Night market snacks are so sinful? Nutritionist: Eat reduced-sugar salted chicken this way without getting fat

"Going to the night market and looking for delicious food" is a favorite of many people. After eating at several snack stalls in one go, your stomach will be filled with high-fat, high-sugar, and high-volume foods. What high-sugar foods that can cause blood sugar to soar are hidden in night market snacks? How to choose low-sugar snacks and pair them with other foods wisely to avoid sugar overload? Let’s hear the nutritionist’s detailed explanation.

Night market snacks are high in starch and fat

Walking into the night market, you will be greeted by all kinds of delicious food, including: grilled corn, oyster omelette, meatballs, pan-fried buns, salted chicken, fried squid, large intestine wrapped in small intestine, fried potato balls, fried chicken fillet, spring onion, oden, etc., which often make people salivate and want to have a portion. However, Yang Sihan, a nutritionist at Tongxin Medical System, said that night market snacks are often high in starch and fat. For people who are losing weight or diabetics, too much sugar will increase the burden on the body.

Take the pan-fried buns mentioned above for example. A small one has the amount of sugar as half a bowl to eight tenths of a bowl of rice. As for oyster omelette and meatballs, they have the amount of sugar as eight tenths to one bowl of rice. Braised pork rice has the amount of sugar as one bowl to one and a quarter bowl of rice. If you want to enjoy night market snacks but don’t want to consume too much sugar and affect your health, you can just choose “reduced sugar snacks” first and then mix them with other foods wisely. You don’t have to worry about exceeding the calorie limit or experiencing a “sugar panic”.

Smart selection of sugar-reduced snacks + smart mix and match

How can we choose sugar-reduced snacks wisely to ensure both health and deliciousness? Nutritionist Yang Sihan specially recommends 3 kinds of sugar-reduced snacks, and cleverly mix them with other foods to achieve the goal of a balanced diet.

Reduced sugar snack option 1: Runbing

One serving of runbing uses 2 runbing skins and the amount of sugar is less than half a bowl of rice. The runbing also has rich fillings, including: common meat floss, egg crisps, peanut sugar powder, cabbage, bean sprouts, pickled mustard tuber, dried radish, red fermented rice meat, etc., which contain all kinds of nutritional ingredients. The amount of green vegetables meets the requirement of a meal, but the amount of meat is relatively small. It is recommended to add some additional protein such as braised dried meat, braised eggs, etc.

Avoid minefields when dealing with run bing: It should be noted that there is still refined sugar hidden in the peanut sugar powder and meat floss in the filling of the run bing, about the amount of sugar in a sugar cube. For those who plan to reduce sugar in their diet, it is best to ask the boss not to add it or replace it with red yeast meat or green vegetables.

Reduced sugar snack option 2: Salted chicken

Salted chicken is low-fat chicken that can be paired with a variety of side dishes to provide a low-fat protein and vegetables. Among them, those with higher sugar content include tempura, pig blood cake, and meatballs. One serving of tempura (3 slices) contains about eight-tenths of a bowl of rice in sugar, and one slice of pig blood cake contains about half a bowl to eight-tenths of a bowl of rice in sugar. If you want to reduce sugar intake, you can choose three kinds of green vegetables, a portion of chicken breast or chicken thigh, and add a sugary food, such as: 1 slice of pig blood cake or 2-3 slices of tempura.

Be careful of salted chicken landmines: When eating salted chicken, be careful of the chicken broth and pepper salt used to season it, which may cause excessive salt intake. Even drinking sugary drinks because of thirst may increase your intake of refined sugars. I suggest that next time you buy salted chicken, you can ask the boss to add a little less pepper and salt.

Reduced-sugar snack option 3: Oden

The starchy foods in oden, such as sweet potatoes and corn, are rich in fiber and are a very good choice. On the contrary, common fish paste products such as fish cakes, black fish balls, squid balls, fish tofu, cabbage rolls, etc., although mainly protein foods, are also considered carbohydrate foods because starch is mixed in during the production process. One cabbage roll or black wheel and 5-6 meatballs are about 1/4 bowl of rice.

Oden landmine prevention: It is recommended to choose 2-3 of the common sugary foods that are found in oden, such as cabbage rolls, black wheels or meatballs. As long as you choose carefully, you can easily achieve the goal of reducing sugar.

Choose low-sugar snacks wisely to avoid excessive sugar intake

Sugar is the only "nutrient that will increase blood sugar". When we eat a lot of carbohydrates, the glucose in the blood will increase, blood sugar will rise, and insulin will be secreted from the pancreas. Although insulin will promote glucose as energy for muscles, once too much insulin is secreted, the excess glucose will be absorbed by the muscles and stored as ectopic fat, which will make the insulin function worse, leading to diabetes and even obesity.

Therefore, you don't have to feel guilty about eating night market snacks. As long as you carefully choose reduced-sugar snacks and eat them in moderation, pair them with vegetables, use less seasonings, and drink less sugary drinks, you don't have to worry about the sugar content exceeding the limit.