Human food is varied. The nutrients contained in various foods are not exactly the same. Except breast milk, no natural food can provide all the nutrients needed by the human body. A balanced diet must consist of a variety of foods to meet the nutritional needs of the human body and achieve the purpose of reasonable nutrition and health promotion. Therefore, people should be encouraged to eat a wide range of foods.

Various foods should include the following five categories:

The first category is cereals and potatoes: cereals include rice, flour and miscellaneous grains, and potatoes include potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava, which mainly provide carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber and B vitamins.

The second category is animal food: including meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs and so on. , which mainly provides protein, fat, minerals, vitamins A and B.

The third category is beans and their products: including soybeans and other dried beans, which mainly provide protein, fat, dietary fiber, minerals and B vitamins.

The fourth category is vegetables and fruits, including fresh beans, roots, leafy vegetables and eggplant fruits, which mainly provide dietary fiber, minerals, vitamin C and carotene.

The fifth category is pure heat energy food: including animal and vegetable oil, starch, edible sugar, alcohol, etc., which mainly provides energy. Vegetable oil can also provide vitamin E and essential fatty acids.

Cereals are the main part of China's traditional diet. With the development of economy and the improvement of living standards, people tend to eat more animal food. According to the results of 1992 national nutrition survey, the consumption of animal food has exceeded that of cereal in some wealthy families. This "westernized" or "affluent" diet provides too much energy and fat, while the dietary fiber is too low, which is not conducive to the prevention of some chronic diseases. The idea of giving priority to cereals is to remind people to keep the good tradition of China's diet and prevent the disadvantages of developed countries' diet.

In addition, we should pay attention to the matching of thickness and often eat some coarse and coarse grains. Don't grind rice and wheat too fine, or most of the nutrients and dietary fiber contained in the grain surface will be lost to the bran.

Second, eat more vegetables, fruits and potatoes.

Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. There are many kinds of vegetables, such as leaves, stems, flower moss, eggplant, fresh beans, edible fungi and so on. Different varieties contain different nutrients, and even differ greatly. The vitamin content in dark vegetables such as red, yellow and green is higher than that in light vegetables and ordinary fruits. They are carotene, vitamin B2, vitamin C, folic acid and minerals (calcium. Wild fruits developed in China this year, such as kiwi fruit, Rosa roxburghii, Hippophae rhamnoides and blackcurrant, are also rich sources of vitamin C and carotene.

The contents of vitamins and trace elements in some fruits are not as good as those in fresh vegetables, but the contents of glucose, fruit acid, citric acid, malic acid, pectin and other substances in fruits are richer than those in vegetables. Red and yellow fruits, such as fresh dates, oranges, persimmons and apricots, are rich sources of vitamin C and carotene. Potatoes are rich in starch, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. China residents ate less potatoes in the past 10 years, so they should be encouraged to eat more potatoes.

A diet rich in vegetables, fruits and potatoes plays a very important role in maintaining cardiovascular health, enhancing disease resistance, reducing the risk of dry eye in children and preventing some cancers.

Third, often eat milk, beans or their products.

Milk is rich in high-quality protein and vitamins, with high calcium content and high utilization rate. It is an excellent source of natural calcium. The dietary calcium provided by China residents is generally low, reaching only about half of the recommended amount on average. There are also many babies suffering from rickets in China, which may be related to dietary calcium deficiency. A large number of studies show that calcium supplementation for children and adolescents can improve their bone density, thus delaying the rate of bone loss. Therefore, we should vigorously develop the production and consumption of milk. Beans are traditional foods in China, which contain a lot of high-quality protein, unsaturated fatty acids, calcium, vitamin B 1, vitamin B2, nicotinic acid and so on. In order to increase the protein intake of rural population and prevent the adverse effects caused by excessive meat consumption in cities, we should vigorously promote the production and consumption of beans, especially soybeans and their products.

Four, often eat the right amount of fish, poultry, eggs, lean meat, eat less fat and meat oil.

Animal foods such as fish, poultry, eggs and lean meat are good sources of high-quality protein, fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. The amino acid composition of animal protein is more suitable for human needs, and the content of lysine is higher, which is beneficial to supplement the midfoot of lysine in plant protein. Iron in meat is well utilized, and unsaturated fatty acids contained in fish, especially marine fish, can reduce blood lipid and prevent thrombosis. Animal liver is rich in vitamin A, vitamin B 12, folic acid and so on. However, some liver organs, such as brain and kidney, have high cholesterol content, which is unfavorable for preventing cardiovascular diseases. The average amount of animal food consumed by a considerable number of cities and most rural residents in China is not enough, so the intake should be increased appropriately. However, residents in some big cities eat too much animal food and not enough cereals and vegetables, which is not good for their health.

Fat and meat oil are high-energy and high-fat foods. Excessive intake often leads to obesity, which is a risk factor for some chronic diseases, so eat less. At present, pork is still the main meat of our people, and its fat content is high, so we should develop lean pigs. Chicken, fish, rabbit meat, beef and other animal foods have high protein content and low fat content, and the energy produced is much lower than that of pork. It should be strongly mentioned