Chinese with diet?

Question
Greetings, sir:
I was wondering, is Chinese cusine something I must avoid during dieting, i.e. fried rice, noodles, sweet & sour pork, egg foo young, crab rangoon, orange chicken, the likes, because of too much fat or too many empty calories?

Thanks a bunch :-)

Teenianne (pronounced like Teeny Anne)

Answer
Hello Teenianne!

  Thank you for your nutrition question.  The chinese foods which you mentioned would not fit well into a healthy diet because they contain too many empty calories. However, there are some chinese foods which be excellent such as  steamed rice. Filling up on steamed rice will mean you eat less of the other dishes.  Another reason to eat rice is that it is a complex carbohydrate. Besides being low in calories, complex carbohydrates boost the metabolism.

Stick to Cantonese cuisine if possible.  Cantonese dishes tend to be lighter and use fresh ingredients.

Cut down on sodium the day you are planning to order Chinese food.  Most Chinese restaurant dishes have a very high sodium count.

Here are some good tips when ordering chinese:

Dont order deep-fried dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken, General Tso's Chicken, Mu Shu Pork, or even Egg Rolls.

Don't order fried rice. The eggs in fried rice mean a high cholesterol count.

Don't order dishes with nuts (another reason to say no to Kung Pao and General Tso's Chicken).  In moderation, nuts are quite healthy, and a staple in most Asian diets. In fact, recent studies indicate that peanuts (which is not really a nut at all, but a legume) may even lower cholesterol. But take-outs use way too much. Unless you can persuade them to reduce the amount, steer clear of all the tempting chicken and nut combinations.

Don't order dishes with heavy sauces.  

Hope this helps.
-George Rapitis, Nutritionist  

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