A balanced diet includes eating enough vegetables and fruits

The core standard for the intake of fruits and vegetables required by a balanced diet is "a variety of fresh vegetables with a predominance of dark colors, and complete low-GI fresh fruits." Looking at our country's Dietary Guidelines for Residents, we can also see that we need to eat 300-500g of vegetables every day, of which dark green and purple-red vegetables account for more than half. 200-350g of fruits per day is enough. Eating more will easily lead to excessive sugar levels. A while ago, I helped Aunt Zhang downstairs adjust her diet. To save time, she ate cabbage and potatoes with rice every meal. For more than half a year, she always felt constipated and tired. I asked her to bring half a piece of purple cabbage and a small amount of red cabbage every time she went shopping. Change the spinach or lettuce to shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms and other mushrooms twice a week. When eating fruits, don’t boil them into pear water or squeeze orange juice. Just wash them and eat them. Within three weeks, she said her bowel movements were much smoother and she was less likely to take a nap in the afternoon.

At this point, someone must ask, are out-of-season fruits and vegetables really not as good as those in season? This is also a topic that is discussed a lot in the nutrition circle now. One school of thought believes that most fruits and vegetables out of season are grown in greenhouses, which have insufficient light and accumulated temperature. Their nutrient density is lower than those in season. Some of them are also at risk of exceeding pesticide residues. If you can eat in-season fruits and vegetables, try to choose in-season ones. The other group thinks that there is no need to be too harsh. For example, in the winter in the north, there are few fresh green leafy vegetables. If you don’t eat them at all because you think it is out of season, it will be worth the loss. As long as they are qualified products sold in regular supermarkets and markets, eating them is better than not eating them at all.

Another pitfall that everyone easily falls into is eating juice and dried fruits as fresh fruits. I once met a girl who was losing weight. She drank two cups of freshly squeezed juice every day without eating, claiming that she was eating a "healthy meal." As a result, she gained two pounds in half a month. This is also quite common. There are two opinions now. One group thinks that after juicing, Juice is easy to absorb and is suitable for the elderly who need to quickly replenish energy after exercise and have bad teeth. However, the mainstream consensus still recommends eating whole fresh fruits. After all, most of the dietary fiber will be lost when juicing. If you are full after eating one orange, it may take three to squeeze out one cup of juice. If you drink it in a few mouthfuls, the sugar content will directly exceed the standard, which will put a burden on the body.

In fact, it’s not that complicated to eat enough. When you buy food, you see the fresh and dew seasonal vegetables on the stalls. Just pick two or three of them, red, yellow, green, purple, and put them on a plate. Choose fruits that you like and not too sweet. Just eat a fist-sized amount every day. You don’t have to go after expensive imported fruits and organic vegetables. The best ones are what suits you and you can insist on eating.