Sat, Jan 31, 2009 page2

• FEATURE : Medical experts share tips on healthy holiday eating

  TRIMMING EXCESS: During the Lunar New Year holidays large family meals are often a tradition, but these go against doctor’s orders for many who are eager to eat healthy

  • By Shelley Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Some people eat healthy so they can fit into their skinny jeans, but for an increasing population of people with chest pains and heart conditions, eating healthy is about saving their lives.

  In the last few years, cardiovascular disease has ranked second to fourth among the nation’s leading causes of death. However, despite the fact that countless medical research has shown that diets high in cholesterol and fat are a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, many people still find it hard to pass up a bucket of deep-fried chicken.

  A recent study showed that among several Asian countries, Taiwan ranked last in terms of cholesterol goal attainment rate. The average Taiwanese has a harder time controlling cholesterol levels when compared with people in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, China and Thailand.

  Those in high-risk groups, such as patients with diabetes or Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), achieved even lower rates of cholesterol goal attainment, with only about 16 percent of patients reaching their therapy goals.

  “Most people care very little about their eating habits and lifestyles until a heart attack strikes,” said Lin Shing-jong (林幸榮), chief of Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s cardiology department.

  Lin has seen many people vow to drastically change their lifestyles after experiencing their first heart attack, which many see as a wake-up call.

  “Many patients tell me that after what they have experienced, they are going to pay more attention to their weight and blood pressure. They say they dare not smoke again, and they know they have to exercise,” he said.

  The normal level of total cholesterol should be under 200mg/dL, and a total cholesterol level of between 200 and 239 is considered borderline high, he said. Most of Lin’s patients are able to lower their cholesterol levels by as much as 10 percent just by changing their diets.

  “People whose cholesterol levels are above 240mg/dL have a harder time lowering their cholesterol just by eating right, but most people in the 200 to 220 range manage to lower their cholesterol to below 200 by watching what they eat,” said Serine Li (李婉萍), a nutritionist at the ReShining Clinic.

  During Lunar New Year holidays, families often prepare large, long meals, but these go against the doctor’s recommendations.

  “People should pay attention to the amount of food they eat. If you cut back on the amount of food you eat, you generally also cut back on the calories and fat,” Lin said.

  Lin recommends avoiding foods that are too oily, too salty or too sweet. Substitute pork, beef and lamb with skinless duck or chicken, and avoid any seafood that comes in shells, such as crab or shrimp, because of their high cholesterol content.

  While many believe that fruits are generally good for your health, Lin said it is better to avoid eating fruit with a high sugar content, such as oranges, which many people eat during the Lunar Near Year because the pronunciation sounds similar to the Chinese word ji (吉) , which means “good fortune.”

  However, eating healthy does not always mean going against tradition. While most holiday dishes typically call for large amounts of meat, choosing the right parts of an animal can also effectively cut down on calories.

  “When preparing pork, avoid using fatty parts such as pork belly (五花肉) and substitute it with lean meat,” said Chien Miao-lin (簡妙凌), a nutritionist at National Taiwan University Hospital’s Beihu Branch.

  One of the most popular dishes during the Lunar New Year holiday is the “Buddha jumping over the wall [佛跳牆]”, which is a stew cooked in rice-wine soup that usually comes in a big pot containing taro, pork tendon, quail eggs, scallops, shark fin, ginseng, mushrooms and many kinds of meat and Chinese herbs.

  “Oftentimes the taro and pork ribs are deep-fried before they are put into the stew, but because they contain a lot of oil, you can see that the surface of the soup is covered with a layer of fat,” Chien said.

  Chien recommends substituting pan-frying for deep-frying whenever possible to cut down on the use of cooking oil.

  “If you can use less cooking oil in the process, the soup won’t contain as much fat, even though it may not smell as good,” she said.

  For “lion’s head [獅子頭],” a dish with giant meatballs deep-fried in oil, Chien recommends making the meatballs smaller in size and pan-frying them.

  “Serve the meatballs with lots of cabbage on the side to increase the vegetable intake,” she said.

  To achieve lower cholesterol levels, doctors and nutritionists recommend a high-fiber diet. Dietary fiber, which is mainly found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, can effectively lower the risks of diabetes and heart disease, as well as help relieve constipation and control blood sugar levels.

  Coarse food such as mixed grains are high in dietary fiber, and can be added to white rice to increase nutritional content, Li said.

  Dietary fiber can also be increased by increasing the number of vegetable dishes on the table. Vegetable dishes such as Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce (蠔油芥蘭) can be made even healthier by substituting regular oyster sauce with vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce for a lower cholesterol content, she said.

  “Chinese broccoli is a rich source of plant calcium, which calms the nerves and aids in relieving stress,” she said.

  In the cold winter, many families like to gather around a hot pot (火鍋), which can be made less fattening by using frozen tofu instead of fried tofu to decrease the oil content, she said. Frozen tofu is healthier not only because it contains less fat, but also because nutrients such as protein and calcium are sealed in as well, she said.

  One of the many little-known secrets to a healthy hot pot is to pour some boiled green tea into the pot, which decreases triglycerides and cholesterol, Li said.

  The fat-cutting nature of some types of tea has led many people to think that by drinking “oil-cutting tea” (油切茶), recently made popular with celebrity endorsements, they will lose weight no matter how much they eat.

  The truth is, fat will remain in the body unless it is shaken off with vigorous exercise, Chien said.

  “[The beverage] does cut fat molecules into smaller ones that are easier to burn off,” she said, “but it doesn’t work if you don’t exercise.”
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