Obesity may also be malnourished, experts solve ten nutrition lies

People generally believe that people only have nutritional imbalances in food shortage areas, but did you know? Obesity and overweight are also a form of malnutrition. On September 15, researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute pointed out that one-third of the world's people are in a state of nutritional imbalance, and nutritional imbalance problems are spread across various countries.

How to determine whether there is a nutritional imbalance? What other misunderstandings about nutrition in life? Life Times interviewed authoritative nutrition experts to take your pulse.

experts interviewed

Ma Guansheng, Vice Chairman of China Nutrition Society and Professor of Peking University School of Public Health

Lu Daping, Vice Chairman of the Nutrition Professional Committee of Heilongjiang Province Medical Doctor Association

Ji Changzhen, Deputy Director of the Nutrition Department of Beijing Geriatric Hospital

Obesity is also malnutrition

Contrary to what most of us think, increasingly common adult obesity is also seen as another form of nutritional imbalance. From 2010 to 2014, the incidence of obesity increased in every country, and one in 12 adults globally has type 2 diabetes.

Obese people often prefer high-fat and high-calorie foods, which makes some nutrients in the body too much and absorbs too little of some essential nutrients for the body. However, many people's first reaction to obesity is overnutrition. They choose the "hunger method" to reduce nutrient absorption and control the intake of meat, fish, and protein to make the body thinner. This can easily lead to protein deficiency, causing a series of protein deficiency diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, low immunity, fatigue and other symptoms.

In addition to judging whether there is malnutrition through obesity and overweight, the following methods can also be used:

1. Whether there is insufficient nutritional intake from the perspective of diet. Whether you can eat meat, fish or poultry every day, whether you can eat beans or eggs at least twice a week; whether you can eat half a catty of fruits and vegetables a day; whether you drink more than 4 cups of liquid water, tea, juice or milk every day.

2. Judging by weight change and intake, see whether there is malnutrition. Mild malnutrition, weight loss of 5% or food intake of 50%~75% of normal requirements in the past 3 months; moderate malnutrition, weight loss of 5% in the past 2 months or food intake of 25%~50% of normal requirements in the previous week; severe malnutrition, weight loss of 5% in the past 1 month, or BMI<18.5.

To supplement nutrition, first of all, to exercise more, can promote appetite and gastrointestinal activities. Secondly, increase the intake of protein, water and fruits and vegetables; water can increase appetite and regulate two stools. Finally, learn to adjust your emotions, actively check and treat dental diseases, and try to choose drugs that have less impact on gastrointestinal tract.

Top ten nutritional lies confuse people

Many common wrong nutrition concepts are prevalent in life and are very confusing. The following experts summarize several common wrong nutrition concepts.

1. Red skin eggs are highly nutritious

Compared with white-skinned eggs, the ratio of yolk to protein in red-skinned eggs is similar, and there is no difference in nutritional content. It's just that the chickens that lay red preserved eggs are slightly larger and eat more. This is the reason why the price of red preserved eggs is slightly higher. So regardless of whether you have a red protein egg, you will always pick a good egg.

2. Boiled vegetables are healthier

Throw some foods rich in water-soluble vitamins (such as vitamin C and folic acid) into water and boil them, and the result will only dissolve all the vitamins into the water. A Danish study showed that broccoli cooked for 5 minutes only has 45%-64% of the original vitamin C content, but steamed broccoli can retain 83%-100% of the vitamin C. So, try steaming vegetables.

3. The more fruit you eat, the better

Fruits are rich in nutrients and contain vitamins, minerals, etc. needed by the human body. However, many fruits are also very high in sugar. Eating unlimited amounts of fruit will not only gain nutrients, but also consume more calories than you can imagine, greatly increasing the chance of obesity.

4. Afraid of lack of iron and eat spinach

Eating spinach can certainly get a lot of nutrients, but in fact the iron absorbed is far less than imagined. Iron in the human body is divided into two types: non-blood matrix iron and blood matrix iron. Vegetables such as spinach contain non-blood matrix iron, and the absorption rate is only 2%-20%. Blood matrix iron, which is easily absorbed, is more common in animal food. Chicken liver content is the highest, followed by oysters and beef. In addition, vitamin C supplementation can increase the absorption of non-blood matrix iron. Drinking a glass of orange juice or eating grapefruit when eating spinach is beneficial to the body's absorption of iron.

5. When cooking, visual inspection of the amount of "oil, salt and sugar" is usually the same

Some recipes often use "appropriate amount of oil","a spoonful of salt", etc. to express the amount, which is not clear enough. Generally speaking, the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of cooking oil is 80 calories or 9 grams of fat, and the difference between a half teaspoon and a tablespoon of salt is about 1200 mg. Generally, people use visual inspection or guesswork to determine the amount of oil, salt, sugar, etc., but this often leads to excessive addition, which causes a series of health problems.

6. Sesame seeds are more natural and nutritious than sesame paste

Sesame seeds are rich in cellulose and are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are comparable to fish and fish oil. However, if eaten whole, its nutrients are difficult to be digested, absorbed and utilized in the intestine. The best method should be to grind sesame seeds and eat them.

7. If you have a refrigerator, you can store more vegetables

Vegetables and fruits continue to lose nutrients from the beginning of harvest. Within a week, green beans can lose 50% of vitamin C, spinach loses 50% of folic acid, and cantaloupes, mangoes, strawberries, etc. lose more than 10% of carotenoids. Therefore, fruits and vegetables must be eaten and bought immediately. Or buy some locally produced fruits and vegetables, which lose relatively little nutrients during transportation.

8. Large grains of salt contain more sodium

If you choose to eat small pieces of salt because large pieces contain more sodium, you will miss the opportunity to reduce your salt intake by 20%. There is no difference in chemical composition between coarse salt and fine salt. However, due to the large particles of crude salt, there will be more gaps when piled on the spoon, which will instead make you eat less salt and less sodium.

9. Sugar is the culprit of diabetes

Diabetes is caused by dysfunction of the islets and has little to do with sugar intake. Of course, if you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you should strictly control the "sugar" intake in your diet and keep your blood sugar levels within a reasonable range. If you do not have diabetes, consuming sugar will not cause you to develop it.

10. Eating nuts makes you fat

The fat content in nuts is indeed relatively high, ranging from 44% to 70%, but the fatty acids in them are mainly unsaturated fatty acids. Nuts are rich in dietary fiber, which is easy to feel full, and dietary fiber can also reduce fat absorption.