It takes 2.5 hours of walking to eat a traditional rice dumpling.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, many people cannot help but eat seasonal rice dumplings. However, most rice dumplings are high in oil, salt and low in fiber. Nutritionists have reminded us that a traditional meat rice dumpling contains about 460 calories, and an adult weighing 60 kg needs to walk for 2:30 hours to completely burn them off. Even a frozen crystal rice dumpling with only 160 calories still requires about 52 minutes of walking. People should eat in moderation.

Lin Jialing, team leader of the nutrition therapy department at Taichung Dali Ren'ai Hospital, said that rice dumplings are like pizza, as they cook almost all the food in a meal together. Except for milk and fruit, they almost cover the six major food groups that the human body needs to consume every day (milk, vegetables, whole grains and root vegetables, beans, fish, meat, eggs, oils and fats, and fruits).

However, most rice dumplings have the problem of being too high in calories due to their cooking methods and ingredients. If the ingredients in zongzi are converted into daily diet, it is found that each traditional meat zongzi contains about 0.8 bowls of whole grains and root vegetables, 1.5 taels of beans, fish, meat, eggs, and 3 teaspoons of fat, with an average calorie of 460 calories. It takes 2 hours and 30 minutes of walking, 2 hours and 21 minutes of climbing stairs, and 1 hour and 42 minutes of swimming to burn off the calories.

To avoid obesity caused by excessive calories, people should eat rice dumplings in moderation. In addition, patients with chronic diseases should also consider their physical condition and choose rice dumplings that are suitable for consumption.

Dr. Lin Wenyu, director of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Department of Dali Ren'ai Hospital, reminds that patients with hypertension are advised to reduce the use of sweet and spicy sauce to avoid the impact of excessive sodium in the seasoning on blood pressure; patients with hyperlipidemia should avoid choosing rice dumplings filled with pork belly and egg yolks, which are high in cholesterol; and patients with gout should avoid rice dumplings with fillings containing mushrooms, dried shrimps, red beans, and other high-purine ingredients. Kidney patients are less likely to choose whole-grain rice dumplings because coix seed, brown rice, red beans, and germ rice contain more phosphorus. Kidney patients' ability to metabolize phosphorus is reduced, which can easily affect the phosphorus content in the blood.