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Inspection found that many light meals were actually calorie much higher than stated.
However, whether you can lose weight depends on the total calories in a day, and the ratio of nutrients to energy is also very important.
Compared with other takeaways, in fact, the carbohydrates of light food are relatively high-quality, the protein is still in good quality and quantity, and it is also relatively low in fat and sodium, and the variety of food is relatively high. It’s definitely better for weight loss than if you eat processed foods.
However, light food also has the problem of unpalatable raw vegetables, low nutrient density, unpalatable, expensive, and hidden health problems. Chinese light food – A spicy soup with many vegetables may be more suitable for you.
Some time ago, the UP master [Leek Lab] came to me and said that they bought a few light meals to send for inspection, and then I didn’t really appreciate this. Clear, I said no problem, I will help you analyze and analyze.
So they sent me the data they measured, and we cooperated on a video, which is currently on B station /strong>It has been posted, the playback volume is 50w+, and it is also popular. If you want to watch the video version, welcome Follow my B station number of the same name~
Then let’s take a look at what he bought and the results of the test:
Calorie counterfeiting is a common practice for light meals? !
First, Leek Lab purchased 5 top-selling light food takeaways.
Estimate calories by classifying, weighing, and then looking up food composition tables.
It turned out that 4 out of 5 estimates were much higher than what the merchant claimed, and the most exaggerated was 121% higher. Only sample No. 4, the actual heat is lower than the target.
I was worried that the result of this estimate would be inaccurate, so I bought the same light food takeaway from the original merchant and sent it to a specialized agency for testing. The phenomenon of huge error with the labelled calorie is still the same. existing.
Here, why is the estimated method different from the detected data?
First of all, these are two takeaways. Although they are purchased from the same merchant, the standardization of the merchant is often not too strict, and the amount given each time is different.
Secondly, the estimated calorie is only about 10% lower than the measured value, which is quite reasonable. The calorie coefficient of 4-4-9 when we usually calculate the calorie is to take into account that the human body has the absorption of components. No, it can be lowered, so ordinary people usually use [Weighing-check the composition table for calculation]It is relatively feasible to estimate the calories of a serving of food.
Number 4 is the most conscientious? No!
After reading the above data, do you think that No. 4 is the most conscientious and wants to make us thin, so that other people’s calorie standard is falsely low, and this false standard is high…
But depending on the quality of the food—
No. 4 not only has the fewest types of ingredients, but also has a low carbohydrate and water supply ratio, less protein, and a high oil and fat energy supply ratio. It is not a suitable light meal.
On the contrary, there are many types of ingredients on No. 5, the weight of vegetables is also acceptable, and the energy supply ratio is relatively reasonable. In general, it is a relatively good one.
Even I’m in favor of having more carbohydrates in light meals, and it’s a big deal to eat them in two meals.
Okay, can eating light food like this help you lose weight and stay healthy?
Can you lose weight, it’s not about the calories in a meal
First of all, it is unacceptable that some light food businesses have false labels on calories. This is misleading consumers!
However, to say that the calorie standard is false means that you can’t eat to lose weight. That’s not the truth, because The key to losing weight depends on the total calories.
Even if there are 700 calories in one serving, if you eat very full and the feeling of fullness lasts for a long time after eating, you may not have the urge to snack between meals, and the next meal will also If you want to eat less, that’s fine. And light food does often make people feel that eating is strenuous, and even the remaining 1/3 cannot be eaten.
And if a meal is too low in calories, such as only 300kcal, you will not be full after eating, and you will eat high-calorie snacks again. Then I think you might as well have a good meal this time.
At least for one meal, you eat a more varied, healthier diet than you would if you were snacking on processed foods.
Energy is more important than power
And the qualified fat-reducing meal in my mind can’t just look at calories, proper energy supply is actually more important↓
From the perspective of the 5 light meals purchased, they are basically in line.
(It’s just that when you buy light food, you can’t trust the calorie label. To be honest, I am also very shocked. I think I can accept half of it, but I didn’t expect to double the difference… )
And compared to other takeaways, light meals do have some advantages in nutritional matching.
Benefits of light meals
Light carbs are good quality
The quality of carbohydrates is very important. It is encouraged to eat less refined carbohydrates and more whole grains, so that blood sugar will not rise and fall sharply, and you will get more nutrients.
In this regard, light food is actually quite advantageous. After all, there are few multigrain rice when you order other takeaways, all of which are pure rice, and light food usually uses some carbohydrates.< strong>Whole grains, many with potatoes, and pumpkin, all good carbs.
So I think light food can still be considered qualified for carbohydrates.
Light protein is good quality and quantity
In terms of the amount of protein, you must have at least 20g of protein in one meal (specific estimation method, you need 1800 kcal a day for a woman, 40% of the calories are from your meal To provide, protein energy accounts for 12%, which is a lower limit, then you must have at least 21.6 grams of protein).
If some people also cooperate with physical training, especially larger men, the protein needs are greater, and 100g of protein on that day is also acceptable.
Light Food does a good job in guaranteeing protein. It uses more chicken thighs and breasts, which are also high-quality protein strong>.
Light meals are relatively low-fat
Finally, fat.
