverages", which is actually related to body problems. Many people believe that "sugar-free beverages" can help them lose weight and relieve body problems.

So I wrote down the following thoughts and suggestions:

Sugar-free beverages and healthy diet

The survey results for four consecutive years show that healthy eating has always been a topic of great concern to people.

This year, people still have high expectations for healthy eating, and more than half of the people have improved their eating habits. However, there is still a certain gap between people's self-evaluation of healthy eating and their expectations. It can be inferred that people generally still hope that their healthy eating level can be stabilized while continuing to improve.

However, there are still misunderstandings about healthy eating. For example, some people still pay more attention to taste. In their opinion, deliciousness is more important, and hot pot, spicy hot pot, etc. are also regarded as "healthy food" by them.

Hotpot and Malatang are essentially boiled dishes with seasonings. Compared with frying and stir-frying, boiled dishes have relatively low calories. You can choose and match them according to your own preferences, making the ingredients diverse and balanced between meat and vegetables. As long as you pay attention not to make them too salty or too oily, they can still be very healthy. However, many people like to add a large bowl of sesame sauce and chili sauce when eating hotpot and Malatang, which is not very healthy.

The good news is that over the past year, people's overall tastes have tended more and more toward a "four lows" diet of low salt, low sugar, low oil and low spiciness. This is consistent with the direction and goal of the "three reductions" ("reduce salt, reduce oil and reduce sugar") proposed by the current National Healthy China Action (2019-2030).

Among these, the first thing people think of and respond to is reducing sugar.

The survey found that more and more consumers are starting to give up sugary drinks such as milk tea, snacks, and cola. Sugar-free cola, sugar-free milk tea, sugar-free lemon tea and other sugar-free drinks have become the most purchased "healthy foods".

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Sugar-free beverages are beverages made with sugar substitutes. Sugar substitutes refer to substances other than sugar that can add sweetness to food, also known as sweeteners, such as aspartame, cyclamate, erythritol, etc. They only require a small amount to produce sufficient sweetness, contain almost no calories, and are not directly involved in human metabolism, which helps people reduce sugar intake while enjoying delicious food.

For those who want to reduce sugar without losing the sweet taste, choosing sugar-free foods and beverages that use sweeteners instead of sugar is indeed a good solution.

Many people are concerned about the safety of sweeteners. Some even believe that some sweeteners, such as aspartame, have a potential risk of causing cancer. In fact, all sweeteners must undergo a strict safety evaluation before they are allowed to be used. They are only allowed to be used after they are deemed safe. As long as the sweeteners are approved for use, they are safe when used reasonably and will not cause harm to the human body.

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Although sugar-free drinks are people's first choice for "healthy food", we should also remind everyone: being healthy is not as simple as giving up milk tea and drinking some sugar-free drinks.

First of all, sugar is not completely useless.

Sugar is a carbohydrate and one of the seven nutrients required by the human body. Sugar can provide energy to the human body and is also a component of human antibodies, enzymes, cells, internal organs and other tissues. It can ensure that fat is fully oxidized and form glycogen in the body. In addition, sugar is also an important seasoning in the diet and an important ingredient in many foods, playing an important role in satisfying the needs of the tongue.

People often think that sugar is unhealthy, but the key lies in the "amount". Excessive intake of sugar is harmful to health. The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" (2016) recommends that the average adult should not consume more than 50 grams of added sugar per day.

According to the latest "Sugar Intake Level and Risk Assessment of Urban Residents in China", the average daily intake of sugar by urban residents aged three and above in China is 9.1 grams, and the energy supply ratio of sugar is much lower than that of many other countries in the world. It can be seen that the sugar intake of most of us does not exceed the health recommendation, so there is no need to panic about sugar.

Secondly, when controlling and reducing sugar, don’t ignore the home kitchen.

When people talk about "reducing sugar", they think that all they need to do is give up milk tea and drink some sugar-free beverages, but they often ignore the kitchen where we cook three meals a day.

The "Sugar Intake Level and Risk Assessment of Urban Residents in China" shows that the sources of sugar intake for Chinese residents are: cooking sugar (28.2%), sugary dairy products (24.2%), baked goods (19.9%), and beverages (17.7%). It can be seen that cooking sugar is the main source of our sugar intake.

Therefore, we should pay special attention to the health of our daily family diet. We should also pay attention to reducing the amount of sugar when cooking and eating at home, adapt to and cultivate a light taste, eat less foods that contain a lot of sugar, such as sweet and sour spare ribs and braised pork, and try to put less sugar in coffee and tofu pudding to reduce sugar intake.

Many people worry that eating too much sugar will lead to weight gain and obesity, which will increase anxiety about their body shape and appearance. In fact, the main cause of obesity is the imbalance of total energy income and expenditure, not all of which is caused by sugar. The key to preventing obesity is to have a balanced diet, maintain energy balance, and consume excess energy through physical activity.

In general, health is closely related to your daily lifestyle. I suggest you pay attention to three points:

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1. Eat a balanced diet and balanced nutrition.

In addition to giving up milk tea and drinking sugar-free beverages, you also need to arrange your daily diet reasonably. You can refer to the recommendations of my country's Dietary Pagoda, try to achieve food diversity and balanced nutrition to ensure the body's needs for a variety of nutrients.

2. Use healthy cooking methods.

It is recommended to use more cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, blanching and cold dressing, and less frying; try to use less sugar when cooking, and learn to use oil bottles and oil spoons.

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3. Exercise regularly and balance eating and exercise.

In addition to improving your diet, you should also try to exercise more, doing moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week, at least 5 days a week, such as jogging for half an hour a day, or 6,000 steps. The specific amount can be determined based on your personal situation. It is always better to move than not to move.

The "Physical Activity Guidelines for Chinese People (2021)" also pointed out that the basic concepts and principles of exercise are: movement is beneficial, more movement is better, exercise moderately within your ability, and persistence is the key.

The above content is all from the freshly released "2022 National Health Insights Report".

Source: Nutritionist Ruan Guangfeng