The “big fish and big meat” was once a good pursuit of people’s dietary life, but nowadays, more and more people choose to eat vegetarian food without worrying about food and clothing. What are the benefits of a vegetarian diet? What are the disadvantages? How should vegetarian food be matched to be healthy? People’s Daily interviewed relevant experts to teach you the science of vegetarian diet.
“Vegetarian diet is a dietary pattern of not eating meat, poultry, seafood and other animal foods.” Dr. Gang Xiaokun, director of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the First Hospital of Jilin University, introduced that the ingredients of vegetarian diet have less fat content and basically do not contain cholesterol, which can reduce the possibility of metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and also reduce the risk of gout and hyperuricemia, prevent and relieve constipation, improve the body’s immunity, help control blood sugar, reduce parasitic infections, and also to a certain extent Reduce the chance of cancer.
Dr. Gang Xiaokun said that a long-term vegetarian diet can also carry the risk of some nutrient deficiencies. It is easy to cause iron deficiency or even iron deficiency anemia, there is a risk of zinc deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, etc. Due to DHA deficiency may also lead to memory loss, and even suffer from neurological diseases.
Jilin University First Hospital nutritionist Yang Shuo introduced, for eating vegetarian, many people have the following misconceptions.
Myth 1: All vegetables are equally good
For vegetarians, the nutritional value of vegetables is more important, should choose vegetables rich in vitamin C, carotene, iron, calcium, folic acid, vitamin B2 and other nutrients, such as kale, green cauliflower, amaranth and other green leafy vegetables. At the same time, you can choose mushroom vegetables and fresh bean vegetables to increase the intake of protein.
Myth 2: Vegetarian diet is based on raw and cold food
Some vegetarians believe that vegetables only have nutritional value when eaten raw, and are keen on cold dishes and salads. In fact, many of the nutrients in vegetables need to add fat to be well absorbed, and the cell wall integrity is destroyed after heating, the absorption rate will be substantially increased.
Myth 3: Eat too much fruit but do not reduce the main food
The sugar energy in the fruit can not be ignored, some vegetarians will eat a lot of fruit in addition to the three daily meals. If you eat more than half a pound of fruit, you should reduce the number of meals or staple foods accordingly to achieve a balance of energy for the day.
So, how to achieve a healthy vegetarian diet? Yang Shuo suggests that the most important thing in daily meals is to achieve a balanced nutrition. Like normal dieters, vegetarians should also pay attention to controlling the total dietary energy, especially the intake of sugar and cooking oil, and try to replace refined white rice and flour with various coarse and mixed grains. A fixed amount of fruits and vegetables, consume more than 500 grams of vegetables per day, and more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C. Consume foods rich in protein, such as beans and nuts. Avoid too much oil and salt, limit oil intake to 25-30 grams per day, do not exceed 6 grams of salt intake, and use less or no MSG and other seasonings containing additives. Consume seaweed, nori and kelp to increase the intake of vitamin B12. Take appropriate supplements of complex nutrients containing iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and vitamin D to avoid nutritional deficiencies.
