Beware of the pitfalls of modern dietary culture: The key impact of diet quality on obesity and health countermeasures

To maintain health, carry out various physiological activities, keep the body stable, resist disease, promote metabolism, regulate bodily functions, and sustain life, we need to consume sufficient nutrients every day. Insufficient nutrient intake can lead to weight loss, damage health, and even endanger life; however, excessive nutrient intake can lead to gradual weight gain, from slightly obese to moderately obese, then heavily obese, and finally extremely obese. To prevent obesity, the first step is to prevent excessive nutrient intake.

The human body needs to ingest sufficient nutrients daily, such as water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. However, excessive intake of all nutrients does not lead to obesity. For example, even a slightly higher intake of fiber will not cause obesity; on the contrary, eating more fiber can promote intestinal peristalsis and has lipid-lowering and detoxifying effects. However, the intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins should be carefully monitored, as these three nutrients provide energy.

Carbohydrates refer to substances such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Sugars are the main source of energy for the human body, with each gram of sugar providing approximately 4,000 calories. The body preferentially uses sugar for energy; therefore, when the body has sufficient sugar, it can serve as a protein reserve, allowing proteins to fully perform their function of repairing body tissues. However, when there is too much sugar, it will be converted into fat, leading to weight gain.

Fat is an essential substance for the human body, playing beneficial roles in the development of organs, tissues, the nervous system, vision, and insulation. It also provides energy; each gram of fat produces approximately 9,000 calories. Since the body cannot store excessive amounts of sugar, excess sugar or calories are converted into fat. Therefore, fat is a high-quality energy source and a good form of calorie storage. A small amount of fat accumulation is indeed beneficial to health; however, excessive fat accumulation is not good. Besides causing obesity, it can lead to bodily imbalances and a variety of health problems.

Protein has multiple functions, including promoting human growth and development, forming cells, maintaining body tissues, regulating physiological functions, and stabilizing the osmotic pressure of blood and body fluids. In addition, protein provides energy. Under normal physiological conditions, each gram of protein can produce four kilocalories of energy. However, protein can only provide energy when carbohydrates are insufficient. Since carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are widely present in everyday foods, neglecting the composition of food can lead to excessive intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, easily resulting in obesity.

Many people fail to lose weight effectively because they don't pay attention to their diet. They exercise while overeating, or practice qigong for weight loss but indulge in fried chicken, fatty meats, chocolate, and candy. Because they don't focus on the quality of their diet, they ultimately fail. If you are truly determined to lose weight, regardless of the method you choose, you should coordinate it with your diet. Understanding the formation of obesity helps in prevention and weight loss. Therefore, by properly controlling your diet, paying attention to the quality of your food, and avoiding excessive intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, you can effectively lose weight.

That being said, controlling the quality of one's diet is no easy task. First, not everyone is a diet expert or nutritionist; people's knowledge of the quality and nutritional components of food is quite limited. Moreover, a diet high in meat and fatty foods has historically been the mainstream of our food culture, making weight gain easy and weight loss difficult. Restaurants and eateries are known for serving large portions of meat; how can one not gain weight with such high-fat, fried, greasy, and sugary foods? Three meals a day are not excessive, but if every meal is rich and varied, it's easy to overindulge and gain weight.

Eating snacks regularly is even worse, because most snacks, such as ice cream, popsicles, potato chips, French fries, shrimp chips, peanuts, candy, and chocolate, are high in fat. In daily life, many people like to snack while working or watching TV. These delicious and refreshing snacks are not only great for weight gain but also contribute to internal heat. After working for half a day and feeling tired, you might put down your work, have afternoon tea, and indulge in some pastries and snacks, instantly feeling refreshed. Unexpectedly, this leads to significant fat accumulation in your body.

Sometimes, restaurants and eateries offer buffet lunches, dinners, or all-you-can-eat buffets to attract customers. For just a few hundred yuan or even a few dozen yuan, customers can eat their fill and become quite overweight; hence, buffets are sometimes called "fat-inducing meals." In times of economic downturn, the more affordable the meal, the easier it is to gain weight without realizing it. Losing weight requires controlling the quality of one's diet, but this is no easy task. Historically, a diet rich in meat and fish has been the mainstream of food culture, and coupled with the economic downturn and affordable meals, it's easy for diners to gain weight but difficult to lose it.