"It's not just because the clothes are tighter, Zhao Yi, you really have to eat less fat." Zhao Yi looked at his doctor with an unconvinced expression.
The 53-year-old is a veteran chef with 30 years of experience and is now working as a chef at a well-known restaurant in his hometown.
However, today's physical examination results made Zhao Yi a little unacceptable.
"And mustard and bacon, you have to control it." The doctor looked him in the eye gravely, and his tone was extremely firm.
Zhao Yi's high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia have reached the point where he must strictly control his diet.
On the way home, Zhao Yi has mixed feelings, and he has always been proud of his seasoning skills, especially when dealing with traditional meat dishes.
But he didn't expect that now, the existence of these delicacies has become an obstacle to his health.
In the evening, Zhao Yi sat in the kitchen, surrounded by a table of his usual favorite dishes: braised fatty pork, fried rice cakes with mustard, and fried beans with bacon.
However, the doctor's words echoed in his ears like a ghost, and he knew he had to make a change.
Zhao Yi decided that from tomorrow, he would change his eating habits and use his cooking skills to help others with similar health problems.
He began researching how to make delicious dishes that were low in fat and salt.
A week later, Zhao Yi launched a "healthy menu" at the restaurant, although customers were initially reluctant to eat healthy food.
But with his innovation and seasoning techniques, Zhao Yi quickly won the hearts of diners.
At the same time, Zhao Yi began to gain insight into why fatty meat, mustard and bacon are especially bad for middle-aged and elderly people.
Saturated fat and cholesterol in fatty meats are the main culprits of high blood lipids, and a long-term high-fat diet increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The high salt content of mustard and bacon is the invisible killer of high blood pressure, which will not only lead to an increase in blood pressure, but also increase the burden on the heart and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
He found that while these foods can bring wonderful taste and flavor in cooking, long-term excessive consumption is extremely detrimental to health.
This led Zhao Yi to develop alternative foods, such as using shiitake mushrooms and soy products instead of fatty meats, as well as using natural spices and low-sodium salt to reduce the salt content of dishes while maintaining the flavor of the food.
A few months later, Zhao's hard work paid off.
His "healthy menu" is not only popular among older customers, but also attracts many young people to pay attention to healthy eating.
However, Zhao Yi has also noticed a phenomenon that some of his regular customers still find it difficult to give up foods such as fatty meat, mustard and bacon although they know that they are not good for health.
This made Zhao realize that simply providing healthy alternatives is not enough to change everyone's eating habits.
Food is deeply connected to culture and emotion, and people's attachment to food goes beyond the preferences of the taste buds.
So Zhao Yi decided to hold a series of cooking talks and workshops to teach how to make healthy and delicious home-cooked meals.
In this way, he hopes to have a more direct impact on people's eating concepts and habits.
In the face of the conflict between traditional cuisine and healthy eating, how can we maintain our food culture while protecting our health?
Traditional cuisine is part of the cultural heritage and carries historical and emotional value, but at the same time, we cannot ignore the health problems caused by food habits.
The harm of food can be reduced by tweaking recipes, reducing harmful ingredients such as excessive salt and oil, and innovating cooking methods while preserving its cultural character and flavor.
It's also important to learn more about the importance of healthy eating and how to balance traditional and modern diets.
I believe that in this way, we can enjoy food while passing on both health and culture.
What do you think about this, please leave a comment!