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The 2016 Chinese dietary guidelines were issued recently, in which fruit has for the first time been included in a meal, not only as an after meal dessert.
According to the guideline, eating 200 -300 grams of fruit is recommended, and there are also some traps to avoid.
Here, we list nine habits that ruin your attempts to eat healthy. You might as well try to avoid them for a healthier life.
1. Eating out often
Restaurant foods are often tasty, but this comes at a price. Usually, it is the seasoning that works the magic. Eating them too often, therefore, equals taking too much oil, salt and sugar – which may adversely affect your health.
2. Big dinner
It is best to have a light dinner. In fact, the guideline suggests that the amount of calories provided by an evening meal is best kept within 30 percent of the day's total. Otherwise, you not only gain weight but also burden your organs in the long term.
3. Sugary drinks instead of water
Most soft drinks are filled with sugar. In fact, the sugar contained in a 500ml bottle drink equals that of 50 grams of cane sugar. Other than beverages, alcohol also poses risks for your health, as half a kilo of alcohol contains the same amount of calories as eight steamed buns.
4. No grains
Grains are essential to a healthy diet. Indeed, avoiding carbohydrates might help you lose weight, as your body consumes stored protein, but this means your muscle tissues are shrinking, and you're becoming less sustainable. You should be aware that grains are a big source of vitamins and minerals.
5. Sweet tooth
Fancy coffee, icy drinks and desserts – you might want to cut down on these to remain healthy. The guideline suggests taking no more than 50 grams of sugar at most.
6. Soup addict
Unlike what many people think, soup is not the most nutritious type of food. Generally speaking, most of the protein in meat soup is still in the meat, while only one to two percent will be dissolved in the soup. So, maybe you should avoid drinking the soup only and start chewing on the meat next time.
7. Egg white only
Some people do not like yolk, and only eat egg whites – they think most of the protein comes from the egg white. While this is true to some extent, avoiding the yolk also means you miss out on the vitamins, minerals and cholesterol, which is necessary in producing certain hormones.
8. Eating fast
Eating quickly might strain your stomach. And if you don't slow down your pace, you might end up eating too much.
9. Veggie only
Eating vegetables has become a fad in recent years. But without proper guidelines to have a balanced diet that provides you all the nutrients necessary, you could go to the other extreme, which leads to malnutrition.
