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Eating Out on a Diet: Chinese Food
By WLR Dietitian
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Although traditional Chinese meals are
low-in fat and packed with vitamins and minerals, the dishes
from Chinese restaurants and takeaways can be loaded with
calories, because a lot of oil is used and many foods are
deep-fried. It’s also easy to over order and then eat too much
as a result. Get round this by ordering just one starter and
portion of rice to share, and one main dish each.
Starters
Most starters are dieting disasters as they’re
deep fried and come in bite-sized pieces so it’s easy to keep
eating them – we’re talking sesame prawn toast, prawn
crackers, crispy wontons, spring rolls, crispy seaweed and
ribs. If you can’t resist, soups are the best choice as
they’re usually made from a clear broth.
Crispy duck
It might be a favourite but a serving of just
two filled pancakes contains around 400 calories – and it’s
usually served in addition to the starters and main courses in
many Chinese restaurants! The
calorie content is so high because the duck is served with it’s skin and this is the
fattiest part. If you still can’t resist, fill your pancake
with plenty of low-calorie cucumber and spring onion, add a
spoonful of plum sauce and just a tiny piece of duck without
the skin!
Chopsticks
Using chopsticks can help slow down the speed at
which you eat, especially if you’re not very good at using
them – you’ll spend more time trying to get the food from the
plate to your mouth!
Rice
It’s been said before, but it really does slash the
calorie content of meals if you choose boiled rather than
fried rice. A serving of boiled rice contains just 370
calories, while egg fried rice adds up to 625 calories. Go for
the special fried rice, which also contains meat and prawns
and you’ll boost the calorie content even more. Alternatively,
keep calories down by choosing a main course that’s already
served with rice or noodles such as beef chow mein or chicken
fried rice.
More Food Information
You can find out full nutritional information for thousands
of UK foods with the database in WLR.
Try it free for 24 hours.
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