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Don't miss these 10 tips on healthier ways to celebrate Lunar New Year safely and healthily.
Tet is an occasion for every family to reunite, visit relatives or travel together.
During the New Year's gatherings, people often hold family parties with delicious traditional dishes.
However, we need to pay attention to a healthy lifestyle as well as a balanced, reasonable diet to maintain health.
Especially for people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, high blood pressure, high blood fat, etc., it is necessary to pay more attention to the issue of eating during Tet to avoid the disease getting worse, which can be dangerous. Please refer to some tips below to help you maintain a healthy diet during Tet holiday:
1. Eat a full breakfast
No matter how busy you are during Tet, you should not skip breakfast, because this is one of the simplest tips to ensure health. Breakfast starts your metabolism, helping you burn calories throughout the day.
Skipping breakfast causes your body to lack energy, increases hunger and you tend to eat more during the day. Changes in metabolism will increase the risk of inflammation and increase the risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood fat, etc.
Tet trays often have many dishes containing a lot of fat that are harmful to health.
2. Control food intake proactively
Whether you are eating at home or at a party, be intentional about how much you eat. Traveling or visiting many places during the New Year makes it easy to eat more without realizing it. If you are not really hungry and are invited to eat, sit down politely but eat in moderation.
To avoid overeating at parties, pay attention to portion sizes. Follow the rule of 1/2 serving of fresh vegetables and fruits, 1/4 serving of protein and the remaining 1/4 serving of optional starch, preferably whole grains.
3. Avoid greasy foods
According to MSc. Le Thi Hai - former Director of the Nutrition Examination and Consulting Center - National Institute of Nutrition, on the Tet holiday meal, people often prepare more elaborate dishes than usual. Stir-fried, fried, grilled dishes using a lot of oil are often very attractive and delicious. Some stir-fried dishes using heart, liver, and kidney can easily increase blood cholesterol levels.
In addition, the Tet tray has many dishes containing animal fat such as bamboo shoot soup with pig's feet, meat jelly, brawn (stir-fried pork roll)... which increase blood fat, cause atherosclerosis, and can also lead to strokes such as myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction...
Therefore, you should limit greasy foods to avoid health problems during Tet.
4. Pay attention to your daily protein intake
Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Protein makes the body feel full faster than when using carbohydrates and fats. In the Tet meal, there is too much protein and fat from dishes such as meat, fish, ham, sausage, spring rolls, fast food (smoked meat, sausage, Chinese sausage), braised pork, jellied meat... Therefore, we need to pay attention to the amount of protein consumed daily, limit eating too much red meat and poultry, increase healthy protein sources from fish and seafood and balance the amount of protein from plants.
5. Don't stock up on too much food.
During Tet, people tend to stock up on a lot of food in the refrigerator. But you need to understand that stuffing the refrigerator with food will make you eat more and increase the risk of food poisoning. Buy only enough food for a few days and take advantage of the opportunity to buy fresh food at the local market, which is usually open after the second day of Tet.
6. Limit sweets
During Tet, people tend to consume too much sugar from candies, soft drinks, dried fruits, etc. This is one of the causes of increased blood sugar in diabetic patients.
Besides causing weight gain, the sugar content in Tet candies can cause blood sugar levels to spike, sometimes leading to coma due to high blood sugar.
7. Drink enough water
Drinking enough water helps transport nutrients, remove waste, and metabolize fat. Therefore, staying hydrated is essential for good health. Keep a bottle of water with you. This can help satisfy cravings if you feel hungry and food is available.
8. Eat lots of vegetables and fiber
MSc. Le Thi Hai noted that green vegetables and fruits are healthy foods that should be eaten in large quantities in every meal, but are lacking in Tet meals. This is a food group that provides vitamins, minerals and fiber - a group of substances important for health.
Make sure to eat as many vegetables as possible. The fiber and water will help keep you full and prevent you from eating other high-calorie foods.
9. Reduce salt intake
When cooking and preparing food, use salt sparingly and reduce your use of salty sauces and condiments (such as soy sauce, broth, or fish sauce). For snacks, choose vegetables, unsalted nuts, and fresh fruit instead of foods high in sugar, fat, or salt.
10. Limit alcohol consumption
Beer and alcoholic drinks are often served at New Year's parties. However, they do more harm than good to the body. You can weigh the benefits and health risks of drinking alcohol. And it is up to you to decide whether to drink alcohol or not and, importantly, what dosage is suitable for you.
According to Health and Life
