What bad eating habits are the root cause of disease?

Author: Liu Li, Chief Physician of Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Reviewer: Guo Shubin, Chief Physician, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University

As the saying goes, "diseases come from the mouth", which deeply reveals the close relationship between eating and drinking and human health. Whether it is acute gastrointestinal diseases caused by unclean food or long-term bad eating habits, they are inseparable from high blood pressure, cancer, obesity, heart disease, etc.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Unreasonable diet is closely related to disease

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, an unreasonable diet is the main factor in the occurrence of diseases and deaths among Chinese people. In 2017, 3.1 million deaths among Chinese residents were attributed to unbalanced diets. A considerable number of deaths from heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes in China are related to dietary factors.

High-salt and high-fat diets are still common. In the past, when living conditions were poor, people had to boil cabbage in water. Now that living conditions are better, people eat more fried foods and high-salt foods, and the "three highs" diseases follow. A 2015 survey showed that the average daily salt intake for household cooking was 9.3g per person, much higher than the 6g recommended by the World Health Organization. The intake of cooking oil is still high, with cities mainly ordering takeout meals, while rural areas use too much for family cooking.

Whole grains, vegetables, eggs and milk are scarce. In northern my country, pasta is the main food, while in southern China, rice is the main food. Grain intake is mainly refined rice and refined flour, and whole grains and miscellaneous grains are insufficient. Only about 20% of people can reach an average of more than 50g per day. A considerable proportion of people cannot meet the requirements of eating fresh vegetables and fruits every day, especially in the winter in the north, when rural areas mainly eat stored vegetables and fruits. Insufficient milk intake is closely related to insufficient calcium intake in the elderly.

Smoking and drinking are common, and sleep is insufficient. Whether in cities or rural areas, smoking and drinking have become part of daily life. Domestic monitoring results show that the drinking rate of adult males in my country is 64.5%, and that of females is 23.1%. According to the definition of excessive drinking as daily alcohol intake ≥15g, the proportion of excessive drinking among males and females is as high as 56.8% and 27.8% respectively. Smoking and drinking are not only important causes of traffic accidents, fire accidents, etc., but also cause chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Insufficient sleep is very common among middle-aged and elderly people. More than half of the elderly have experienced sleep disorders, which also seriously affects the smooth control of chronic diseases.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Eating grains can cause various diseases. People’s mindset has changed from eating enough to eating well. In the future, people will definitely pursue eating healthily!