The Big Question: Is Chinese Food Fattening?

Is Chinese Food Fattening

This is a million-dollar question, whether you are an ardent lover of Chinese food or just a curious, once in a while indulger. The food, true to say, can sometimes be all-fried right from the entrees to the dessert. For this reason, you may never stop wondering, is Chinese food fattening? This is primarily a routine question if ordering in is what you do instead of preparing your Chinese delicacy when the need arises.

While most traditional Chinese recipes advocate for the inclusion of lots of vegetables, it is not the case for many Chinese food selling restaurants. More so in the west. Addition of veggies also does not necessarily mean healthy eating to prevent you from gaining weight. Hence, depending on where you choose to eat from, Chinese food can be fattening or the healthiest meal you get to enjoy. Here is a list of variables you should consider before you come up with a favorable answer.

Minimal Carbohydrates

Rarely do you hear about the addition of sugar, milk, or fruits in Chinese food recipes, not even where desserts are concerned! This therefore, goes on to show that very little or no artificial sugar is incorporated in Chinese food and hence lowered chances of becoming fat from eating it. Well, even natural sugars are avoided when you look closely.

Minimal Carbohydrates

Their starch sources of choice remain, corn, millet, among other mixed grains. These whole grains replace traditional white rice hence making the food healthier.

More Vegetables, More Fiber!

Unlike in the west, where priority is given to meat in meal recipes, the Chinese have a way of making the ground level for both meat and veggies. Less meat and more vegetables are used in authentic Chinese food preparation. The trick is making the vegetables sweeter by adding several grams of meat hence ensuring more vegetable intake. The interchange of flavors goes both ways, as some vegetable flavor rubs on to the meat and vice versa, creating a different tasting meal. The fusion’s taste is out of this world and also takes only a few minutes to prepare.

More Vegetables, More Fiber!

Varying Ingredients and Cooking Methods

Never will you find a Chinese dish made of less than five elements. This variety of elements are incorporated to come up with nutritious, mouth-watering meals. Even when preparing a simple meal of vegetables, they ensure a variety of veggies go in the pot, all of which contribute differently to the body’s nutritional needs. Different part of the same animal or plant can also be used in a single meal, leaving you dumbfound as well as fully satisfied. It is up to you to decide whether the ingredients are fattening.

Varying Ingredients and Cooking Methods

The many ways through which Chinese food is prepared will also leave you amazed. From blanching, steaming, baking, frying to braise-marinating. All these are methods that are open for use when you need to prepare Chinese delicacies that are healthy. Meals that will not expose you to the risk of growing fat. Such versatility for such fantastic dishes!

Balanced Diet

To be in better physical and biological shape, you must partake in well balanced meals. Chinese food has a way of preparing dishes that have all your nutritional needs at a go. The reason behind this is because the Chinese are ardent believers in promoting balance. They associate food with medicine, and hence, for balance, which leads to health, a balanced diet must be adhered to when preparing all meals.

Balanced Diet

What are your thoughts so far about the question posed? Is Chinese food fattening? Well, also consider these other variables before you decide.

Sodium Concentration

You would think that calories are the main ingredients responsible for gaining weight. That is however, not necessarily the case with Chinese food, which can sometimes have limited calories but sodium high enough to facilitate growing fat. The calories which come in the form of starchy food are prepared blandly and salt less hence healthier than they may seem. The problem comes in on the stew dish. Here salt is added, high sodium soy sauce used in your condiment preparation, and more salt and soy sauce added to your veggies for flavor.

Sodium Concentration

With the recommended daily sodium intakes standing at 2300miligrams, anything above that puts you at risk of becoming fat. You are advised to ask for sauce on the side and thus be able to regulate your sodium intake.

Too Much Oil

Oil significantly improves the appearance of food while at the same time, making it more fantastic to indulge in. The Chinese cuisine restaurants do not spare its use of oil and therefore, dangers of consuming too much of it and becoming fat run high. As earlier mentioned, a habit of frying everything before its consumed is among the reasons you may ask, is Chinese food fattening? The other question is, how does consuming too much oil affect you? However, even if the effects are not critical, is it essential to add too much oil in a meal?

Too Much Oil

Cooking on High Heat

The two most common cooking methods of Chinese food happens through deep frying and stir-frying. These methods require very high temperatures for the meal to come together fantastically by igniting fat. The potential adverse effects associated with these methods of cooking is yet to be fully determined but has been said to introduce harmful carcinogenic substances. You are therefore urged to moderate your take-out Chinese food intake without further knowledge pertaining to the question, is Chinese food fattening?

Cooking on High Heat

Cook’s Final Thoughts

Traditional Chinese food is not fattening. When you prepare it from the comfort of your home, regulating ingredients that may put you in danger of growing fat is super easy. You monitor the amount of sodium you add to your stew and sauce. You moderate the amount of oil used in all dishes preparation. And finally, you regulate the amount of food to eat. Because ultimately, the amount of whichever food you indulge in, be it Chinese or French, if in excessive amounts fattening is bound to happen.

Put simply, Chinese food is fattening or healthy depending on the context at which it is enjoyed, the preparation methods, and how much one chooses to indulge at a given time. If you prefer eating out, may I suggest that you limit the frequency in which you indulge in Chinese delicacies.