"Cardiovascular" is the river of life of the human body. In the past 30 years, people's eating habits and dietary structure have changed greatly, and the most significant effect is that the "impurities" in the "river water" have increased, the "river water" has become viscous, the flow rate has slowed down, and the impurities have precipitated in the "riverbed", and the "riverbed" has gradually increased......
We have heard of many "impurities" in the blood, such as blood lipids, cholesterol, urea, uric acid, creatinine, some of which are born metabolic wastes, and some substances themselves have certain physiological significance, but if too much is present in the blood system, it will have a negative impact on the body.
Those "impurities" in the blood
1. Excess blood lipids
Blood lipids are a general term for neutral fats [triacylglycerides (triglycerides)] and lipids (phospholipids, glycolipids, sterols, steroids) in plasma, which are widely found in the human body, and they are essential substances for the basic metabolism of living cells. Under normal conditions, they are essential components of the blood and perform extremely important physiological functions.
Hyperlipidemia occurs when the lipid content in the blood exceeds normal concentrations due to behavioral factors (including unreasonable diet, long-term smoking, nervousness, drinking, coffee drinking, irregular work and rest, lack of physical exercise, and excessive intake of high-calorie foods, etc.) or clinical factors (including endocrine or metabolic diseases, kidney diseases, liver diseases, storage diseases, acute or temporary diseases, etc., and drugs such as antihypertensives, immunosuppressants, and sex hormones).
It is a gradual and epidemic process, which can cause damage to multiple organs of the body, and often ends in heart, brain and peripheral vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, pancreatitis, etc.
2. Excess blood sugar
The amount of glucose contained in the blood is called blood glucose. We all know that carbohydrates are the main force of the three major energy supplies in the human body, and glucose can be directly absorbed and utilized by the human body, and the rest of the carbohydrates can only be absorbed and utilized after being converted into glucose in the body.
The process of blood glucose conversion is regulated by a series of endocrine hormones, and changes in any of the above links, such as too many sources of glucose, reduced pathways, or hormonal changes that regulate glucose metabolism, may cause an increase in blood sugar in the human body.
When blood sugar rises above normal levels, it means that the body cannot use energy on its own, and insufficient energy intake will lead to a decrease in body weight and physical strength, and a decrease in resistance, which gives germs a chance to take advantage of it. At the same time, the abundant supply of carbohydrates makes the germs multiply rapidly, so diabetic patients are prone to various infections such as skin, respiratory tract, digestive tract, and urinary system.
In addition, the damage to blood vessels and nerves caused by high blood sugar is more harmful. When the large blood vessels are damaged, it can cause coronary heart disease, ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease, renal arteriosclerosis, limb arteriosclerosis, etc., and can cause stroke, myocardial infarction and other serious life-threatening complications; when microangiopathy, it can involve all tissues and organs of the body, mainly manifested in retina, kidney, nerve and myocardial tissues, among which diabetes mellitus complicated by nephropathy and retinopathy are particularly serious; when the nerve is damaged, it can cause paresthesia, hyperesthesia, muscle atrophy, facial neuropathy, etc.
3. Uric acid
Uric acid is a product of purine metabolism, as a nucleic acid of genetic material, it also needs metabolism, after a variety of complex metabolic processes, macromolecular substances are transformed into small molecule substances, and purines are catabolized into trioxopurine, which is commonly referred to as uric acid.
Most mammals and birds have uricase enzymes that break down uric acid into allantoin, which is further broken down into NH3, CO2, and H2O. However, humans and apes lack uriatase, so uric acid in the human body is the end product of purine metabolism and is directly excreted from the body. Although uric acid has a certain positive effect in stimulating the development of the nervous system, increasing the ability of the body to resist infection and antioxidation, maintaining the function of the retina of the eye, preventing the apoptosis of lymphocytes and macrophages, and preventing the peroxidation of vascular endothelial cells, most of the uric acid is still considered a waste for the human body.
Long-term high uric acid can cause gout under certain conditions, and can also promote or aggravate arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, urinary stones, etc.
