A New Interpretation of the "Walk 100 Steps After Meals" and the Modern Wisdom of "Illness Enters Through the Mouth": Traditional Proverbs for Weight Loss

Take a hundred steps after a meal, and you'll live to ninety-nine.

The old saying, "Walk a hundred steps after a meal, and you'll live to ninety-nine," is a profound saying about the relationship between exercise and health and longevity, and it has deep meaning.

The proverb "Running water never stagnates, and a door hinge never rusts" expresses a similar idea.

The ancient saying about taking a walk after a meal should simply be a health practice of stretching your muscles and bones, not a suggestion that in the modern dietary environment, in addition to physical activity, you should "quickly" exercise to burn off the energy you need.

Upon closer examination, taking a hundred steps after a meal is good, but living to ninety-nine years old is not guaranteed. However, it is undoubtedly healthier and longer-lived than being inactive.

As for whether walking a hundred steps after a meal can achieve a good exercise effect, that cannot be understood mechanically.

The saying that one should walk a hundred steps after a meal is a summary of historical and social life. In the early years and in the past, apart from a few noble classes who lived a life of plenty and luxury, the vast majority of ordinary people considered it a peaceful and prosperous era if they could have simple meals and a diet of coarse tea and plain food.

In other words, the idea that walking a hundred steps after a meal can achieve good fitness results refers to the physical exercise requirements of a person whose daily diet is mainly composed of carbohydrates and whose energy intake is only enough to maintain basic survival.

In the early 1970s, when I was in high school, I had a roommate from a village with a tradition of martial arts. In conversations with him, I learned that his parents would only encourage their children to practice martial arts during holidays when they had a good diet, because a lot of exercise requires sufficient energy intake. Some football coaches would jokingly remind their children that if their families could not afford two ounces of cooked beef a day, they should not apply.

In those days of scarcity, it was extremely rare to lose weight by eating less and exercising more.

In today's society, material and dietary conditions are extremely abundant. Especially for urban residents, the dazzling array of dishes and foods in shopping malls and markets is stimulating and tempting to those who are already gluttonous. Many people have excessive nutritional intake, and lifestyle diseases follow suit.

In an environment of abundant food, exercise can no longer simply follow the old saying of taking a hundred steps after a meal; instead, it needs to be several thousand or even tens of thousands of steps, otherwise it will not have a significant fitness effect.

A closer examination of the ancient saying "walk a hundred steps after a meal" reveals that it does not imply that the more you walk, the healthier and longer you will live; it does not emphasize high-intensity exercise, but only moderate activity.

The "walking" generation in society today is, frankly speaking, trying to find a place for excess nutrients.

If dietary intake is moderate, there is no need to join the "walking" group.

Of course, the closed-off and solitary nature of urban life, and seeking social and mental well-being through activities such as group walks or group dances, is another matter entirely.

The related proposition is that the ancients' distinction between active and passive health maintenance should be roughly that those who can maintain a balanced diet can practice "passive health maintenance," while those who overeat need to focus on "active health maintenance."

As for which of the two health-preserving methods is healthier and leads to longer life, there are no research reports yet.

This book's viewpoint is definitely not to support "animal-based nutrition".

An Examination of the Theory that "Disease Enters Through the Mouth"

The proverb "illness enters through the mouth" has been popular for some time now.

This is a warning language passed down from ancient times.

However, the profound meaning of this saying is often misunderstood. It is generally understood as getting sick from eating unclean food, or reaping the consequences of eating certain foods without restraint, such as contracting Haff disease from eating crayfish or suffering nitrite poisoning from improperly prepared pickled vegetables.

Whether the original meaning of this proverb included the idea that people get sick from eating too much or too well is now difficult to verify.

From the perspective of the widespread material shortages in traditional society, the ancients should not have had much reason to warn us with the saying "illness enters through the mouth," which means not only to avoid eating unclean and unhealthy food, but also not to eat too well or too much.

Because in that historical context, the focus of society was on whether people could have enough to eat, and the issue of eating too well was rare.

