Healthy Eating Pagoda Health Education Knowledge Content

The essence of the Healthy Diet Pagoda is a quantitative guidance framework for a balanced diet formulated by my country's nutrition community based on the current status of residents' dietary structure. The core logic is to ensure a balanced intake of daily energy, macronutrients, and micronutrients through the intake gradient of different types of food. It is a reference standard rather than a "rigid rule" that must be strictly implemented. People with different physical conditions and eating habits can dynamically adjust according to their own needs.

Although it looks like a cold layered chart, in the three years I have been doing community nutrition education, I have seen many people who use the pagoda incorrectly. Last month, I met a recently retired Aunt Zhang, who said that she cooked strictly according to the grams marked on the pagoda. Every time she cooked, she used an oil pot to measure the amount, and she added salt accurately to limit the amount of salt spoon. Everything she ate after a week was tasteless. Instead, she couldn't help but secretly buy sauced pork elbows to add to the meal. The oil and salt intake was even higher than before when she didn't control the amount.

We often talk about the five-layer structure. The bottom layer of cereals and potatoes is the basis of energy. Nowadays, many people do not dare to touch a staple food when losing weight. In fact, it is easy to lose muscle, hair, and even affect the aunt's cycle. The daily intake recommended by mainstream nutrition circles is 250-400g, which is roughly the amount of a fist-sized piece of polished rice and white flour plus half a piece of steamed sweet potato. Whole grains and mixed beans are required to account for more than 1/3, which is also to delay the rise of blood sugar and supplement dietary fiber. If you don’t exercise much or have high blood sugar, you can replace white rice flour with oats, quinoa, yams, etc., and it’s no problem to lose 50-100g appropriately. The current popular low-carb diet advocates further reducing the proportion of carbohydrates. As long as you have no underlying diseases and you feel energetic and comfortable after trying it, there is no need to stick to the recommended amount of the pagoda.

Speaking of this, some people must have thought of the layer of vegetables and fruits on top. Last time, a young fitness girl complained to me, saying that she eats 500g of vegetables as required every day, which is all boiled broccoli. The sight of green makes her sick. In fact, the vegetables mentioned by Pagoda should be diversified. Change the dark green leafy vegetables, solanaceous fruits, mushrooms, and roots. Even if you add a little less oil when frying, it will be better than boiling it every day until you anorexia. There are also fruits. Many people are afraid of sugar. In fact, if you eat 200-350g per day, which is about a medium-sized apple and a handful of strawberries, the glycemic load is not that high at all. If you really need to control sugar, just switch to low-GI fruits such as cherry tomatoes and blueberries. There is no need to beat all the fruits to death with a stick.

The recommended amount of fish, poultry, meat, and eggs is 120-200g per day, which is about the amount of one egg plus a palm-sized piece of lean meat or fish. There is even more controversy here. Vegetarians think that there is no need to consume animal foods. In fact, as long as you can get your daily high-quality protein intake through foods such as soy products, quinoa, and nuts, it is completely fine. On the contrary, it will have a lower blood lipid burden than those who eat red meat every day. However, if you usually work out to gain muscle, increase the protein amount to 1.6-2.2g per kilogram of body weight, and eat two more eggs or a few pieces of chicken breast, which is completely in line with your body's needs. You don't have to be stuck on the top of the pagoda to eat more.

For the milk, bean and nut layer on top, it is recommended to consume 300g of liquid milk per day, plus a handful of soybeans or nuts. Friends who are lactose intolerant should not insist on drinking pure milk. They can substitute sugar-free yogurt, Shuhua milk or even calcium-fortified soy milk. I am lactose intolerant, and I get bloating when drinking pure milk. Now I drink 200g of sugar-free yogurt and 100g of soy milk every day. My annual physical examination shows that my bone density is normal and I am not deficient in calcium.

Needless to say, the top layer of oil and salt is the academic consensus of 25-30g of oil and no more than 5g of salt per day. However, not everyone has to stick to this number. If you stay outdoors for a long time in the summer and sweat a lot, it is okay to add a little more salt. Otherwise, you will easily become weak and dizzy, which will be bad for your health.

When I usually educate residents, I always say that the pagoda draws you a "safe zone" for healthy eating, not a "cage" where you cannot cross the line. There is no need to use a scale to weigh the grams of every meal. Occasionally, I go out to eat barbecue hot pot with friends, eat two more bites of meat, eat more vegetables in the next two days, adjust and adjust, and then come back. Healthy eating is a long-term lifestyle habit, not a strict check-in for one or two days, right?