Fat for Chinese New Year! I am afraid of gaining 3 kg. I have to walk half of Taiwan to lose weight.

It's easy to gain weight, but it's hard to lose weight! Based on past experience, many people relax during the Spring Festival and eat endless New Year dishes and snacks, which often leads to "New Year weight gain" after the holiday. The National Health Administration reminds the public that in order to maintain a healthy weight and not gain weight, the new year can start by carefully selecting healthy and low-fat New Year's Eve meals. Traditional New Year's Eve meals are full of fat, and if you eat without restraint, your weight may be around 2.9 kilograms after 9 days, and you will need to walk quickly from Taipei to Pingtung to lose weight.

Based on past experience, many people relax during the Spring Festival, overeat, and often gain weight after the holiday.

High in calories and saturated fat, traditional New Year dishes are frightening

The National Health Administration stated that traditional New Year dishes often include Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, pork knuckle, rice cakes, and eight-treasure desserts. Most of them are high in oil, high in saturated fat, fried with flour, thickened with starch, and have added sugar and sauce. One meal may consume up to 3,200 calories. A 60-kg adult requires about 700 calories per meal. If there is no restraint during the New Year holidays, it is estimated that the weight will increase by about 2.9 kg. One would have to walk fast from Taipei to Pingtung to burn off the excess calories (at a speed of 6 kilometers per hour, one would need to walk 410 kilometers).

In addition to the astonishing calorie intake, the saturated fat content in traditional New Year dishes is also alarmingly high! For an adult with a healthy weight of 60 kg and a light worker, the calorie requirement for each meal is about 700 calories. The calories provided by saturated fat should not exceed 10% of the total calorie intake. The maximum amount of saturated fat that can be consumed per meal is 7 grams. However, the National Health and Family Planning Commission estimates that a traditional New Year's meal contains up to 66 grams of saturated fat, a difference of nearly 10 times, which can easily cause harm to human health.

Saturated fat should not exceed 10% of total daily calories

Chiu Shu-ti, director of the National Health Administration, reminded that the latest "2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines" released in the United States have cancelled the recommendation on cholesterol intake. Many people mistakenly believe that they can eat high-cholesterol foods safely, but ignore the fact that the guidelines clearly stipulate that saturated fat intake should be reduced, and it is recommended that the recommended upper limit of saturated fat intake should be less than 10% of the total recommended daily calorie intake.

Saturated fat is often found in animal fats, meat and milk (milk fat). Among animal meats, red meat has the highest saturated fat content, such as beef, lamb and pork. People should reduce their intake appropriately.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission estimates that a traditional New Year's Eve meal contains 3,200 calories. If an adult male eats this for nine consecutive days, he or she may gain 2.9 kilograms.

Eat New Year’s Eve dishes wisely! 4 principles to protect your health

It is still better to prepare the New Year dishes yourself, using less oil, less salt, less sugar, and choosing ingredients that take your health into consideration. The National Health Administration urges that if you need to buy takeout New Year's Eve meals or dine at a restaurant, you must adhere to the four principles of "careful selection", "surplus every year", "more vegetables" and "enough fruits" to avoid harming your body.

【Four principles for eating New Year dishes wisely】

1. Careful selection: Meat can be white meat such as poultry such as chicken, duck and seafood, and lean meat can replace fatty meat with high fat content; cooking methods mainly include steaming, braising, blanching and cold dishes. If you purchase New Year's Eve meals from outside, you can choose products with lower calories or semi-vegetarian or vegetarian options. For thawed soups, you can remove the solidified fat on the top before heating to reduce fat intake.

2. Abundance every year: For larger portions of food such as pork ribs and chicken legs, it is recommended that people share them, or divide one meal into two meals to avoid overeating. Also, removing the skin from meat can reduce the intake of calories and saturated fat.

3. Add more vegetables: It is recommended that people can stir-fry vegetables or prepare fresh vegetables, and add appropriate amounts to meat or soup dishes. For example, radish can be added to stews; Chinese spinach, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms can be added to pots; and blanched mustard greens, cauliflower, and bok choy can be added to meat. This can not only increase dietary fiber, but also increase satiety.

4. Eat enough fruits: Avoid buying desserts such as eight-treasure taro paste, glutinous rice sweet lotus root, sesame paste, etc. Replace desserts with seasonal fresh fruits (such as citrus, cherry tomatoes, grapes, wax apples, and strawberries). Fruits are rich in vitamins and dietary fiber. It is recommended to consume 2 servings of fruit every day (1 serving of fruit is about the size of a fist), which can promote health, enhance immunity, and prevent disease.