However, the proverb does express the important relationship between health and diet, and the "mouth" as a gateway, and its "import" tariff policy, are indeed related to the overall health plan.

In terms of the relationship between diet and health, many diseases are almost all related to poor eating habits. When you look into the eating habits of some patients, you can usually find the root cause of the disease.

Obesity is no exception; all obesity is actually caused by overeating due to not controlling one's diet.

However, the disease that enters through the mouth here is not an overt disease, but a latent, long-term cause of obesity that damages the body.

It's likely that the luxurious lifestyle of the "red gates" and the imperial court, characterized by its lavish lifestyle, led to health problems due to overnutrition.

Scholarly research has revealed that the most consumed medicinal material in the ancient imperial court was not ginseng or similar tonics, but rhubarb, used as a laxative. This should provide some clues.

It is believed that the imperial physicians had good medical theories on diseases caused by overnutrition. Unfortunately, those experiences did not spread widely to society and have not been disseminated to this day because they lacked a basis in social demand.

What is the value of "not eating after 8 pm"?

Nutritionists will solemnly tell you that because the body's metabolic capacity is weaker at night than during the day, food eaten after 8 pm is not easily digested and should not be eaten after this time.

For people with a generally normal body shape and constitution who don't need to pay too much attention to dietary control, following the rule of not eating after 8 pm may be a healthy option.

However, for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy lifestyle, especially those who suffer from pre-sleep hunger and often need to eat something, I think it's unnecessary to take "8 pm" too seriously.

You can eat after 8 PM, but you should eat within the recommended amount.

In other words, as long as the food is moved and distributed within the total amount, there is no need to worry about the weakened metabolism after 8 pm.

For those who are used to going to bed late, having dinner after 8 p.m. can often eliminate the feeling of hunger before bed.

Another strategy is to reduce the amount of food consumed at dinner and save a small portion for a late-night snack.

As long as the total daily food intake is controlled, when you eat is not important.

It's actually easier to stay hungry when you have a slow metabolism.

The difference in people's normal metabolic capacity between day and night is originally caused by long-term work and rest habits.

In the evening, when rest is the priority, the body's metabolism naturally slows down.

However, those "night owls" have already developed abnormal sleep patterns and their metabolic rhythms have changed, so they can naturally adjust their eating times accordingly.

The principle is that there is only so much food in total, and when to eat can be arranged according to individual work and rest schedules and physiological characteristics.

However, if one doesn't consider the issue of human metabolism, but instead treats "not eating after 8 pm" as an ironclad rule for controlling one's diet, that's a different matter.

"King Chu favored slender waists, and many starved to death in the palace."

The original story refers to King Ling of Chu's fondness for women with slender waists, which caused the people of the kingdom to eat less and become physically weak. Later generations extended this story to describe the women in the Chu palace, which is logical.

The cruel and distorted social dynamics of the imperial court meant that women who were unfortunate enough to enter the imperial family would become haggard and starve to death in their quest to attract the emperor's favor. This led to the famous saying that has resonated with later generations.

However, interpreting this "Portrait of Lament in the Chu Palace" from the perspective of weight loss offers a different perspective.

Firstly, while life in the palace was materially affluent, some women still starved themselves to achieve a slim waist, which is irrefutable historical evidence of successful weight loss (leaving aside moral judgment). However, this extreme of body control led to severe anorexia as described by modern medicine, resulting in death.

Secondly, the palace maids of that time clearly understood that the most effective way to maintain a slim figure was to strictly control their diet and put it into practice; however, in modern society, the key to weight loss is that energy intake should be less than energy expenditure. Such a simple principle is not widely accepted or practiced by overweight people.

Thirdly, attention from the opposite sex, and timely recognition and encouragement from dieters, are also very important factors in strengthening their will and behavior.

The lack of attention and applause can easily lead those struggling with weight loss to give up and become discouraged.

Both personal health and the desire for others' "self-gratification" are the driving forces needed to build lasting physical control.

If you don't have many people who like you, even improving your self-appreciation will benefit your health, longevity, and environmental beautification.