When Chinese and western diets collide, what healthy eating habits can be integrated?

The History of Food and Taste (edited by Paul Friedman) says in the introduction that the first thing is about diet and health. We can define health broadly, including mental health and taboos of different religions. In terms of diet, Islam is obviously the most taboo.

Some of these regulations have a long history and need to be strictly observed, such as the taboo on pork. Other regulations, such as the attitude towards alcohol, are advancing with the times. Jews used to be more strict about food taboos. Of course, the above two religions do not deny the pleasant feeling brought by diet.

Christian restrictions on food generally depend on the time of worship (fasting day, Lent) or the degree of piety (the diet of monasteries), and a certain food is not strictly prohibited, but Christianity is far more worried about gluttony than Islam and Judaism.

All religions and philosophical traditions oppose overeating, while Christianity lists it as the seven deadly sins, believing that gluttony is not an appreciation of good food, but a simple and rude indulgence.

In the 6th century, Pope Gregory I summarized several forms of gluttony, such as overeating, overeating, and eating without waiting for normal eating time. Of course, it is also a sinful gluttony to enjoy too expensive or exquisite food.

Too delicate food is not only complicated to prepare, but also causes medical problems. The meticulous consideration of food in China and Islamic traditions is beyond the reach of modern food writers, but it was completely eliminated in medieval Christian traditions.

"have you eaten?" In the past, the common expressions used by China people to meet each other led to jokes. There are such greetings when meeting in a special scene, which shows the position of food and all food-related activities in the hearts of China people.

This is nothing more than saying that the lack of material resources, in addition, food is the most important thing for the people, and the core thing of good governance is to know the etiquette in a safe manner.

Those who observe etiquette are civilized people, and vice versa. Ding (a three-legged cooker) ceremony means that civilized people are considered "cooked" and uncivilized people are called "raw".

at the same time, it is also an important symbol to distinguish people who eat grain and cook food with fire from those who don't eat grain and use fire.

The difference between culture and nature closely links food cooking with identity, which constitutes the cultural view of "what you eat is like what you eat".

The main characteristics of China's food culture are as follows: First, the dishes are complex, and they are not tired of eating fine and meticulous.

Second, China's diet has been associated with foreign countries since ancient times, especially in Central and Southeast Asian countries, and imported ingredients are constantly emerging, including bird's nest, sea cucumber, peanuts, corn and sweet potato.

Humans learned to grow wheat about 1, years ago, which is a landmark event from hunting stage to gathering age. After about 1 years, wheat spread from the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor Peninsula to the east and west. In the west, it turned into bread when it met fire, and in the east, it turned into noodles and steamed bread when it met water.

thirdly, diet is closely related to health. Based on the principle of rice+vegetables, that is, food is divided into two categories, rice is carbohydrates such as rice, which makes people feel full; Dishes are delicacies that add flavor to rice.

Many fundamental ideas of Chinese cuisine are closely related to medical knowledge, health and human feelings, all of which come from the traditional world view. Yin and Yang and the coldness and heat of food are inseparable, which coincides with the western body fluid theory.

China's theory of five elements corresponds to the five flavors of food, and the five elements are related to the five internal organs, and the health of the five internal organs is related to proper nutrition.

There are five grains (rice, wheat, soybean, glutinous rice and millet) and five birds, and even the seasons, main directions, coloring and social relations are divided into five categories.

China people pay attention to the cosmological view of the harmony between man and nature. An important aspect of the view that everything in the world is interrelated is that the human body is a microcosm in the universe, and both the human body and the universe are provided with energy forms by "Qi".

For the human body, this energy exists in food in different forms, and then it is reconciled by the "Yin" and "Yang" forces of the human body.

The universe is divided into two basic elements, Yin and Yang, so mountains have a positive side and a negative side, and Yin represents cold (or cooling), darkness and humidity, which is often associated with female characteristics.

yang represents heat (or heating), light and dryness, which are generally male characteristics.

China people don't think they are completely opposite, but they are regarded as two complementary levels. No matter what food is dominated by yin or yang, it won't belong to any category.

according to the influence on human body, it can be divided into cold and hot. When the western body fluid theory was introduced in the 6th century, it was further expounded.

The western theory of body fluids holds that the human body is mainly affected by cold and heat, and dryness and dampness also have certain influences. The balance of these four factors is the embodiment of health, which echoes China's theory of Yin and Yang and is also combined with the theory of five elements.

in the beginning, the theory of five elements divided the universe generated by yin and yang into five successive stages, namely, gold, wood, water, fire and earth. These five stages, five orientations correspond to the five elements one by one, forming a complete system, and each row has its counterpart in other rows.

the most direct connection between them and food is tasteless: the sour taste of vinegar, the bitter taste of bitter gourd and almond, the sweet taste of honey and later sugar, the spicy taste of ginger and garlic and pepper, and the salty taste of soy sauce. The relationship between five elements and internal organs, these five internal organs are spleen, lung, heart, liver and kidney respectively.

Therefore, a proper diet (including choosing the right ingredients and matching them correctly) is a necessary means to have health and longevity, with special emphasis on the freshness and cleanliness of ingredients.

No wonder Kong Old Master Q said that he would never eat anything: "If you eat something, you will not eat it. If you are hungry, you will lose your meat, and you will not eat it. Evil color, no food. Smelly, not eating. No food, no food. From time to time, "no food"

food contains the wisdom of ancestors (dried shrimps with mang seeds, a folk dish), and tradition can be found in enjoying food (the way of sitting around and eating, and the young and the old are respected), which is also a culture, and beauty can also be found in food (the color of food on New Year's Day). I don't agree with every meal, and it has a strong cultural gene of family and filial piety.

China's ancient sages' philosophical thoughts are profound and profound, covering the unity of heaven and man, the nature of Taoism, giving more and taking less, being patient with details, governing a big country like cooking small delicacies, etc., and winning its essence from food culture to traditional Chinese medicine culture.

Food is health, food is culture, taste is history, taste is philosophy, and a gluttonous feast can bring people instant taste buds pleasure, but simple tea and light rice are three meals a day in China, which seems like a trickle to warm everyone's heart.