Health Benefits of Chinese Foods

The two great Chinese philosophies, Confucius and Taoism, not only contributed to philosophy but also to the way the Chinese food is prepared and served. Preparing Chinese food requires a lot of expertise and experience. The Chinese culture has a special way of serving food that is cut into small bite pieces which is made almost mandatory. It is hard to find knives at the dinner table in Chinese food serving. Chinese food also stresses the importance of the right combination of ingredients like herbs and condiments. The food should also look good in color and texture and a well prepared food deserves to be eaten with harmony. The Chinese food is cooked with the intention of increasing the health benefits like longevity and having healing powers and medicinal value. A good Chinese food is prepared with poly unsaturated oils and does not use milk based ingredients like cream, butter and cheese. Although meat is used in Chinese food, it is used in moderation and hence avoids high levels of animal fat and cholesterol. Such a food is called authentic Chinese food which is in fact, an ideal Chinese food, good for the health.

In a traditional Chinese food, emphasis is given to rice, noodles and vegetables.The Chinese food can be chosen, to make a great difference by opting for various dishes with different nutritional value. Chicken or beef dishes and vegetables are a good choice. Fried dishes like sesame chicken can be substituted with cashew chicken or beef and broccoli. Such dishes offer nutritional value that is not contained in traditional plates like lo mein, which are noodles soaked with oil, fats and carbohydrates. Fried rice contains a large amount of cholesterol and carbohydrates and hence brown rice can be taken instead. Chinese food largely makes use of soy sauce and other additives which are rich in sodium content. A Chinese food is better to be started with sauce but the down side is that it contains a lot of sodium- almost three to four times what is really needed. But the safest bet is vegetables and steamed dishes or stir fried with little or no oil. To lower fat calories, vegetable based dishes with a variety of sauces and steamed rice complete a healthy Chinese food. To wind up the Chinese meal, fortune cookies which contain only 15 calories would be perfect. To sum up, a Chinese food that contains more of vegetables, snow peas, low in salt can be considered to be a healthy food. The choice of a restaurant between an inexpensive one and high end restaurant also is influential in differing the health of the Chinese food that is being served. The server or the manager would also be eager to offer assistance on the type of dishes and their nutritional content.

Fast Food – Friend or Foe?

Fast food – just fun, or the first step on a slippery road to dietary disaster? Imagine … it’s been a long day at work and you’re too tired to think, never mind cook. Your child’s too hungry to wait and too cranky to sit in a restaurant and behave well. Those golden arches or that drive through window are calling to you, promising a speed, inexpensive and just about effortless family meal.

But fast food isn’t particularly good food and as you watch your toddler happily dunking greasy chips and chicken nuggets into sugary ketchup and sauce, you determine that you’ll be stronger net time and resist the temptation of a fast food fix, knowing deep inside, that this is a resolution you’re doomed to break.

Don’t beat yourself up about his. Fast food franchises are there to answer our most basic need – to eat. And when you’re an exausted working parent, you’re only human for giving in from time to time. It’s important that you keep your fast food meals limited though to avoid compromising your own and your family’s wellbeing. Try to stick to the following guidelines:

Don’t let fast food become a habit. Limit your visits to outlets to a couple of times a month at most. Make those fast food meals a special treat that you and your children can enjoy together.

Ask for nutritional information. Many fast food restaurants will provide, upon request, a nutritional breakdown of their menu items and this can be used to help you guide your selections.

Try to be as “healthy” as possible. More and more fast food chains are offering “lighter” “leaner” and “healthier” options across their menus. Pizza is a nutritionally sound selection as is a baked potato and broccoli. Hunt around at the salad bar and as well as all those mayonnaise-drenched salads you’ll probably be able to find grated carrots, chick-peas and green and leafy accompaniments to your meal. Frozen yoghurt is a good choice for dessert and why not order a carton of milk or orange guice instead of soda or a high fat milk shake. This will help make your meal a lot healthier.

Compensate at home – OK, maybe lunch wasn’t nutritious, but you can provide an after-dinner extra. Snuggle up with a great book from Scruffy’s Bookshop and nibble on carrot, fruit or a whole grain muffin as a treat when you get home.

Finally – don’t spoil your outing by feeling too guilty. If you’re not overdoing the excursions to fast food outlets, then you’re not putting your children’s health in danger. So hold the guilt, relax and enjoy.