Does Weight Loss Mean Dieting? Do Read This Real Weight-Loss Guide
At a press conference during the recently convened session of the National People’s Congress, the National Health Commission proposed a three-year “Weight Management Year” campaign, calling on society as a whole to develop habits of attentive weight management, a science-based diet and exercise — to lose weight scientifically and live healthily.
Everyone should take primary responsibility for their own health, but weight loss is not merely a personal matter. As people’s dietary habits are increasingly shaped by complex modern food systems, losing weight becomes a societal issue. Weight loss is not simply a change on the scales — it involves a holistic adjustment of one’s diet and lifestyle.
In response to this call, Foodthink has curated a selection of our previous articles to help readers recognise the hidden “landmines” lurking in everyday meals that can lead to weight gain, steer clear of the traps of pseudo-healthy foods, build a well-balanced diet, and live healthily — it all starts with eating well!
I. The Culprit Behind the Modern Obesity Crisis
In its publicly released “Guidelines for Weight Management (2024 Edition)”, the National Health Commission notes that research predicts — if effective measures are not taken — China’s adult overweight and obesity rate will reach a staggering 70.5% by 2030, while the rate among children will hit 31.8%. We often blame obesity on an individual’s unhealthy habits of “can’t say no to food, can’t get out for exercise”, but in reality the modern obesity crisis is a systemic problem, and the factors that influence body weight are far more complex than we imagine.
What we call the “modern diet” means we are consuming ever more meat, refined grains, refined vegetable oils and ultra-processed food. Our dietary patterns are being shaped by the food industry. Processed foods are high in fat and sugar — not only calorie-dense but also prone to triggering addiction and dependency. Sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the chief culprits behind obesity. Unlike the endogenous sugar we obtain naturally from food, the excess free sugars delivered through sugar-sweetened beverages cause blood sugar levels to spike rapidly, greatly increasing the risk of becoming overweight.
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II. Oily, Salty “Cheap Takeaway”
Food delivery platforms do not produce food directly, yet they indirectly determine whether what consumers eat is healthy. Merchants’ margins for survival are compressed to the extreme by the platforms’ low-price strategies and traffic-driven logic, leaving them no choice but to cut corners on ingredient quality and hygiene — or even mask stale ingredients with excessive salt, sugar and oil.
At present, food delivery platforms in China serve 535 million users, and over 200 million urban residents order takeaway almost every day. Delivery has become a normalised way of eating, but at the cost of exploiting riders, squeezing merchants and harming consumers’ health. In the long run, takeaway may have an incalculable impact on rising rates of obesity and other chronic diseases among the public.
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III. Are These “Healthy Foods” Really Healthy?
People’s anxiety about weight management has also led the market to sniff out fresh business opportunities. Companies have created new “health products” to reassure consumers — but are these products truly healthier, or merely the latest marketing gimmick? These “healthy foods” often come with the endorsement of nutrition experts, and food companies are only too happy to fund nutrition research, peddle one-sided notions of nutrition, and drape processed foods in the guise of “science”.
The nutritionism view reduces food to “a collection of nutrients”, as though all a food processing plant needed to do were cut the “bad” nutrients and add the “good” ones, and a processed food could then outdo natural food in healthiness — yet this overlooks the negative impact that additives, preservatives, sugar and fat in processed foods have on our health. As consumers, we should not take every piece of nutritional advice at face value; blindly trusting nutritional science — and nutritionism — may in fact create additional risks.
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Why Do Nutrition Science Conclusions So Often Contradict Themselves?
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Have Nutritionists Become the “Lackeys” of Food Giants? A Registered Dietitian Weighs In
IV. The True Principles of Healthy Eating
Rather than chasing after the wide array of so-called “healthy foods”, we should return to simple, natural dietary principles and try to eat fresh, whole, minimally processed foods. We need to reduce our intake of highly processed foods, build a diverse dietary pattern centred on plant-based foods, combine whole grains with refined grains in our staples, eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, eat more beans and legume products, and include a moderate amount of nuts.
Since obesity is a systemic problem, achieving healthy eating and tackling obesity also require a transformation of the food system. Weight management is not about short-term dieting but about eating every meal properly and earnestly, seeking out alternative food systems in our communities, eating closer to the land, and rebuilding our connection with food, the land and nature. This not only helps with weight control but can also prevent chronic diseases, allowing the body to return to a more natural rhythm.
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V. Tasty, Healthy Recipes We Recommend
Healthy eating can be delicious too! Grandma Kouzi, a contributor to Villains’ Valley who grows her own food, has shared some simple yet nutritious plant-based recipes — so we can savour every flavour even while losing fat and weight!
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Celebrating the New Year: How to Eat Well While Losing Weight and Fat | Kouzi’s Foodie View
The Master Chef Hidden in Loofah | Grandma Kouzi’s Kitchen
Su Dongpo’s Top Choice for Entertaining Guests — This Quick Dish! | Kouzi’s Kitchen
If You Can’t Make a Good Bowl of Bean Soup, How Can You Talk about “Enfeoffment”? | Grandma Kouzi
Edited by: Maomao, Yuyang