Reasonable food combination, both variety and nutrition meet the standards

Man is iron and rice is steel. If you don’t eat for a meal, you will be hungry!

Eat three meals a day, add appropriate snacks, eat at regular times and in regular amounts, and don't forget any meal.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022), we should eat 12 kinds of food every day, 25 kinds of food per week, and reasonably match the amount of each food. So, how can we easily meet the standard in three meals a day?

Generally speaking, our food can be divided into five categories:

The first category is cereals and tubers, including cereals (whole grains), tubers and beans; the second category is fruits and vegetables; the third category is foods rich in protein sources; the fourth category is nuts; the fifth category is cooking oil and salt, but we must make it clear that the rich variety of food does not include cooking oil and condiments.

Next, we will analyze it from three aspects: carbon, nitrogen and vegetables:

Carbon, also known as carbohydrates, is the main source of energy for us, which is our daily cereals and potatoes, various staple foods such as rice and noodles.

Nitrogen can represent foods that are rich in protein sources, including animal foods, livestock, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, soybeans and their products.

Vegetables include leafy vegetables, melons and tomatoes, or fungi and algae.

In order to ensure that the food variety meets the standards, our general principle is to ensure that there are staple foods and vegetables at every meal, eat fruits and dairy products every day, eat soy products frequently, and occasionally have some nuts.

1. Eat like this and you can easily get 12 kinds of

Breakfast: 1 carbon, 2 nitrogen, 1 vegetable: 1 serving of staple food. You can choose to eat steamed buns, bread, steamed bread, millet porridge, noodles, etc. every day. Make sure to eat one egg, one portion of soy milk or milk. Milk can be alternated with yogurt, cheese, goat milk, and a few tomatoes or cucumbers are the icing on the cake. 4 kinds of food can easily meet the standard!

If lunch and dinner are the same, ensure 2 carbons, 2 nitrogens and 3 vegetables : If conditions permit, the staple food should be coarse grain rice, and two grains should be mixed together, which means at least two kinds of food. For protein-rich foods, choose two from livestock, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, soybeans and their products. Choose 3 vegetables: 1 leafy vegetable, 1 fruit, and 1 fungus and algae. 7 kinds of food can easily meet the standard!

2. How to reach 25 kinds of food per week

We can exchange similar foods. The staple food is not only rice and flour, but also potatoes and beans. The food sources of protein are even more abundant. Pork, chicken, duck, beef, mutton, fish, shrimp, crab, soybean and its products can be exchanged at will. The more colorful the vegetables, the better. Only with a variety of foods can we achieve a balanced diet and ensure nutrition.

Tips:

If you have more time, plenty of energy, and different lunch and dinner options, there will be more variety of food.

Just now we talked about eating fruits every day. When adding food, choose 1-2 kinds of fruits, and have a handful of nuts (the size of your palm) every now and then. Add one more kind of food to your diet. In this way, you can have at least 12 kinds of food a day.

References:

1.Dietary Guidelines for Residents of Chinese Nutrition Society (2022).

2. The picture is from the Chinese Nutrition Society.

National Nutrition Week, registered dietitians take action

Author: Niu Yang

Instructors: Cai Wei, Tang Qingya, Feng Yi

Department of Clinical Nutrition, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine

Project source: Shanghai Health Science Popularization Youth Talent Project (JKKPYC-2022-06)