Sugar contents in some of the foods-part 2: healthier choices

Not all are high in sugars. Of course there are many healthier choices out there.

Sugar contents in breakfast cereals

Sugar content in fruits and vegetables

Now, let us compare the sugar contents in those foods with the natural sugars in carrots.

Summary:
Really eye opening for me when I look into the sugar contents in these foods.  Thanks to Dr. Chew who requested this information. Although these foods are not commonly found in Malaysia, but you will be able to find them on the imported foods' shelves like in Ta Kiong at The Spring. (Reference: www.sugarstacks.com)

Sugar contents in some of the foods-part 1

I believe some of you are aware of this already.  I find this information quite useful and easy to understand. Some of the food labels actually say "Naturally sweetened with sugars" or "Less sugars". But, have you ever wonder how much is the content of sugars in it?

Sugar contents in beverages

Sugar contents in cookies

Sugar contents in deserts

Sugar contents in snacks

Sugar contents in shakes and smoothies

Sugar contents in sauces and condiments

Summary:
One cube of sugar here represent a teaspoon which is equivalent to 4g. (Reference:www.sugarstacks.com)

J&J's Roti Canai

If you ask me whether I still remembered the time when we had our meeting till 3.30am in the morning continuously for a few nights with our boss in SUKMA Contingent Camp? I would say, "Oh, hmmm....yeah...".  All I can remembered was the tasty roti canai from J&J Cafe at Tabuan Laru. The curry tasted fantastic with the roti canai especially when we were starving while listening to the old man.  I just can't remember what was he nagging about.....Ha.  If anyone of you who were there remembered how I drained the oil from its gravy? And guess what was his facial expression and how he responded? Ha.  I don't think I could ever forgotten that.  And he even shouted, "Hey...what a waste!" Wakakaka.

After almost 2 months, I went back to J&J yesterday for breakfast. Plain Roti Canai with chicken curry and Horlicks O.  Let see how much calories have I consumed, huh?





Nutrients contents:
Roti Canai (Net Weight: 95g/piece)
Calories: 301kcal
Fat:10.3g
Protein:6.7g 
Carbohydrate:45.5g


Gravies (Net Weight: 80g-1/2 cup)
Calories: 58kcal
Fat:2.2g
Protein:2.5g
Carbohydrate:7.2g
Chicken curry (Net Weight: 65g-1 small piece)
Calories: 98kcal
Fat:6.6g
Protein:8.2g
Carbohydrate:1.4g
Horlicks (Net Weight: 50g)
Calories: 177.5kcal
Fat:1.6g
Protein:5.3g
Carbohydrate:35.6g

For those who like roti telur....

Roti Telur (Net Weight: 135g/piece)
Calories: 356kcal
Fat:13.5g
Protein:12.4g
Carbohydrate:46.2g

Summary:
Oh My Lady Gaga......That's total of 635 calories with 20.7g of fat for just a breakfast!!!  That's two times of my usual intake, man. It's all J&J's fault lah.....

Karate Kid Vs Nutrition.

I have just watched the movie with hubby last night. I like it when the kid got frustrated and said, " Be respectful, I got it. I put on my jacket a thousand times and I took it off a thousand times." "You don't know Kung Fu." And Jacky Chan replied,  " Kung Fu lives in everything we do. It lives in how we put on the jacket, how we take off the jacket. And lives in how we treat people.Everything is Kung Fu"

This is what happen in our daily life. We repeatedly eating everyday almost the same foods. We eat a thousand meals and shit a thousand times.  And sometimes, we get frustrated about why are we eating a healthy balance diet and what's next?  Then, we end up indulging in foods.
So, when you met a friend of dietitian or nutritionist like me, the first and the only concern is not to get to know me, but to ask, " How to lose weight?" When you do not get the answer that you want from me, you will only say, "You don't know nutrition."
All I can say is, "Nutrition lives in everything we do.  It lives in how we eat and drink, how we shit and how we exercise. And lives in how we treat our body with the foods." Nutrition is all about how to apply what we already know in our life everyday. So, next time when you are undecidable about what to eat or drink, or whether to exercise or not, think about what Jacky Chan said in the movie.....

Skin or skinless chicken?

Whenever I go to fresh market, I will always request the skin to be removed.  No doubt, skin makes the chicken taste better.  Removing the skin is to just to help me to reduce the temptation to eat them. If you are concern about your cholesterol intake, take a look at the difference between chicken parts with and without skin.

Cholesterol content in Kampung Chicken:
Drumstick (Weight: 91g)
with skin: 64mg                without skin: 39mg
Thigh ( Weight: 210g)
with skin:108mg               without skin:30mg
Backbone (Weight: 125g)
with skin:25mg                 without skin:8mg
Wings (Weight: 127g)
with skin:85mg

Cholesterol content in ordinary Chicken:
Thigh (Weight:175g)
with skin:101mg
Tail portion (Weight:16g)
1 whole:25mg    


Summary: 
You can easily reduce your cholesterol intake as much as 50-75% just by removing the skin.  Easy, isn't it?

Which part of chicken to choose?