The reason why light food is called light food is that one of its characteristics is that there is generally less oil. It can be seen that the 5 parts of fat bought by [Leek Lab] are 8g-16g. From the looks of it, compared to Western fast food takeaways and oily Chinese set meals, still has a lot of advantages.
Of course, you can’t put two packs of salad dressing at a time, and the fat will explode. You can choose low-fat sauces and put less of them, and you can still be healthy.
Light meals are relatively low in sodium
In addition, the light food itself does not contain salt, and the sauces are generally not particularly salty. Compared with many Chinese dishes, the salt is still a lot lower.
The food variety of light meals is relatively high
A meal has vegetables and is low-fat cooked with decent amounts, some high-quality protein, and staples, but not all white rice noodles, whole grains and potatoes Class…
Do you think other takeaway packages you usually order can do more than this?
From the perspective of these three things, light meals still have advantages.
But it doesn’t mean that light meals are all advantages, and there are also many problems.
The problem of light meals
Raw vegetables take up space and are hard to eat
A lot of the vegetables in the light meal set are raw, which are very large, look a lot, and a full box. For some people, it will be unpalatable to eat at all. After , stomach discomfort after barely eating.
A box of raw vegetables that looks very large is actually less than 100g
I think it would be ideal to have 150g of non-starchy vegetables in a light meal. The actual 5 servings do not all meet this standard, but after all, if you order something else For takeaway, it is likely that the amount of vegetables is not as much as this. There are also some light meals in which you can see at a glance that there is a lot of meat in them. After adding some starchy staple foods, there are not many vegetables. This is not acceptable.
Light vegetables are low in nutrient density
Constrained by the way light meals are made and their shelf life, the choice of ingredients is actually always the same.
Especially the vegetable part is more obvious, or lettuce, cherry tomatoes, purple cabbage that are easy to eat raw, or broccoli, snow peas, some strong>Nutrition-rich dark green leafy vegetables, such as small rapeseed, cabbage, spinach, etc., are rarely seen in light meals.
For example, lettuce is the most commonly used base. It has a water content of 95.6%, and its nutritional value is not high. The content of vitamin C, folic acid and vitamin A is very small, and the potassium content is very small. Not too powerful, 100g of potassium is less than 1/10 of the daily requirement.
If you can choose, I recommend you to choose Romaine lettuce and Lettuce, which have much higher nutritional value.
If you don’t have it, Bitter chrysanthemum is also good. You can add some purple cabbage for vitamin C and arugula for calcium.
Unpalatable
Most light food can’t be said to be difficult to swallow, at least it tastes like chewing wax. If you want to taste good, you need to put more high-fat sauces, but a small bag of 30g of ordinary salad dressing is about 190kcal, 2 small bags The calorie catches up with a bowl of rice, mayonnaise, honey mustard, baked sesame sauce are also things with high calorie density, if you mix more, the low-calorie light meal will be broken in a second.
Expensive
This is nothing to say, and some are really money grabs.
Hygiene hazard
Those cold meats such as meat and eggs that have been cut in light meals, although they have been cooked at high temperature in the early stage, after a long period of room temperature or refrigeration, various microorganisms may have begun to infest Breed.
The raw vegetables have not been subjected to high temperature treatment throughout the process, so they are not sterile, and may continue to contaminate pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites in many links such as cleaning, production, transportation, and storage. Wait.
Especially for people with weak gastrointestinal digestion, low immunity, or physical weakness due to other diseases or surgery, they should eat with caution light food takeaways , Once you have vomiting and diarrhea after eating, you should seek medical attention in time. (I once had diarrhea after eating a light food takeaway that was closed nearby…)
My Experience
Therefore, light meals have pros and cons. Although low cost performance, it is indeed a time-saving for office workers to achieve nutrition and relative health. one of the choices.
According to my experience of ordering light salads near the South Second Ring Road in Beijing, it is about 25 yuan. The cooking method is healthier, but the vegetables are far from enough. The food variety is also relatively small, with plenty of brown rice for this combination. If I’m busy with work and try to find other opportunities for myself to eat some vegetables, I’ll be satisfied with this, but I may also have to eat malatang every two days to get a lot of vegetable.
Sometimes I may also order the kind of about 40~50 yuan, which will be better. Generally, there will be different potatoes, pumpkins, and vegetables, except lettuce, at least there will be comparisons The more broccoli, the better the quality of the tomatoes.
Choose your own
Light Food Takeaway
In fact, as long as you know the characteristics of “light food” in your own heart, it is easy to choose the one that matches the take-out order, and you don’t have to only order the word “light food”. of.
For example, if you order a mala tang at the bottom of a clear soup pot, choose more kinds of vegetables, and match them with soy products, eggs, algae, and potatoes. Choose meat with high oil and high degree of processing (such as bacon, small crispy meat), such a takeaway is healthy and hygienic can completely exceed some light meals.
If you want to control your weight, you can eat without sesame sauce, and put coriander, chopped green onion, mashed garlic, diced pepper, vinegar, etc. The low-calorie level can also beat some light meals.
Leave a message and tell me, what do you order when you want a healthy meal and have to order takeout?
Editor: Xiaohui
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