Nutritionist: 3 ways to avoid gaining weight when eating hotpot in winter

The wind is cold and it’s time to try hotpot. Nutritionists remind us that if you don’t need to worry about gaining weight when eating hot pot in winter, you should follow three principles: “portion size should be moderate, soup base should be light, and eating should be done in order”, as well as eating less pickled and processed products, and try not to add dipping sauces. These are the key principles for “losing weight while eating hot pot in winter without gaining weight”.

Nutritionist Li Pei-ni from the Department of Nutrition at Taipei Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, pointed out that you can actually eat hot pot smartly in the winter. If you can control the portion size and master some dietary tips, you can reduce your intake of calories and fat. For example, you can choose a healthy small hot pot with vegetables, meat, and rice. The portion size is just right, so the calories will not be too high and you can also take into account balanced nutrition.

In particular, some people think that hot pot soup is delicious and all the nutrients are in the soup, so they should drink some. However, doing so can easily make people gain weight. Because the hot pot soup contains a lot of fat and is extremely high in calories after being boiled in various meats, and the food is boiled at high temperature for a long time, it is easy to produce many harmful substances, which can affect your health.

Principle 1: Eat a balanced diet and eat in moderation

Hot pot has rich ingredients, and people often eat too much and take in too many calories. To prevent weight gain, it is recommended that a hot pot meal should consist of 1/4 vegetables, 1/4 fruits, 1/4 high-quality protein such as soy products and low-fat meat, and the other 1/4 come from whole grains and root vegetables. This way, the intake of various nutrients is balanced and too many calories are not consumed.

Principle 2: Keep the soup light and avoid high calories

Many people think that a lot of seasonings must be added to the broth to bring out the flavor of the food. This is not entirely true. In fact, clear soup base has the lowest calories, while the popular thick broth bases such as spicy pot, shacha pot, curry pot, milk pot, etc. have extremely high calories. It is recommended to eat less of them as much as possible.

Principle 3: Eat in the right order and drink less hot pot soup

If you want to lose weight or are afraid of overeating, you can eat vegetables first when eating hot pot to increase your sense of fullness, then eat soy products and starchy foods, and finally eat meat. It is recommended to drink less hot pot soup, sugary drinks and eat less desserts after meals. If you really want to drink soup, it is best to drink it 30 minutes before the hot pot starts cooking. Just drink light vegetable soup.

Tips for Patients with Chronic Diseases to Eat Hotpot

Nutritionist Li Pei-ni also reminded that diabetic patients should be careful not to consume too much staple food. If they eat staple foods such as pumpkin, potato, taro, sweet potato and corn, they should reduce the amount of staple foods such as rice, noodles, fried dough sticks and tempura. Patients with hypertension should eat light food, eat less pickled and processed products (dumplings, processed meatballs), and use less seasonings.

Patients with chronic kidney disease should be careful about eating too much protein-rich food, pickled and processed products, as this can easily increase the burden on the kidneys. Therefore, soy products, meat, seafood and eggs should be consumed in moderation and not in excess. When using seasonings, you should follow the principles of lightness, less oil and less salt, and try not to add dipping sauces to avoid excessive intake of fat and sodium.