Chinese restaurant food unhealthy, study says

[Fountain79]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17718517/wid/11915773?GT1=9145


They needed a study to tell them this?

WASHINGTON - The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found.

A plate of General Tso’s chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day.

The battered, fried chicken dish with vegetables has 1,300 calories, 3,200 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of saturated fat.

[sir_captain]

1. Should read: "fake chinese food ordered by americans"

is unhealthy.

Real chinese food, particularly cantonese cuisine, is among the more healthy food in the world--it's mostly steamed seafood and vegetables.

"Chinese" food in this country gets a bad rap cause most of it is made up.

[grace0418]

37. Amen to that! Garlic, ginger, chinese broccoli, bok choy, tofu and seafood

are all very good for you. Talking about General Tso's chicken in the context of Chinese food is like talking about Nachos Bell Grande in the context of Mexican food.

[sir_captain]

38. Heh. Absolutely.

It took almost 12 hours, but I'm glad someone noticed!

Your analogy is an excellent one. :hi:

[MilesColtrane]

2. One from column A...

one from column B, and you get free angioplasty.

[Kutjara]

3. Oh, it fucking would be, wouldn't it?

Anything even slightly tasty in this world is inevitably death on a plate, whereas the healthy stuff all tastes like boiled laundry and twigs.

Well, it's about time for my usual breakfast of steamed plankton, algae fritters and braised air. Gooooood eatin'!

[kay1864]

5. Braised air is REALLY bad for you.

Trans fats. And lots of sodium. :+

[HughBeaumont]

8. Seriously. I try to be healthy, but I cannot eat health food.

I like Sesame Chicken and Veggie Lo Mein and fuck people who say your diet should consist of fruit, vegetables, rice and NOTHING ELSE!!


"This is not FOOD! This is what FOOD EATS!" - Red, That 70s Show

[Kali]

12. "boiled laundry and twigs"

:spray:

"braised air" :rofl:

[youthere]

18. Steaming the plankton destroys all the vitamins. ..

sorry, you'll have to eat your plankton raw from now on.

[MilesColtrane]

32. I heard that there are mercury concerns with plankton and algae.

You'd better replace them with 1/2 a rice cake and a plate of mashed yeast.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. The fundamental rule of dieting: If it tastes good, spit it out.

Now stop whining and eat your rocks and lichens.

[Shell Beau]

4. Good think I don't like Asian cuisine!

Now Mexican and Italian, on the other hand, are extremely delicious. But also, fattening! x(

[Left Is Write]

6. Fettuccine alfredo....

heart attack on a plate.

;)

[Shell Beau]

7. I know and it is soooooooo good!

[eyesroll]

29. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indian, Afghanistani, Malaysian, Turkish...

Not to mention the other countries I missed, plus the specialized cuisine of all of the various regions of the above country, and you don't like any of it? Wow.

Most Asian cuisines feature some very healthy options, and some not-so-healthy options, especially when cooked at home or in-country, but even as imagined by American restaurants.

For instance, sashimi with rice, miso soup, and a cucumber salad? Good for you, if you're not watching sodium. Shrimp tempura roll with wasabi mayo? Not so much.

Just a reminder: American Chinese restaurant food (even if you go to Chinatown and order something with sea cucumbers) isn't the whole of Chinese food.

You can do Mexican and Italian healthily, too. It's not all fried tacos and alfredo sauce.

[Shell Beau]

33. I am just not big on the seasoning in most Asian food.

And I don't like fish so I am pretty much screwed.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Strip mall Chinese restaurant lunch buffet food

bears no resemblance to what people actually eat in China.

[AlCzervik]

11. no it sure isn't.

my husband is in China all the time and loves the food thereand he's actually lost 25 pounds since he began traveling there on a regular basis.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. When I spent 5 weeks in China in 1990, we ate so much and so often

that we almost got tired of eating--not to mention the beer we drank with lunch and dinner. Yet none of us gained weight, probably due to both the food (typically mostly vegetables with little bits of meat, tofu, or fish in them and a small amount of rice or noodles) and the exercise (as one member of our group remarked, everything we were taken to was either on top of a mountain and accessible only on foot or it was on the fifth floor of a building with no elevators).

[sir_captain]

13. My point exactly

[catmandu57]

10. I'll eat what the fuck I want

I'm sick of these fucking food nazis.

[kwassa]

15. Eating unhealthily is certainly your prerogative

No one will take away your right to eat poorly.

