Written by
on Wednesday, 19 July 2017.
Tagged: Chinese, eating out, fast food, guides, healthy eating, tips, vegetables
Lunchbreaks are short and most food courts are packed with hungry people in a rush to buy, eat and get back to work. As you queue up, your eyes scan the enticing offerings and the aromas stimulate your senses.
It’s hard to make a healthy choice when you’re short on time and the most delicious looking dishes are usually the ones with more fat, sugar or salt than is good for you. Not to mention that making a decision while you’re hungry often means your stomach rules your head!
Chinese or Asian take-aways are common in food courts. You can spot large containers of beef in black bean sauce or stir-fried ginger chicken with chilli waiting to be sold with rice or noodles. Pre-prepared and hot, they’re super quick if you are in a rush and generally delicious. But they can be a trap of hidden salt, hidden sugar, not enough vegetables and excess kilojoules/Calories.
Fast food can be a trap of hidden salt, hidden sugar, not enough vegetables and excess kilojoules/Calories
When you cook Chinese food at home, you can control the portion size and the amount of sauce. A large stir fry for dinner is great for working folk as it can produce one or two lunch-sized tubs of left overs to take to work. However, if you don’t have the time or energy - despite your best intentions - you’re at the mercy of the food court. Here we outline the best and worst choices to ensure you make the healthiest choice.
Thank you to student dietitian Caitlin Delaney for her roaming of food courts, her first draft of this post and her photographs.
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