A balanced diet is more important

For the vast majority of ordinary people who do not have special diseases or special dietary needs, a balanced diet is the most cost-effective, most stable long-term benefit, and lowest side effect option among all health management plans. It has a much higher priority than the single diet of Internet celebrities, high-priced nutritional supplements, and extreme calorie control, which have become very popular options in recent years.

Two years ago, I helped a girl who had been lifting weights for three years to adjust her diet. In order to get her body fat below 15%, she ate only chicken breast, boiled broccoli and oats every day for four months. She did lose two points of body fat. However, my aunt stopped for two months and her hair fell out in handfuls. During training, she couldn't even lift a 20kg deadlift. She could lift 40kg before. Later, I adjusted her diet back to a balanced structure, adding a small handful of nuts and half a piece of sweet potato every day, and allowed her to eat hot pot or cakes as much as she wanted twice a week. Within three months, my aunt came back, and she lost another point of body fat, and her training state immediately returned to her youth.

Of course, this does not mean that all the popular diets are IQ taxes. The endocrinologists I have contacted will also recommend short-term ketogenic diets to patients with severe insulin resistance to help quickly improve blood sugar indicators.； There are also friends who have been vegan for five or six years. Because of the appropriate combination, their physical examination indicators are better than many people who eat meat. However, these solutions are essentially "narrowly applicable" solutions, which either need to be carried out under the guidance of professionals, or require strong nutritional knowledge reserves. Ordinary people copy the work without understanding the principles, and it is easy to mess up their own metabolism.

Last month, I went to a community to do nutrition education for retired people. An aunt raised her hand and asked me why she spent more than 20,000 yuan a year to buy fish oil, lecithin, and vitamin tablets, but her physical examination still showed that she was deficient in vitamin D and had high triglycerides. When I asked her about her daily diet, she found that every meal consisted of white porridge with pickled vegetables. She would only eat eggs once a week, and only eat a few bites of meat during holidays. Damn, what do you think is the use of taking more supplements? The basics of nutritional intake are not stable, and the few nutrients added cannot fill the holes in the daily diet.

In fact, if you look at the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2022", you will find that the official has placed "balance" at the core from beginning to end. The balanced meal plate is clearly drawn: half cereals, potatoes and beans, half vegetables and fruits, with a small portion of high-quality protein and a small amount of healthy fats. It looks simple, but in fact it just hits the comfort zone of human metabolism-carbohydrates supply energy to the brain and muscles, preventing you from feeling sleepy and fatigued at every turn.； Dietary fiber helps regulate intestinal flora and removes excess cholesterol. ； Protein is the raw material for the synthesis of muscles and antibodies. Without it, immunity will collapse. ； Fat is indispensable, otherwise fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, and E cannot be absorbed by the body. Just like when you are building Lego, no part is missing to make a complete model. The same is true for eating.

I also ate haphazardly when I was working on a project two years ago. I had fried chicken and Coke with a late-night snack for a week. I broke out acne on my face. I was so constipated that I couldn’t even eat dragon fruit for three days. Later, I made a small rule for myself. Even if I eat takeout, I have to get “one meat, one vegetarian and one grain.” It’s really not enough. For grains, I ordered corn instead of white rice. If I'm craving for food, I can still drink milk tea and eat hot pot. I just need to eat two more bites of vegetables the next day to make up for it. After eating like this for almost two years, my weight is stable within the normal range. There is no arrow in my physical examination. I feel much better than before when I dieted by counting calories every day.

Of course, no one requires you to eat in precise grams. There is no need to make eating like a chemistry experiment. It doesn’t matter if you eat an extra piece of cake today or drink an extra cup of milk tea tomorrow. In general, eat a little of everything and don’t overdo it. It is more reliable than expensive supplements or extreme diets. After all, we humans have evolved for hundreds of thousands of years and are inherently omnivores. We are born to eat a variety of foods and a balanced diet, right?