Excessive blood lipids, blood sugar, and uric acid are the most common "impurities" in the blood, and the hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperuricemia caused by it are also the three of the "four highs" that people most often hear about, and they are also the diseases that rank first in the list of metabolic diseases, which seriously threaten human health.
What can you eat more to make your blood smooth, clean, and healthy?
The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents suggest that maintaining a balanced dietary pattern can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, metabolic syndrome, breast cancer, coronary heart disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and reduce the risk of all-cause mortality in the population.
According to the Report on the Status of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases in China (2020), the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia in adults aged 18 years and above was 27.5%, 11.9%, and 8.2%. According to the China Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report 2019, the prevalence of coronary heart disease in people aged 15 and above in mainland China was 10.2%, the prevalence of coronary heart disease in people aged 60 and above was 27.8%, and the rate of dyslipidemia in residents aged 18 and above increased significantly (18.6% in 2002 and 40.4% in 2012). In 2013, the prevalence of stroke in people over 40 years old was 2.1%, and chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases were on the rise. These chronic diseases are closely related to long-term dietary imbalance and excessive oil and salt intake. The Global Burden of Disease Study shows that unreasonable diet is the most important factor in the occurrence and mortality of Chinese.
Therefore, it is possible to achieve health to a certain extent by changing unreasonable eating habits, including blood health and vascular health, which are closely related to eating habits.
1. Reduce the intake of oil and salt, and reduce the intake of sugar
Edible oil is mainly vegetable oil, and the daily dosage per person is 25-30g; in the structure of animal food, choose animal foods with low fat content and high protein, such as fish, poultry, lean meat, etc., to reduce terrestrial animal fat, and finally make the intake of animal protein account for 20% of the total daily protein intake, and the daily total fat heat supply does not exceed 30% of the total calories.
Control your sugar intake. Because sugars can be converted into fat in the body, the elderly and patients with hyperlipidemia should control their diet and not overeat at each meal, especially dinner, because the energy consumption is low during sleep at night, and excess sugar is easily converted into fat and blood lipids are increased.
Salt intake is generally controlled at 2~5 grams per day, and no more than 6 grams is appropriate.
2. Increase your intake of whole grains, dark vegetables, fruits, milk, fish, shrimp and soybeans
The dietary structure of mainland residents is mainly cereals, but the grains are mainly refined rice and flour, and the intake of whole grains and miscellaneous grains is insufficient, and only about 20 percent of adults can reach an average of more than 50 g per day; the varieties are mostly millet and corn, which need to be more abundant; the vegetables are mainly light-colored vegetables, and the dark-colored vegetables account for about 30% of the total number of vegetables, which does not reach the recommended level of more than 50%.
The per capita fruit intake was still low, and the urban population with a higher intake was only 55.7 g/d. There is a large gap compared to reasonable dietary requirements. The average intake of milk in mainland China has been at a low level, the consumption rate of milk and its products is low in all groups, the consumption rate of children and adolescents is higher than that of adults, and the consumption of all groups is lower than the recommended intake level, and the insufficient milk intake is the main reason for the high proportion of insufficient calcium intake among mainland residents.
The average intake of fish and shrimp is 24.3 g/d, which has not increased significantly over the years, and less than one-third of adults are able to achieve an average daily intake of more than 40 g of fish and shrimp. Soybean food is a traditional health food in China, but the current consumption rate is low, the consumption is insufficient, about 40% of adults do not often eat soybean products.
3. Reduce alcohol intake and drink plenty of fluids
Reduce your intake of alcoholic beverages, which can severely interfere with the metabolic environment in the body.
Drink plenty of water. A sufficient amount of water can be used as a medium to excrete various metabolic wastes in the form of urine.
I am Dr. Qiao Fang from the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, and I am a former general practitioner at Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital. If you think it's helpful, please help pay attention or like; if you have different views, you are also welcome to leave a message below, we can discuss together; you can also transfer it to friends around you who need it; thank you!