Afraid of gaining weight during Tet, can eating low-calorie noodles help you stay in shape?

According to nutritionists, vermicelli is made from starchy grains or tubers such as arrowroot, green beans, and rice flour. Compared to rice, vermicelli contains fewer calories, but the opposite is true for dishes made from vermicelli.

Doctor Doan Thi Anh Dao, head of the nutrition department at Thanh Nhan Hospital, said many people are worried that eating a lot of starch will make them gain weight, so they switch to eating vermicelli and rice noodles.

However, although the energy from vermicelli is less, it still provides energy to the body. Especially, if cooked with chicken broth or added with meat, the energy is also very high.

"For example, the energy intake from a bowl of chicken noodles (635kcal) is 200kcal more than a meal consisting of 1 bowl of rice + 100g of meat or fish + a bowl of vegetable and fruit soup (450kcal).

So if you use a serving of vermicelli for your main meal instead of rice, you will get more calories instead of the goal of reducing them to help you lose weight," Dr. Dao shared.

Doctor Dao also said that during Tet, we need to try to maintain a balanced diet and exercise as usual to control our weight. The nature of weight gain after Tet is that the energy intake is greater than the energy expenditure.

According to Dr. Nguyen Trong Hung - Head of the Department of Examination and Nutrition Consultation for Adults, National Institute of Nutrition, during Tet, every family prepares many delicious, energy-rich dishes along with parties that are more frequent than usual.

Especially during Tet, there are many energy-rich dishes such as banh chung, banh tet, braised pork, jam or stews... which are often rich in starch and contain a lot of fat and sugar.

Eating a lot of foods rich in starch, fat, protein... will contribute to rapid weight gain.

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"During Tet, people often forget to exercise. The energy consumed is not consumed, leading to fat accumulation in the body. In particular, the disruption of daily life during Tet is also a cause of weight gain," said Dr. Hung.

To maintain weight during Tet, Dr. Hung recommends following a scientific, healthy, and nutritious diet, including all four groups of nutrients: starch, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals.

In addition, you should limit eating foods high in fat and increase your intake of green vegetables and fruits. Limiting snacks such as candies and jams that contain a lot of sugar during Tet is the reason why weight increases rapidly.

In addition, remember to drink enough water, limit alcohol and carbonated soft drinks. Soft drinks contain a lot of sugar, so when the body absorbs a lot, it will create excess fat leading to weight gain.