There’s a Chinese restaurant located directly across the street from our local mall that offers a lunch buffet for $6. The other day I was running behind schedule (after running errands at the mall) and decided to pop into the restaurant for lunch with my toddler daughter. I figured the buffet was bound to have something she’d eat and the restaurant doesn’t charge for children 2 and under so I figured I’d be getting a pretty good deal—two meals for $6. Later that night I learned that I got more than I bargained for.
My daughter enjoyed the General Tso’s chicken (just the chicken) so much it prompted me to look up the recipe online. What I found made my stomach ache. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a single serving of General Tso’s chicken is loaded with about 40% more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day. (YIKES! And, to think I gave my 2-year-old at least a single serving during that one meal…) The dish, which is comprised of battered, fried chicken and mixed vegetables, has 1,300 calories, 3,200 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of saturated fat. But, it gets worse—the consumer group also says that a single egg roll contains 200 calories and 400 milligrams of sodium. (I polished off 2.5 egg rolls that day.) According to government guidelines, the average adult needs around 2,000 calories a day and 2,300 milligrams of salt, which is about one teaspoon of salt.
To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t the amount of calories that surprised me, but the amount of sodium present in the vegetable dishes that shocked me. According to the public interest group, a plate of stir-fried greens has 900 calories and 2,200 milligrams of sodium. And eggplant in garlic sauce has 1,000 calories and 2,000 milligrams of sodium. Doctors will tell you that sodium contributes to hypertension, and obviously a high-calorie diet is terrible for your waistline and blood pressure (and here I thought I was doing myself a favor by dining on the vegetables dishes).
I was disheartened to hear the news about Chinese eateries, but realistically I would be lying if I said I would never step foot in one again. Rather, the next time I visit a Chinese restaurant I will be following some tips provided by medical experts on how to make my next meal there a bit healthier:
• Stick with dishes that feature all vegetables instead of meat and vegetables or vegetables and noodles.
• Pass on the sauce, including soy sauce, duck sauce, and hoisin sauce—all of which are high in salt.
• Stay away from dishes that feature deep-fried meat. Rather, order meats stir-fried or braised.
• Share your meal or take half home for later.
• Ask for brown rice instead of white rice.
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