[TommyO]

27. A plate of General Tso's Chicken

once in a while is hardly eating poorly - if you eat it every day, that's another story.

[Deja Q]

16. Dying young or unhappy - lovely choice we've got...

I wonder whatever happened to dying old and happy... though I think we can all guess what happened with that.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. The Answer, Toad, Is Nothing

The median life expectancy continues to rise in this country. The fact is that while we know what is potentially bad for us, in much greater detail than 40 years ago, people are still living longer. So, the choice isn't as bad as you suggest.

You can still be happy and not die young. Except that all the worrying about taking 15 monhts off one's life just might be the cause of dying 15 months sooner.
The Professor

[Deja Q]

35. Only as long as people live from womb to the tomb in a healthy state.

I will wager real money that people who eat fattening sugar-filled garbage all day, much like how those aged 80~120 never had, may end up living that long - but only with the help of diabetes, anti-cholesterol, and other medications taken at precisely the right times.

As for worrying, it's all I got left and if it helps I sure as hell am going to do it. Unless you've got a good reason not to.

[Reverend_Smitty]

14. and in other news...the sky is blue

As long as you're not eating this stuff every day, I don't see the harm of indulging in some yummy junk food every now and then. I seriously doubt that this study will really surprise vast numbers of people. I certainly did not believe that because there was broccoli in my chicken with broccoli that my meal was somehow healthy

[gravity]

17. Chinese dishes today are huge

They usually last me 2 meals

[unpossibles]

21. I agree. Portion size at almost every American restaurant

is out of control - my wife and I often split a dinner or I take the leftovers to lunch the next day.

Also, in my experience, the better Asian restaurants are a completely different experience from the cheap MSG-laden crap. I also imagine the same problem would be found at many restaurants - Chipotle for one has crazy sodium levels and portion sizes.

[Nikia]

36. I agree

Only once have I finished a Chinese food meal since graduating from college. That dish was chicken (unbreaded, unfried) with mixed vegtables, which I doubt had over 1000 calories. Usually, I eat the rest for lunch.

[noonwitch]

19. That's not necessarily true in Canada, though

When I was a kid, we used to vacation at this ranch in Ontario near Owen Sound. We always went out at least once for chinese food. In Canada, it's closer to the authentic stuff and isn't as heavily fried.

Also, at any of those strip-mall buffets, you can find the authentic dishes there. Around here you can tell the best ones by who eats there-if a lot of aisan people are eating there, they probably offer some authentic food.

[MissMillie]

20. I think the trick is to enjoy what you enjoy... in moderation

I don't eat Chinese food every day.

I don't even eat Chinese food every week.

I'm not sure I've had Chinese food in the last 2 months.

So when I get around to having it, I'm going to have it, and I'm going to enjoy it.




I eat pho pretty often too... often I make it myself at home, so I can control what goes into it.]

[BluePatriot]

22. Grass green, water wet,

Bush a moron...More with Rick Romero at 11.

[Evoman]

23. Depends on where you get it.

There is a place close to me that serves somewhat healthy food. They have this awesome Beef and Peppers with Black Bean sauce thats sooooo tasty. The sauce actually has TONS of black beans in it (they make it in-house), and the beef and peppers aren't fried.

[El Fuego]

25. People think it's healthy just because they see a piece of broccoli in it.

Chinese food has never seemed particularly healthy to me.

[TommyO]

26. Without even reading it, I'll bet CSPI is involved.

Bastards, trying to take away my Fettuccine Alfredo and General Tso's Shrimp (much better than the chicken).

Edited to add: I was right!

[Lil Missy]

30. Oh well, I have to die from something, right?

And I just found a couple Chinese joints that serve sushi. (Not that the sushi is as good, but it is tolerable)

[catmandu57]

31. Yep eat raw veggies and drink pure spring water

exercise every day, then walk in front of a garbage truck just leaving the chinese takeaway.

[Nikia]

39. I consider it some healthy because I get a bigger variety of vegtables

When I get chicken with mixed vegtables. Yes, I could go to the store and buy small amounts of several different vegtables and put them all in one dish for myself (my husband likes very few vegtables) but by the time I drive 12 miles each weigh to the nearest grocery store with more than 10 items of produce in the winter and cook it all, it is much cheaper to just get Chinese take out.

[NMMNG]

40. How much restaurant food actually *is* healthy?

:shrug: