The Lancet: Cancer and Cardiovascular Deaths in China, Linked to Diet! The world's highest fatality rate

A long time ago, Mr. Chen heard from a friend that "the less you eat, the longer you live", and he has also seen a similar statement made by health experts on the Internet, so he is convinced of this statement. suspect.

So Mr. Chen started to eat vegetarian food 5 years ago, and this eating habit has been maintained to this day .

In a physical examination this year, Mr. Chen was found to have fatty liver, which made Mr. Chen very puzzled. His body shape was relatively standard, and he did not have a big belly and a round waist. Why was he diagnosed with fatty liver?

In this regard, Bao Yun, director of the Nutrition Department of Yangzhou First People's Hospital, gave an explanation: Although Mr. Chen's overall body weight is in the normal range, his limbs are less fleshy, and the weight has grown to the internal organs in his stomach, and the internal organs are heavier than the standard number. About 2 kg , and the result is fatty liver (non-alcoholic fatty liver), mainly caused by malnutrition.

1. The less you eat, the longer you live? A lot of people do it wrong

Recently, there have been many claims about "eating less can lead to longevity", some people believe it to be true, leading many people to "fast" incorrectly, thus endangering their health.

Many people think that vegetarianism is good for health, but they don't know that long-term vegetarianism will do more harm than good.

Excessive vegan diet for a long time may lead to problems such as high-quality protein deficiency, low mineral absorption rate, and vitamin B12 deficiency , which will have adverse effects on cardiovascular disease.

Although in recent years, studies have indeed found through surveys of residents in some long-lived areas: reducing the calorie intake of food can prolong life. Appropriate food restriction can reduce the oxygen load of the human body and reduce the production of free radicals in the body, thereby delaying the aging process.

But it needs to be emphasized: "Eating less" does not mean only vegetarian, no staple food or no meat! Eating less refers to limiting the total calorie intake of food on the basis of ensuring a balanced diet, so that people can maintain a slightly hungry state .

Therefore, everyone must have a correct understanding of this point, and do not blindly limit food intake.

2. Cancer and cardiovascular deaths in China are related to diet

According to WHO's 2020 data, there are 4.57 million new cancer cases and 3 million deaths in China.

According to the "China Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report 2019" data, there are nearly 330 million patients with cardiovascular disease in China, which is the number one cause of death among Chinese people, and 2 out of every 5 deaths are due to it. It can be seen that the status quo of cancer and cardiovascular disease in China is still very serious, and we need to pay enough attention.

The "Lancet" once released a blockbuster study with a statistical time span of nearly 30 years, saying that the high mortality of cancer and cardiovascular disease in China is closely related to diet .

This makes many people puzzled. Take the United States as an example. The typical "everything can be fried" is a country full of various high-sugar and high-oil diets. We are actually less healthy than them?

But this is indeed the case. Studies have found that the Chinese diet has the characteristics of " low-grain diet, high-sodium diet and low-fruit diet ", and these dietary characteristics are one of the main factors that induce type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and tumors.

In 2017 alone, 3 million people died from high-sodium diets, 3 million died from eating too little grains, 2 million died from eating too little fruit, and nearly 20% of people in the world died from Died from dietary problems.

The reasons for the high mortality rate in China are related to three aspects: excessive sodium, insufficient fruit intake, and too little grains .

Therefore, if you want to reduce the harm caused by cancer and cardiovascular disease, you must pay attention to the adjustment of dietary structure.

3. If you want to prolong your life, what should you eat?

From the Lancet study, we can know that the biggest problem of Chinese diet is to eat too much salt, too little coarse grains and too little fruit. So how should we eat to be healthy?

1. Control salt intake

The Lancet published a large-scale study involving 18 countries. The study included more than 90,000 residents aged 35 to 70 years old without cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases for follow-up, and finally found: 80% of Chinese residents have exceeded the standard in terms of salt intake, exceeding 12.5g .

A high-salt diet can cause a variety of health problems, including high blood pressure, gastritis or stomach ulcers, liver and kidney disease, obesity, and brain damage. Therefore, salt control is very important for Chinese residents.

So how should you control your salt intake?

According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)", the daily salt intake should be less than 6g, so everyone should master the total intake and eat less food with high salt content. In addition to using salt when cooking, you can also use natural ingredients such as vinegar, onions, mushrooms, and parsley instead of salt to enhance the taste, and reduce the amount of salt as much as possible.

2. Coarse, fine and reasonable collocation

The "Scientific Research Report on Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2021)" pointed out that the daily intake of whole grains for Chinese adult residents is lower than the recommended 50-150g , 13.9g for men and 14.6g for women. Insufficient grain intake can also have a significant impact on health.

So what are whole grains?

To put it simply, it is a grain that still retains the bran, germ and endosperm of a complete grain without fine processing and other treatments. Potassium and many other phytochemical and biologically active components are very nutritious.

However, because the taste of whole grains is poor, some people do not like them very much. It is recommended to make a good combination of thickness and thickness, so that it can improve the taste and enhance nutrition, such as:

• Fine white rice or white flour: can be eaten with millet, purple rice, oats, corn and other coarse grains in a 1:1 ratio;
• Fine rice noodles: can be eaten with potatoes, purple potatoes, yams and other coarse grains at a ratio of 1:1;
• Refined grains and coarse grains: It can be eaten with soybeans, mung beans, red beans and other beans in a 2:1:1 ratio.

3. Eat fruit every day

The intake of fruits by Chinese residents is also not up to the standard, with an average daily intake of only about 40g, which is far lower than the 200-350g/day recommended by the guidelines.

The nutritional value of fruit is very rich, rich in vitamin C, B vitamins, carotene, dietary fiber, potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc., which are of great significance to maintaining our health.

Therefore, it is imperative to increase the intake of fruits.

First of all, try to achieve the recommended intake of 200-350g/day , and then try to ensure that fruits are diversified on this basis. It is advisable to eat 2-3 kinds of fruits every day, at least 5 kinds per week, and fruit salad is also possible. Strive to achieve a comprehensive balance of nutrients.

The existence of cancer and cardiovascular disease seriously threatens the health of Chinese residents, and their occurrence is closely related to poor diet structure. Therefore, if you want to reduce the harm caused by cancer and cardiovascular disease, you must pay more attention to diet, especially It is to reduce the intake of salt and increase the intake of whole grains and fruits.

References:

[1] "Eating less can not only live longer, but also cure diseases? Many people don't know...". Popular Science China. 2022-04-15

[2] "20% of Chinese die from eating the wrong meal! "The Lancet" Releases the Global Eating Report". Digestive and Liver Disease Channel of the Medical Community. 2020-03-20

[3] "High-salt diet damages the kidneys and causes cancer! Chinese people who love salt are named by "The Lancet". Life Times. 2018-08-24

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