In order to ensure the energy and elemental intake for health needs, the nutritional community in China has developed a dietary pagoda for guidance, with detailed recommendations for five major food groups. The first category: cereals and potatoes, mainly providing carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins. Category 2: Animal foods, mainly providing protein, fat, minerals, vitamin A and B vitamins. Category 3: Legumes and products, mainly providing protein, fat, dietary fiber, minerals and B vitamins. Category 4: Vegetables and fruits, mainly providing dietary fiber, minerals, vitamin C and carotene. Category 5: Pure energy foods, which mainly provide energy; vegetable oils also provide vitamin E and essential fatty acids.

The Balanced Diet Pagoda*** is divided into five layers, containing the main types of food that people in China should eat every day. The location and area of each layer of the pagoda is different, reflecting to some extent the status and proportion of various types of food in the diet. Cereals are at the bottom, and each person should eat 300-500g per day; vegetables and fruits are at the second level, and should be eaten 400-500g and 100-200g per day respectively; fish, poultry, meat, eggs, etc. are at the bottom. Fish, poultry, meat, eggs and other animal food is located in the third layer, should eat 125 to 200g per day (fish and shrimp 50g, animal and poultry meat 50 to lOOg, eggs 25 to 50g); dairy and soybean food together occupy the fourth layer, should eat 100g of milk and milk products and 50g of beans and soybean products per day; the fifth layer of salt and oils and fats, of which oils and fats are not more than 25g per day, and salt per day is not more than 6g [4]. exceed 6g[4].

The United States also proposed an updated dietary nutritional structure in 2005 to ensure the maintenance of health. Its characteristics are: (1) emphasize dietary diversity, vegetables should be more colorful varieties, and to eat more legumes and dark green and orange vegetables. (2) Emphasizes the importance of choosing whole grains with the word "whole" - whole wheat bread, whole wheat cakes, cereals, etc. to increase the intake of dietary fiber. (3) Emphasize that foods should be low in fat, with fats and oils coming from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Limit whole milk, butter, cream, lard, and ice cream, and restrictions need to be placed on coconut oil and palm oil from vegetable oils. (4) Emphasize the need to include legumes as a source of protein along with meat. (5) Emphasizes the importance of fruits and the variety of fruits consumed, but the need for moderation in the consumption of fruit juices. (6) Alternate calories (i.e., calories that can be used at will) are set, meaning those used for wine, beer, beverages, candy, cheese, fatty meats, sweets, etc.

Through the above analysis can be known, the essence of health can also be said to be the state of nutritional balance. Nutritional balance maintains the state of health, nutrition and health are inseparable.

References: