FitSugar

The Most Unhealthy Chinese Restaurant Foods: Part Two

FitSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:00:00 PDT

I already told you about a few unhealthy Chinese food menu items that are heavy hitters in terms of calories, fat, and sodium and you may have been thrilled that your favorite dish was not on there. Unfortunately, there's more.

In case you missed it, Newsweek talked to Jayne Hurley and Bonnie Liebman , authors of Chinese Restaurant Food: Wok Carefully. They shared their take on the most unhealthy Chinese food menu items. I wanted to make sure you don't miss the highlights:

Lemon chicken: A plate of lemon chicken contains 1,400 calories, two-thirds of a day's fat, and no vegetables. "It's like eating three McDonald's McChicken sandwiches and a 32-ounce Coke," Hurley says.
General Tso's chicken: General Tso's chicken features breaded, deep-fried chicken chunks that are then soaked in sauce; Hurley and Liebman found that one plate has about 1,300 calories and half a day's worth of saturated fat.
Barbecued spare ribs: These "appetizers" pack a punch - one plate of spare ribs carries two-thirds of a day's worth of saturated fat and 600 calories. That's the same amount of calories as in two pork chops, Hurley says. Dumplings, steamed or pan-fried, are much more health friendly, she says.

So eat Chinese food at your own risk, I know I will be - sometimes a girl's just gotta have her General Tso's.

Source

The Most Unhealthy Restaurant Chinese Foods: Part One

FitSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:30:00 PDT

The other day, out of the blue, I was having a bit of a craving for Chinese food. This is unusual for me, but I was thinking of indulging myself. Then I read a nutritional dissection of the cuisine in Newsweek by Jayne Hurley and Bonnie Liebman, the authors of Chinese Restaurant Food: Wok Carefully. Their take on the most unhealthy Chinese food menu items certainly had me rethinking my decision to indulge – or at least stick to steamed meals with sauces on the side. Here are highlights:

Fried rice and lo mein: "Those dishes are basically three quarters of a day's calories, and you're just getting four or five cups of white rice or white noodles with oil and a sprinkling of vegetables," Hurley says. They're especially dangerous because they're often served alongside people's main orders, she says, and deliver "not much more than a smattering of vegetables or protein from the meat."
Chow fun: This dish is made of wider rice noodles and might taste more healthy than lo mein, but it's not. "The noodles are thicker, but they're going to do the same damage to your belly and blood pressure as the lo mein," Hurley says.
Crispy (orange) beef: Many meat-based menu items simply offer "hunks of fried meat," Hurley says. "What you're getting is three quarters of a pound of deep-fried meat, garnished with vegetables," she says. The same goes for sweet and sour pork.

So there you have it. This is not to say that you shouldn’t eat Chinese food, because sometimes you need some take-out and a fortune cookie. Just try steer clear of the high-calorie, high-sodium, high-fat items like those listed above.

Source

Get Smart About Soy

Health — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:48:14 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

There are so many ways to get this good-for-you protein into your daily diet. Here's how to do it - and why you absolutely should.

By Sally Kuzemchak, RD

If you bypass tofu at salad bars, skip the meatless dishes at Chinese restaurants, and avoid edamame when you're out for sushi, well, it's time to give soy-based foods a second look. "Whole soy foods are a great substitute for meat," says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Their healthy protein content makes them a good option even if you're not one of the growing number of people going "flexitarian" or opting to eat less meat.

Here's your guide to making this legume a regular and great-tasting part of your diet.

Soy 101
All soy products are made from soybeans, mostly grown here in the United States. You can buy whole soybeans dried or canned, or in the produce section or freezer aisle as edamame, the common name for soybeans picked before they're fully mature. (Edamame can be purchased either in pods or shelled.)

Health.com: The 10 best foods for your heart

Beyond whole beans, soy takes on a number of different guises. Roasted soybeans are sold as soy nuts or ground into soy nut butter. Soybeans can be soaked in water, cooked, and filtered to make soy milk and soy yogurt. Adding a coagulant to soy milk curdles it, producing tofu, which ranges in texture from "silken" (very soft) to "extra firm," depending on how much liquid is removed.

Soybeans can also be fermented into a paste called miso (the base for miso soup) or a cake or patty called tempeh, which is often used in place of meat in sandwiches or grilled and eaten on its own. Finally, soy can be found in many packaged foods - such as frozen meatless burgers, cereals, and energy bars - often in the form of "soy protein isolate," meaning it's mostly the protein from soybeans you're getting.

Keep reading for more on soy.

The Latest on Soy For the Ladies

Zelana Montminy — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:41:58 PDT

If all the mixed messages about soy products have you confused, you're not alone. Recent studies have certainly found mixed evidence on the benefits. I've been hearing mostly about soy's effect on heart disease and breast cancer, so here's the latest research on the topic.

Heart Disease
A recent comprehensive update of soy research by the American Heart Association's nutrition committee found that soy protein does not have as much of an effect on cholesterol as previously thought. The benefit for the heart is not due to a direct relationship to reduced cholesterol but rather because soy products are generally used as a substitute for unhealthy choices and also because they are low fat yet high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Breast Cancer
Soy products contain a wide range of compounds including isoflavones, which can act as antioxidants, but also function as phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are chemicals that plants make that are similar to human estrogen, and many of us have read that these phytoestrogens have been linked to breast cancer. In some cases these phytoestrogens may be able to mimic estrogen in the body or block the action of estrogen. Phytoestrogens acting as estrogen could possibly affect cell communication, prevent the formation of tumors, or change the way DNA is processed in cell multiplication.

For more on the relationship between soy and breast cancer, keep reading.