When eating zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival, you must learn how to substitute zongzi ingredients and choose the right sauce, and enjoy these 5 tips to lose weight without any burden!

There are actually tips for eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival without taking in too many calories, causing indigestion, or putting a burden on your body. The Nutrition Department of Taichung Veterans General Hospital provides "5 Tips for a Healthy Dragon Boat Festival", analyzes the calories of rice dumplings, teaches everyone how to replace rice dumpling ingredients, recommends creative and healthy rice dumplings, and encourages moderate exercise, so that you can eat rice dumplings and lose weight during the Dragon Boat Festival and spend the Dragon Boat Festival together.

5 Tips to Lose Weight During Dragon Boat Festival without Any Burden

Tip 1: Understand the calories in zongzi

There are many types of zongzi, with large differences in size. In addition, the production and fillings of zongzi vary from place to place. Common zongzi include: traditional meat zongzi, glutinous rice dumpling, alkaline zongzi, etc.

Chen Weizhen, a nutritionist at the Nutrition Department of Taichung Veterans General Hospital, said that the traditional cooking methods of zongzi are frying first and then steaming, and direct boiling or steaming. The calories vary depending on the weight of the zongzi and the contents packed in it. Generally, meat zongzi contains salted egg yolks, chestnuts, pork, peanuts, etc., and each weighs 150-250 grams. The calorie range is about 400-600 calories per piece. Kueh zongzi contains preserved radish, mushrooms, and minced meat, and the average calorie is 200-300 calories per piece. Although alkaline zongzi is the smallest, it has a calorie content of 130-150 calories per piece.

The Nutrition Department of Taichung Veterans General Hospital provides "5 Tips for a Healthy Dragon Boat Festival", analyzes the calories of rice dumplings, teaches everyone how to replace rice dumpling ingredients, recommends creative and healthy rice dumplings, and encourages moderate exercise, so that you can eat rice dumplings and lose weight during the Dragon Boat Festival and spend the Dragon Boat Festival together. (Photo courtesy of Taichung Veterans General Hospital)

Tip 2: Substituting ingredients for zongzi

Replace the high-calorie, low-fiber ingredients of zongzi with low-calorie, high-fiber ingredients. Take traditional meat zongzi as an example to explain the replacement of zongzi ingredients:

1. Glutinous rice → can be replaced with whole grains such as whole grain rice, purple rice, black rice, coix seed, rye, oats, etc.

2. Pork belly → You can replace it with pork front and back legs, chicken thighs, scallops, seafood and other low-fat meats such as beans, fish eggs, etc. to reduce the amount of fat and increase the content of high-quality protein.

3. Peanuts → can be controlled at 5-10 pieces, and replaced with mushrooms such as shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms or bamboo shoots to meet the needs of low oil and high fiber.

Zhongrong Nutrition Room and the chef team will specially prepare a healthy rice dumpling every Dragon Boat Festival, and deliver it with the meal with instructions for hospitalized patients to eat, so that patients can share the happy atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival. In addition, using the above principles, they share with the public two types of rice dumplings that can be made at home - healthy purple rice mushroom pork rice dumpling and creative cauliflower mushroom chicken rice dumpling.

Tip 3: Balanced Zongzi Feast Meal

Pair it with seasonal ingredients for a healthy and balanced meal.

1. The glutinous rice in each traditional rice dumpling provides about the amount of staple food as a bowl of rice.

2. Zongzi provides 7-14 grams of protein. Assuming 1 serving of protein is 7 grams, each zongzi can provide about 1-2 servings of protein, which is a little insufficient. When eating zongzi, you can add an extra serving of protein, such as half a box of tender tofu, 35 grams of fish, or 1 55 grams of egg. You can also add protein to soups, such as bamboo shoots and pork ribs soup or clam and loofah soup, which are refreshing and relieve greasiness.

3. Vegetables are indispensable. Please remember to pair them with 1-2 servings of green vegetables. One serving of cooked vegetables weighs about 100 grams, which can increase satiety and stabilize blood sugar.

4. You can choose seasonal fruits, such as pineapple and papaya, which are rich in digestive enzymes. The recommended serving is no more than 2 servings a day, and 1 serving is a flat bowl or 100 grams.

5. Peanuts are a high-quality source of oils and nuts and seeds. An intake of about 5-10 peanuts per day is sufficient.

6. Sugar-free teas, such as black tea, green tea, and oolong tea, are all drinkable. They can relieve greasiness and digestive discomfort.