People always like to ask me this question.   Honestly, I love the ribs and chicken wings. Hahaha.   When I compare the nutrient contents for the different parts of chicken, I will prefer to use household measurement rather than 100g.  Coz, nobody will eat 200g of wings, right?

Nutrients contents:
Chicken breast meat:
Weight:132g (1 piece)
Calories: 198kcal
Fat:10.2g
Protein:24.2g
Carbohydrate:2.4g


Chicken thigh:
Weight:125g (1 small)
Calories: 215kcal
Fat:16.5g
Protein:16.6g
Carbohydrate:1.2g

Chicken wings:
Weight:170g (2 small)
Calories: 172kcal
Fat:13.2g
Protein:13g
Carbohydrate:0g

Chicken feets:
Weight:154g (10 feets, deboned)
Calories: 178kcal
Fat:9.8g
Protein:22.6g
Carbohydrate:0g

Summary:
If I am to compare per 100g, then chicken wings and thigh are higher in fats which is two times the breast meat. Breast meat has the lowest calories of all other parts. So, make your wise choice.  

Go for lean meat...

Lean meat or meat with medium fat?  "Fat marbling is the one which taste good...." Let's compare the nutrient content of the two.

Nutrients content per 100g lean meat:
Calories: 189kcal
Fat:21g
Protein:17g
Carbohydrate:0g
Cholesterol: 50mg


Nutrients content per 100g meat with medium fat:
Calories: 527kcal
Fat:53.8g
Protein:10.7g
Carbohydrate:0g
Cholesterol: 63mg

Summary:  
The calories for meat with medium fat is 3 times higher than lean meat due to its high fat content.  Next time, try to go for lean whenever possible.  Don't worry, you can still enjoy some fatty meats if cholesterol and weight issue are not your major health concerns.  Just reduce the frequency will do.

Home made dumplings

Last Sunday, our pretty Sports Masseur invited us to taste her home made dumplings.  The recipe origins from her hometown, Shen Yang, China.

All she used were flour, meats, eggs, a lot of chives and some salt to make up to 70 dumplings. Ya, that's a lot, and you can eat as much as you can. I had 8 dumplings with vegetables and soup. "Why 8 only? It doesn't taste nice?  You don't like dumplings?" She asked. "No, 8 is always a lucky number. Ha ha. Just kidding." I answered. I am not really fancy about numbers. 8 dumplings are just enough for me.
She prepared 2 types of cooking style; cooked in soup and steamed. Both are very healthy.   Personally, I prefer the one cooked in soup rather than the steamed.  Hmmm....So full and that's all for my dinner.

Nutrients content per dumpling:
Calories: 57.2kcal
Fat:3.2g
Protein:2.1g
Carbohydrate:5.1g


Summary:
A bowl of 8 dumplings with soup will provide 457.6 calories, 16.8g of protein, 25.6g of fat and 40.8g of carbohydrate.

Sometimes, when we look at its healthy cooking style, and its vegetables content, we tend to overeat.  Always remember, 'healthy' can be high in calories too if you indulged in it. So, again, be moderate. By the way, I did not pre-calculate what ever foods in front of me before I eat. Ha.

A successful Story

I am a Ping Pong lover.  So when her team manager, Mdm Halena referred her to me in January 2010.  I accepted her case well even though I was really busy at that time.  I spent more than an hour doing some assessment with her, took her diet recall and did some calculation.  I am willing to help her not merely because she is a Ping Pong athlete, but mainly because of her determination to lose weight.  So, I came out with a menu plan and exercise regime for her.
This was how she looked like in Nov 2009 before she came to see me.

I did not perform any magic on her.  No strict dieting, no starvation and extreme exercise.  It's all about balance diet and moderate endurance exercise which will promote a moderate gradual weight loss.  At one point, when her weight loss became stagnant, I suggested a very simple supplement.  That's all to help her to lose 10 kg in 10 weeks and maintain until now.

So from 74 kg in January, Kueh Wan May is 64.1kg now.

Oh the banana song....

Have you heard of the banana song?  It sounds like this....Open banana. Eat banana....eat eat banana....throw banana....throw throw banana......Know this cute song from the athletes in our SUKMA XIII Contingent Camp in UiTM, Samarahan.  All athletes were served with banana daily during their breakfast until the end of SUKMA.  Do they like banana? Well, perhaps they like it very much as they can still sing the song happily.....

So, why is it so good for the athletes?

It has 4 times more potassium which is good especially for those who suffers from frequent cramping during training and competition.  It also contains 5-7 times more protein compared to an apple. No wonder the weight lifting athletes always came to reserve a full box of banana from our staff.....Its intermediate-high glycaemic index can immediately boost the energy during endurance exercise e.g. tennis, cycling and long distance running.
Remember in my previous post about banana, I commented that the fiber content is not as high as I expected.  So, what actually helps in constipation when we consume banana?  Ya. It contains pectin which acts as an laxative to helps in the bowel movement.  Besides, it is also rich in amino acids that helps in immune response, depression and fight against fatigue.

So, come on......baby.....eat eat banana....throw throw banana....enjoy banana....yeah!!!