National Science Day | Balanced Diet Plate = Happy Planet!

Under the current propaganda bombardment of various networks, media, and businesses, if we lack health awareness and blindly pursue taste, convenience, fashion and happiness and eat blindly, it is easy to become overweight or obese. Moreover, unhealthy eating habits and health awareness will affect their lives and induce adult obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood lipids, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, etc.

So how should we eat healthily and conveniently?

What is a Balanced Meal Plate

Generally speaking, people of different ages need comprehensive, adequate and balanced nutrition, that is, a balanced diet. In order to facilitate the understanding and mastery of the concept of a balanced diet, nutrition experts from the Chinese Nutrition Society launched a new version of a visual balanced diet plate in 2022, presenting the reasonable composition, combination and approximate proportion of a meal and a day's food in a very vivid and intuitive form.

The design of the balanced meal plate has the concept of separate dining. In fact, separate dining is not unique to Western culture. As early as in ancient Chinese murals, it can be traced back to the banquet scene of one person per table. It is one of the dietary traditions of the Chinese nation.

Reasonable meal distribution is a good way to measure nutritional balance. You can put the cooked dishes on the nutritious plate according to each person's actual needs, making it easier to control the amount of food. It is also more helpful for children to learn the nutritional ratio of food, cultivate healthy eating habits, and reduce waste.

What is more worth mentioning is that the separate dining system can also reduce the risk of cross-infection to a certain extent, and play a role in protecting yourself and your relatives and friends.

Understanding the Plate

Balanced diet plates are roughly divided into four categories: cereals and potatoes, fish, meat, eggs and beans, vegetables, and fruits. In fact, as long as you learn the approximate proportions of each food type, put the food into the grid according to the category, and ensure the diversity of food, balanced diet is very simple and easy to operate.

1. Eat a variety of foods, mainly cereals

Cereals and potatoes include all staple foods, including cereals, beans, rice, steamed bread, dumplings, etc., which should account for the majority of the total dietary energy of the day, and the proportion of vegetables on the plate ranks first. And a small part (about 1/3) of rice can be replaced with whole grains such as brown rice, millet, and oats, and a moderate amount of potatoes can be consumed at the same time.

2. Eat vegetables at every meal

Vegetables should also occupy the largest portion on the plate. However, people often do not consume enough vegetables on a daily basis. In fact, the micronutrients and phytochemicals in vegetables are very important for human metabolism and growth and development, and are an indispensable factor in a balanced diet. In addition, each type of vegetable provides slightly different nutrients. You can have more than two dishes for lunch and dinner, and fresh dark leafy vegetables account for half.

3. Eat fruit every day

Eat one or two pieces of fruit a day, about the size of a fist, which is relatively small on the plate. Fruit can be eaten as a snack between meals, or added to yogurt or oatmeal as a dessert.

4. Eat fish, meat, eggs and beans in moderation

Common meat products include poultry, beef, mutton, pork and eggs, as well as aquatic products, seafood and shellfish. Animal foods provide the high-quality protein, fat, and fat-soluble vitamins that the human body needs every day, but because they are usually high in fat and energy, they need to be controlled in portion size and occupy a smaller space on the plate. When cooking, you should also choose less processed meat and avoid eating fat and skin. At the same time, soy products are also a very high-quality source of plant protein and can replace part of the meat.

5. Drink a glass of milk every day

The cup next to the plate indicates the importance of dairy products, especially for adolescents, who need calcium and high-quality protein for growth and development. It is recommended to drink at least 300 ml of milk every day. People with lactose intolerance can choose the right milk under the guidance of a nutritionist.

Use a plate

It's all talk and no action. In daily life, we can refer to the food plate to reasonably distribute the various foods for the approximate distribution of each food amount.

If we eat well, is Happy Planet far away?

Summarize

1. The adoption of separate dining in homes, schools, workplaces and other places helps to cultivate healthy eating habits;

2. Balanced meal plates help control individual food intake and prevent obesity;

3. Balanced meal plates can reduce waste and lower the risk of cross-infection of diseases.

Project source: Shanghai Science and Technology Commission Science Popularization Project Funding (Project No.: 21DZ2301800)

Author: Zhang Minjing Niu Yang | Department of Clinical Nutrition, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine