Lose weight by eating vegetarian food? Five healthy principles for less frying and more steaming

Obesity is the public enemy, but can a vegetarian diet help you lose weight? Nutritionists point out that not everyone’s physique is suitable for long-term vegetarianism. If the intake of nutrients is insufficient, one may eat more and more of other things, and instead of losing weight, gain weight. In addition, if you do not pay attention to choosing appropriate ingredients and cooking methods, you may consume more high-calorie fats, which is harmful to your health.

Wang Zinan, a nutritionist at the Nutrition Consultation Clinic of Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, pointed out that there are more than one million vegetarians in the country, but it is actually a common misconception among the public that being a vegetarian can help with weight loss. In fact, weight loss by eating vegetarian food is closely related to factors such as personal physique, food selection, and cooking methods. Because everyone has their own "metabolic pattern", if you don't understand what your body needs and blindly use the wrong methods to lose weight, it will not only be ineffective, but will harm your body.

Eating too much oil can easily make you fat

The survey found that most vegetarians in China eat too much oil, and the type of oil they consume is mostly polyunsaturated fatty acids. This type of oil is unstable in nature and can easily form free radicals due to oxidation during high-temperature cooking, which may accelerate cell aging and cause cancer. Therefore, it should not be used for frying or consumed in excess. It is best to consume a variety of balanced fats from different cooking oils and various nuts.

Nutritionist Wang Zinan pointed out that cooking methods can also easily cause obesity. Vegetarians tend to overcook vegetables during the cooking process, so the nutrients in the vegetables are often destroyed by heat energy and cannot be absorbed by the body. Secondly, they like to stir-fry or deep-fry ingredients with a lot of oil. Although it tastes good, the fat you consume is more than meat, which can easily cause body fat accumulation and make you fatter the more you eat.

5 Principles of Healthy Vegetarianism

1. Eat more protein: Being a vegetarian means changing the protein the human body needs from meat to soy products. Since soy products do not contain cholesterol and animal fat, they will not lead to high blood lipids and vascular sclerosis. At the same time, you should choose more natural soy products, such as tofu, bean buns, bean skin, dried shredded vegetables, vegetarian chicken, etc. Processed vegetarian foods contain too many additives and are not recommended to be consumed too often.

2. Increase whole grain nutrition: to obtain higher B vitamins and minerals, such as germ rice, brown rice, whole wheat products, etc. Your daily diet should include six major food groups: whole grains and tubers, eggs and beans, low-fat dairy products, oils and fats, and nuts and seeds.

3. Consume 5 kinds of fruits and vegetables every day: 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits. Fruits should be eaten with the main meals, and more dark green vegetables should be selected to provide sufficient vitamins and minerals such as calcium and iron. In addition, 2 to 10 servings of fruits should be consumed every day, especially fruits rich in vitamin C, to help iron absorption.

4. Use an appropriate amount of cooking oil: Use 3 to 7 teaspoons of cooking oil every day. Do not deep-fry every dish. Fried soy products, such as fried tofu, gluten, fried bean buns, etc., need to be used in moderation due to the high oil content.

5. New choices for different ages: For vegetarians of different ethnic groups, it is recommended that children and adolescents who are in their developmental period should add eggs and milk to supplement protein; pregnant women should drink more milk because of their high calcium demand in the later stage of fetal development; the elderly often have bad teeth, so they must eat more soy products to help lower cholesterol.