Spring Festival diet hides the risk of obesity and chronic diseases! Master the "Three Lows and One High" trick to avoid worries

The Lunar New Year is approaching, and it is a great time for friends and family to gather around the fire. However, in the joyous atmosphere of the New Year, people often eat a lot of meat and fish during the Spring Festival, and unknowingly consume too many calories. Moreover, common New Year dishes or snacks are prone to high oil, high salt, high sugar and insufficient dietary fiber. In addition, people often stay up late, have an abnormal lifestyle and lack of exercise during the New Year, which may lead to weight gain, gastrointestinal problems, and increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. Here I would like to share the tips for healthy eating during the Chinese New Year: "Three Lows and One High": a low-oil, low-salt, low-sugar, high-fiber diet principle, so that everyone can have a healthy, burden-free, happy Chinese New Year.

Master the "Three Lows and One High" tips for healthy eating during the Spring Festival

Low oil: less frying, low oil cooking, choose low-fat meat

Eat less fried or pan-fried New Year's dishes, such as sweet and sour fish, pineapple shrimp balls, fried rice cakes, fried radish cakes, etc. It is recommended to cook New Year's dishes by steaming, boiling, cold mixing, roasting, grilling, stewing, and braising, such as steamed fish, drunken shrimps, roasted rice cakes, steamed radish cakes, etc., to reduce the intake of extra fat.

When choosing New Year's dishes, try to avoid consuming meat high in saturated fatty acids, such as pork knuckle, Dongpo pork, offal and fatty skin. It is recommended to replace them with low-fat soy products, chicken, lean meat or fish and shrimp. In addition, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and chicken soup are soups with high oil content. It is recommended to boil the soup and remove the floating oil before drinking. Moreover, most of the ingredients of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall are fried. It is recommended to stew the ingredients directly instead of frying them to reduce the intake of excessive fat.

Low salt: Choose natural ingredients, less processed foods, and less salt for seasoning

It is recommended to choose fresh and natural ingredients for New Year's dishes, and eat less pickled, smoked and processed foods, such as sausages, smoked chicken, sauerkraut, bacon, mullet roe, various meat and fish balls, hot pot ingredients, etc. In order to preserve food and add flavor, salt is added during the processing, which can lead to accidentally consuming too much salt. Sugar or chemical additives are also added, and eating too much can easily increase the burden on the body.

When it comes to seasoning, use less high-salt sauces such as bean paste, shacha sauce, chili sauce, and tomato sauce. It is recommended to use natural spices such as green onions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, onions, coriander, mushrooms, kelp, basil, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns to increase the flavor of the overall dish. If you use soy sauce, salt, vinegar, and other condiments, be careful to use them in moderation. In addition, avoiding rice with braised meat or soup is also a way to reduce salt intake.

Low sugar: Choose unflavored and low-calorie small package snacks and sugar-free beverages

Common New Year snacks such as inch-long dates, raw candy, nougat, peanut candy, mochi, shachima, candied fruit, dried meat, egg rolls, etc. are high in sugar, oil, salt and low in nutritional value. Eating too much will easily increase calories and body burden, so it is recommended to eat a small amount; or choose lower-calorie and unseasoned snacks, such as seaweed, konjac strips, roasted squid shreds, original nuts, etc., and 1 tablespoon of nuts is recommended per day; or replace snacks with fruits, eat 1 serving each time (about the size of a fist), and eat up to 2 times a day, which can also help increase the intake of dietary fiber and vitamins. In addition, sharing happiness with others is worse than enjoying it alone. It is recommended that you choose snacks in small packages and share them with everyone to disperse the calorie intake.

In addition to snacks, sugary drinks are often consumed during the Chinese New Year. Drinking too many sugary drinks such as soda, commercially available fruit juice, sugary tea drinks, etc. can easily cause obesity problems and even increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is recommended that sugary drinks can be replaced with sugar-free drinks, or sugar-free flavored sparkling water can be selected to increase the festive atmosphere. Commercially available fruit juices tend to have too much sugar. It is recommended that you read the nutrition label first to understand how much sugar it contains.

Traditional New Year's Eve meals are often based on meat, with fewer vegetable dishes, which can lead to insufficient dietary fiber intake. Therefore, you can add vegetable dishes such as mushroom longan, colorful seasonal vegetables, and garlic-mixed bok choy when eating New Year's Eve meals.

High fiber: Eat more vegetables and choose whole grains instead

Traditional New Year's Eve meals are often based on meat, and vegetable dishes are rarely eaten, which makes it easy to lack dietary fiber intake. Therefore, you can add vegetable dishes such as mushroom long-year-old dishes, colorful seasonal vegetables, and garlic-mixed bok choy when eating New Year's Eve meals, or pair vegetables with meat dishes such as scallop baby cabbage, cabbage stew, bamboo shoots braised pork, mushroom and vegetable chicken soup, etc., to increase dietary fiber intake and improve satiety, and even prevent constipation.

In addition, during the Chinese New Year, you can use whole grains such as brown rice, barley, corn, sweet potato, taro, lotus root, yam and other foods to replace steamed cakes, rice cakes, radish cakes, oily rice, and glutinous rice balls to increase the intake of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Just be aware that these foods, like rice and noodles, are staple foods, and excessive intake can easily increase calories. Especially for diabetics, if you eat the above foods, it is recommended to eat less rice and noodles for the meal.

Drink less and exercise more

It is easy to drink alcohol to liven up the atmosphere when relatives and friends gather together during the Chinese New Year. If you want to drink, it is recommended to drink in small amounts, try to choose less sweet alcohol and do not drink on an empty stomach. It is recommended that men do not exceed 2 servings of alcohol equivalents per day and women do not exceed 1 serving of alcohol equivalent per day. 1 alcohol equivalent is equivalent to 375 ml of beer (4% alcohol content), 150 ml of fruit wine (10% alcohol content), 40 ml of brandy (40% alcohol content) or 30 ml of kaoliang liquor (53% alcohol content). During the Chinese New Year period, it is inevitable to eat more and exercise less, which will cause weight gain. It is recommended to maintain regular exercise to burn calories.

Conclusion

Let us follow the tips for healthy eating during the Chinese New Year: "three lows and one high": low oil, low salt, low sugar, and high fiber. Let us reduce drinking and exercise more regularly so that the whole family can eat happily and healthily during the Chinese New Year.

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