Balanced nutrition, all in protein, sugar, vitamins, inorganic salts and water, rich in cereals, beans, vegetables, fish, eggs and other foods. The nutritional components of various foods have their own emphases, such as high sugar content in cereals, high fat content in fish, high protein content in eggs and high vitamin content in vegetables. Food should be diversified and not too picky. Therefore, Chinese medicine advocates the principle of "five grains for nourishment, five fruits for help, five livestock for benefit and five vegetables for supplement". People are omnivores, and there are many kinds of food. When the five flavors are mixed together, the nutrients will be balanced and comprehensive.
Salty, light and moderate.
The "neutralization of five flavors" mentioned by the ancients means that the tastes of various foods should be moderate, sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty, not strong. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" said, "Great sweetness, great acidity, great bitterness, great bitterness and great saltiness are harmful if they are full of shapes." Five flavors are harmful to the body if they are too strong, and irritating to the appetite if they are too weak, so they should be moderate, that is, they are comfortable in the mouth when eating, comfortable in the heart when eating, and unobstructed in the intestines when excreting. If you just want to eat enough in your mouth, it will cause discomfort in your heart, difficulty in excretion, and be harmful to your health. This is the truth in the theory of health preservation, "taste the viscera and cook the stomach with mash."
Hungry and full, mix well, and the five flavors are moderate.
Huangdi Neijing said, "Eating is self-doubling, and the stomach is hurting." Overeating is not a good thing except damaging the stomach and increasing the burden on digestive organs. From the physiological point of view, the more nutrients, the more toxic metabolites in the metabolic process, the more vigorous the metabolic function, and the corresponding acceleration of cell maturation and death. Someone once experimented with two groups of mice. One group was given enough food to eat at will, while the other group was given only 80% enough food. The results showed that the average life span of the whole food group was 36 months, while that of the 80% food group was 55 months. Therefore, the view that "dieting can lead to longevity" has scientific basis.
Diet should be regular and taste should be timely.
Ancient doctors warned people, "eat first when you are hungry, and don't make the food too full;" Drink first when you are thirsty, don't drink too much. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" also said that "there is no hunger if there is food, and there is no enough if there is no satiety", which contains two meanings, such as "moderate diet" in Huangdi Neijing. Modern medicine has confirmed that some common gastrointestinal diseases, such as gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, chronic gastritis and so on. Are caused by hunger and discomfort, which is the primary cause of disease.