Health Tips

Every Chinese New Year, we all look forward to satiate in our favourite snacks and goodies. Pineapple tarts, peanut cookies, yu sheng, bak kwa, fried shrimp rolls, and the list goes on.

With endless gatherings, meeting relatives and friends, we go for many rounds of food that challenge us to keep a balanced diet. Overeating during this period can result in a number of unwanted health issues.

Here are some tips on how to make the most of this festive season the healthy way.

Stay hydrated by drinking right. Make water your best friend this Chinese New Year to keep you from being dehydrated. Water helps to flush off the toxins accumulated from feasting. And, it is zero calories! So, choose plain water over sugary drinks and alcohol.

Don’t visit on an empty stomach. When you are hungry, you tend to overeat without thinking. So, have a light meal or healthy snack such as mandarin oranges, yogurt bar or nuts before visiting or in between visits. This also increase overall fibre intake to meet the daily need.

Eat selectively. Traditional Chinese New Year goodies are delicious and often irresistible, but they are mostly packed with sugar and fats. Check out the calories count of common goodies here.

Watch your portions. It is always tempting to fill your plate with food, especially at a buffet style party. But, imagine doing this at every house you visit, you are more likely to end up being uncomfortably full and bloated. Ration the amount of food you should eat per household. Eat smaller portions and aim to eat not more than 2000 calories in a day.

In relation to plating, bigger plate encourages you to pile on bigger quantity of food. Instead, try using a smaller plate. An optical illusion called “Delboeuf Illusion” explains why plate size significantly impacts food consumption. By using a larger plate, your food is perceived to be smaller than the same size food on a smaller plate. Thus, you can trick your brain by putting food on a smaller plate to feel satisfied with much less.

Stay active. The festive season is no excuse to skip exercising. Why not try out this workout regime?

• Plan your house visits route ahead, so when appropriate, you can burn some extra calories with a leisure walk to the next destination.
• If you have to drive, try parking your car a little further from your destination so you can take a stroll.
• Take the opportunity to move during gatherings; play sports or physical games with the kids.
• Instead of taking the lift, why not climb the stairs?

Prepare a healthy reunion dinner. Homemade dinners are always the healthier option because you get to choose what goes in your dishes. Here are some tips to prepare a healthy yet yummy reunion dinner:

• To enhance the colour of your dishes, include a variety of colourful vegetables (carrots, leek, bamboo shoots, cabbage and capsicums). Vegetables add nutrients and have beneficial phytochemicals that have immunity boosting functions and antioxidants.
• Include a fish dish as it is rich in protein and good for the heart. Fish also symbolises surplus and wealth.
• Limit your intake of meat such as pork, chicken and seafood (especially if they are deep-fried). Choose lean and skinless part of the poultry meat.
• Serve unpolished brown rice, rice vermicelli or buckwheat noodle as these wholegrains foods are rich in nutrients and fibre.
• Opt for sauce or marinates that are lower in salt to help reduce the sodium content in your cooking.
• If you are hosting a steamboat dinner, prepare a vegetable base soup instead of instant or ready-made stock.
• Offer a variety of healthy nuts and fruit salad as snacks to replace some Chinese New Year goodies.
• Prepare homemade iced lemonade or flower tea instead of serving canned or sugary drinks.

Let us celebrate this Lunar New Year by taking good care of our health.

Written by

heydocas