However, such a simple sentence "adjusting diet" is actually "very different". Among them, a key issue is that everyone has not received very authoritative and systematic guidance.
The good news is that at the end of 2020, the "Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in China" led by Cardiovascular Branch of Chinese Medical Association gave clear guidance on "reasonable diet".
At the end of 20021,the guidelines for cardiovascular diet issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) directly put forward "dietary suggestions to protect the cardiovascular system".
In this article, we will talk about how to protect the cardiovascular system and "diet regulation".
Combined with the guidance of Chinese and foreign medical guidelines, see what important suggestions are there.
First of all, both medical guidelines clearly point out that a diet rich in whole grains can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Moreover, in the model of "China residents' balanced diet" proposed by China Nutrition Society, it is advocated that the daily staple food should contain 50~ 150g of whole grains and miscellaneous beans.
In other words, we'd better arrange some whole grains in our daily staple food, instead of just eating a little every once in a while or occasionally. So, which foods are "whole grains"?
Whole grains mainly refer to grains that still retain natural germ, bran and other ingredients without fine processing. Usually eat whole grains: corn, millet, oats, black rice, buckwheat, brown rice and so on.
Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, I believe everyone can understand.
Many dietary patterns that protect the cardiovascular system, such as DASH diet and Mediterranean diet, emphasize the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits.
In this dietary guide of the American Heart Association, two key words are emphasized: "variety" and "dark color".
"Variety" refers to the development of agricultural technology today, which has made us rich in fresh vegetables and fruits that can be eaten all year round. Therefore, in daily life, we suggest that you choose all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits instead of always eating one or two.
"Dark color" refers to the color of vegetables and fruits. The darker the color, the richer the nutrition. I suggest you choose more dark fresh vegetables and fruits.
Protein in food is rich in sources, including plant protein and animal protein. Animal protein can be divided into fish, meat, eggs, milk and so on.
On how to choose protein, combined with the relevant suggestions in the Sino-US guide, we can draw the following four suggestions:
First, it is advocated to replace animal protein with plant protein such as beans. Simply put, eat more beans or bean products and eat less meat;
Second, animal protein advocates eating more fish and seafood. That is, eat more fish and seafood and eat less meat;
Third, pigs, cattle, mutton, chickens, ducks and poultry can also be eaten properly, but they should be mainly unprocessed lean meat. That is, eat less fat meat and processed meat such as cured meat and bacon;
Fourthly, we advocate replacing full-fat dairy products with low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
In this part about protein, we didn't talk about the intake of eggs. This is because many people are used to classifying eggs as cholesterol food (yolk).
In fact, whether cholesterol intake will definitely increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death is still controversial in medicine. The study also found that the "bad cholesterol" (low density lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C) that leads to atherosclerosis is more synthesized by our own liver, not necessarily through food intake.
Therefore, medical guidelines point out that cholesterol is not inedible, but to be on the safe side, "excessive" cholesterol should be avoided.
Fat is also an important part of our diet. Doesn't mean I never eat fat, so there is no fat in my food.
In fact, the oil, margarine, coffee partner and so on we use for cooking are all fats.
However, fats are also divided into three categories: saturated fats, trans fats and unsaturated fats.
Many studies have proved that unsaturated fat is more beneficial to cardiovascular health than saturated fat and trans fat. Therefore, medical guidelines advocate replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat and avoiding trans fat intake.
So, what are the specific foods of unsaturated fat, saturated fat and trans fat?
Unsaturated fats mainly include olive oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil, tea oil, fish oil and other vegetable oils;
Saturated fat mainly includes: tallow, lard, tallow and other animal oils, palm oil, coconut oil and other vegetable oils;
Trans fats include: margarine, margarine, coffee partner, etc.
Eating salty food will raise blood pressure and even increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. I believe many friends have understood.
The "Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in China" directly suggests that the daily salt intake of adults should be controlled within 5g.
In fact, social surveys have found that more and more salt we consume every day comes from packaged snacks, processed food and eating out. So if you want to eat less salt, you should eat less snacks, take-out less, eat less out, cook more at home, and put less salt when cooking.
In addition, sugary drinks, sugary foods, desserts and sweets should also be reduced. Health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are all related to the increase of sugar intake.
Some people say that drinking less wine and wine can "soften blood vessels" and benefit cardiovascular health.
In fact, the influence of alcohol on cardiovascular system is influenced by many factors and is uncertain.
Therefore, medical guidelines do not recommend taking a small amount of alcohol to prevent cardiovascular disease! For those who never drink, don't drink; For people who have drinking habits, they should also drink as little as possible.
What we said before was all suggestions for a particular food. The latest medical concepts increasingly emphasize the overall diet pattern and the balance of various foods.
Among them, the concept of "heat balance" is very important and can be interpreted from two levels:
First of all, we must deal with the overall balance between calorie intake and calorie consumption. Generally speaking, diet adjustment is not to eat less blindly, but to eat more and exercise more, so as to ensure that the foods you eat more have corresponding sports or activities to consume. The goal is to maintain long-term stability of weight, not to gain weight continuously;
Second, we should also arrange the proportion of carbohydrates (staple food, rice) in the total calories of food. "Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in China" recommends that carbohydrates account for 50%~55% of total daily calories. Simply put, it is to reduce the proportion of exquisite staple foods such as rice and increase the quantity of fresh vegetables, fruits and high-quality protein.
Ok, what should I do about cardiovascular protection and diet adjustment? Have you understood these eight important suggestions?