7. To get more complete nutrients, you can also add an appropriate amount of milk, so that the six major categories can be fully presented in one meal.

After talking about the main character, zongzi, the sauce is also a very important supporting role, which I will continue to share with you in the next paragraph.

Tip 4: Choose the right refreshing sauce for a delicious and stress-free experience

When eating delicious rice dumplings, everyone will pair them with different sauces, such as soy sauce, soy sauce paste, sweet and spicy sauce, ketchup, chili sauce... etc. The calorie and sodium content are shown in the following table. I would like to remind everyone to use as little dipping sauce as possible, because seasoning has been added during the production process of rice dumplings. The generally recommended daily sodium intake is about 2400 mg, which is about 6 grams of salt. If you are a patient with high blood pressure or kidney disease, the sodium limit needs to be stricter. I hope you can use the sauce with discretion.

(Photo courtesy of Taichung Veterans General Hospital)

Tip 5: Moderate exercise makes people full of energy

After eating the rice dumplings, integrate exercise into your life. You can move at home or outdoors, and develop good exercise habits, at least 150 minutes a week, to stay healthy and comfortable.

(Photo courtesy of Taichung Veterans General Hospital)

Exercise not only helps us burn off the calories we consume, but also boosts our metabolism. Moreover, the feeling of refreshment after exercise will make us enjoy the Dragon Boat Festival food more. On a special day like the Dragon Boat Festival, moderate exercise is not only beneficial to physical health, but also allows us to better enjoy the fun of food. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, gout or other diseases and want to know more about other personalized diet plans, you can also consult the nutritionist team of Taichung Veterans General Hospital for comprehensive nutritional consultation.

The following are two creative healthy rice dumplings, namely the traditional healthy purple rice mushroom pork rice dumpling and the creative cauliflower mushroom chicken rice dumpling. The following introduces the ingredients and methods:

【Traditional healthy purple rice mushroom pork rice dumpling】

Ingredients: 2 pieces of 1 bamboo leaf and bamboo rope, 20g purple rice and 40g glutinous rice each, 60g front leg meat, 10g dried shiitake mushroom, 12g king oyster mushroom, half a salted egg yolk, 5g peanuts.

Calories: 422 kcal/piece (about 80% of a bowl of rice)

practice:

Take a piece of bamboo leaf, wipe it dry, soak and mix the glutinous rice and purple rice.

Cut the front leg meat, shiitake mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms into small pieces and add them to the stewed buns. Season to taste and let the filling cool down for later use.

Put a layer of purple glutinous rice, braised stuffing and half a salted egg yolk on the bamboo leaves and press them gently with your hands to form the shape of a zongzi.

 Tie the dumplings tightly with string to prevent them from falling apart after cooking.

Put the prepared rice dumplings into boiling water and cook over medium heat for about 2-3 hours until the rice dumplings are cooked.

Take out the cooked rice dumplings and let them cool for a while before opening and enjoying.

Traditional health-preserving purple mushroom and pork dumplings (Photo courtesy of Taichung Veterans General Hospital)

【Creative cauliflower, mushroom and chicken dumplings】

Ingredients: Prepare the ingredients - 2 pieces of zongzi leaves and zongzi rope, 30g cauliflower rice and 40g glutinous rice per portion, 60g chicken thigh meat, 10g dried shiitake mushroom, 12g king oyster mushroom, half a salted egg yolk, and 5g peanuts.

Calories: 330 kcal/piece (about half a bowl of rice)

practice:

Take a piece of bamboo leaf, wipe it dry, soak the glutinous rice in water to allow it to fully absorb water and set aside.

 Use a blender to blend the cauliflower into rice-like pieces or purchase ready-made cauliflower rice.

In a pot, mix cauliflower rice into sticky rice mixture.

Cut the chicken thighs, shiitake mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms into small pieces and add them to the stewed buns. Season to your taste and let the filling cool down for later use. 

Put cauliflower rice mixed with glutinous rice, braised stuffing and half a salted egg yolk on the bamboo leaves and press lightly with your hands.

Put the prepared rice dumplings into boiling water and cook over medium heat for about 2-3 hours until the rice dumplings are cooked.

Take out the cooked rice dumplings and let them cool for a while before opening and enjoying.

Creative Cauliflower, Mushroom and Chicken Zongzi (Photo courtesy of Taichung Veterans General Hospital)