Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival without oil jam! Nutritionist teaches 10 tips for healthy living

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and "eating moon cakes, barbecuing, and peeling grapefruit" have become the main activities for reunion celebrations during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the saying goes, "The full moon brings people together", but after celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, we always find that people have also become round? It’s okay, don’t worry, just follow these tips and enjoy the festive season without any oil clogging.

[Tip 1: Choose mooncakes wisely, choose the "three lows"]

When buying mooncakes, choose based on the criteria of "low fat, low sugar, and low calories". You can confirm the nutritional ingredients and nutrition labels on the food packaging, or you can ask the store for further information about mooncakes.

In addition, when choosing mooncakes, it is recommended to eat less mooncakes with fillings containing egg yolks, fat, or puff pastry, pineapple cakes, etc. Better choices are snow skin mooncakes, crystal mooncakes, steamed mooncakes, or low-sugar mooncakes with added sweeteners or trehalose. These are smart choices, as you can enjoy the delicious taste while avoiding excessive calorie intake and reducing the burden on your body.

[Tip 2: Learn to share the joy]

It is recommended to divide the mooncake into 6 to 8 equal parts and share them with friends and family. This will not only enhance the friendship between each other, but also allow you to enjoy the atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival. More importantly, the concept of sharing can reduce excessive calorie intake and the burden of sweetness. It is recommended that patients with chronic diseases who need to control food portions can achieve this goal through sharing.

[Tip 3: Buy a lot of barbecue ingredients, half of which should be vegetables and mushrooms]

Barbecue in one family will attract the attention of thousands of families. When purchasing ingredients, you can increase the proportion of vegetables and choose vegetables and mushrooms, such as loofah, enoki mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, onions, green beans, green peppers, sweet peppers, etc., which are all good choices for barbecue. Not only are vegetables low in calories, they are also rich in dietary fiber, which can increase satiety and promote gastrointestinal motility. It is also rich in antioxidants and vitamins, which can reduce the free radical damage caused by barbecue and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

[Tip 4: Choose low-fat meat and avoid processed foods]

Choose more meats with low fat content, such as pork tenderloin, chicken breast, squid, grass shrimp, shrimp, clams, oysters, etc., or replace meat with soy products. Avoid choosing high-fat meats, such as pork belly, pork belly, pork belly or offal, to avoid excessive intake of saturated fat and cholesterol, which will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease; avoid choosing processed products such as sausages, bacon, meatballs, fried tofu buns, etc., which are high in oil, salt and calories, and will increase the burden on your body.

[Tip 5: Season with natural spices, low sodium, healthy and delicious]

Commercially available barbecue sauce is high in calories and contains a lot of sodium. Eating too much will increase the burden on the body. You can dilute the barbecue sauce with boiling water in a 1:1 ratio, and avoid repeatedly applying the sauce to food to avoid excessive sodium intake. You can also use natural ingredients and spices to season the food to reduce the sodium content, such as chili, basil, pepper, onion, ginger, garlic, etc. You can also use soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar and other seasonings and spices, or use sugar substitutes to replace sugar for seasoning. You can mix and match according to your personal preferences and make your own healthy, delicious and low-burden sauce.

[Tip 6: Pair grilled meat with vegetables]

"Meat on toast" is one of the delicious barbecue dishes. You can replace the toast with lettuce leaves or lettuce to wrap the meat. It is refreshing and can increase fiber intake. And grill more vegetables (enoki mushrooms, green peppers, shiitake mushrooms). The best order of grilling is vegetables → seafood → meat. Eat vegetables first to increase your sense of fullness so as not to consume too much meat.

Tip 7: Don’t eat burnt food

When food fats and oils are dissolved by heat and drip onto charcoal fire, carcinogens called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are produced. When grilling, you must avoid direct contact between food and fire. It is best to put a piece of tin foil on the grill and change it several times. Ingredients such as enoki mushrooms, loofah, asparagus, and king oyster mushrooms can be sprinkled with a little pepper and salt, wrapped in tin foil, and then grilled to create vegetables with unique flavor. Alternatively, you can boil or microwave the ingredients first to shorten the grilling time and reduce the chance of food being burnt.

[Tip 8: Sugar-free is better than sugary, reducing calories is healthier]

Most people like to drink cola, soda, sugary drinks or beer when grilling, which is not good for the human body and is high in sugar and calories. It is recommended to drink sugar-free tea to relieve the greasiness of barbecue, or to make homemade grass jelly or agar-agar and use sugar substitutes to quench thirst and reduce calorie intake.

[Tip 9: Eating too much grapefruit is high in calories]

Pomelo is rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber, but 2-3 pomelo segments equal 1 serving of fruit (60 calories), so it should be consumed in moderation. With the joy of sharing, one pomelo can be shared among many people. For diabetic patients, the recommended fruit intake is 2 servings a day, so pay special attention to the amount when eating grapefruit. In addition, grapefruit is a high-potassium fruit. Chronic kidney disease patients or dialysis patients are especially reminded to pay attention to the amount of grapefruit they eat to avoid excessive intake of potassium ions.

[Tip 10: Eat well and move around]

After dinner, you can take a walk with your family and friends and enjoy the moon. Moderate physical activity can help consume excess calories, allowing you to enjoy a light Mid-Autumn Festival.

In short, grasp the principle of "less oil, less salt, less sugar, and high fiber", remember the above tips, and enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival in a healthy way without putting too much burden on your body and causing oil accumulation.