My Chinese New Year tips (Food to avoid/reduce intake)

Chinese Mandarin Orange

Okay guys, I have highlighted certain main foods that Chinese usually eat during Chinese New Year, and provide tips and advices on it. Well, no doubt they are Delicious. I like it too but bare in mind that "We can eat nice food but many in a roll". I suggest everyone just keep your diet as balance as possible. Here is the list:

Favourite choice	Smart choice
Steamboat (sausage, fish ball, fish cake, anchovies, meatball, seafoods, seasonings)	Add in more vegetables (spinach, lettuce) increase fiber intake for satiety.            Flavour with onion, corn, tomato to make soup healthier.            Limit your seafood quantity intake.            Avoid internal organs (liver, small intestine).            Choose fresh flesh (fish, chicken rather than frozen/processed foods).            Control amount of consumption, eat appropriate amount by follow sequence (Vegetablesànoodles, porridgeàmeat, fish, poultryàfruits)
Bak-Kwa (dried meat dice), bacon (High in saturated fat)	Limit to ½ pcs (Bak-Kwa) for 1 day.            Limit frequency intake to 2 times per week only.            Choose healthy snack such as fruits (mandarin orange), nuts (limit to ½ cups –almond, walnut, peanut, cashew nut).
Salted snacks, pickling, deep fried biscuit (high trans fat)	High salt will cause us easy dehydrated and relate to high blood pressure problem.            Go for natural snacks (unsalted fruits and plain salad (no sauces)).            Go for oats, wholegrain biscuit (need control portion size 3 to 6 pcs per time).
Canned food (abalone, mushroom)	Go for fresh foods rather than canned food (high salt).
Mandarin orange	Control frequency consumption to 2 to 3 whole medium size in a day If had diarrhea problem, need strictly avoid for that particular day
Barbeque (It is relate with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon àdue to over heat) that will casue carcinogen (cancer cell develop)	Suggest to choose healthy cooking method (steam, stir-fried).            Limit your quantity of food intake.            Avoid eat part that scorch (overheat during BBQ).

在农历新年期间需控制的食物：

最喜爱的选择	聪明的选择
火锅（香肠，鱼丸，鱼饼，凤尾鱼，丸子，海鲜，调味料）	•添加更多的蔬菜（菠菜，生菜等）增加纤维的摄入增加饱感。 •加入洋葱，玉米，番茄等可使增添汤底的味道。 •限制海鲜的摄入量。 •避免食用内脏（肝，小肠）。 •选择新鲜肉类（而不是冷藏或加工食品）。 •控制份量，按照下列顺序吃（蔬菜à面条，粥à肉，鱼，家禽à水果）。
肉干，培根（高饱和脂肪）	•限制一天食用一片。 •限制每周最多只食用2次。 •选择水果（柑橘），果仁（只限½杯，杏仁，核桃，花生，腰果等）健康的零食。
含高盐的零食（酸梅）腌制食物，油炸饼干（含高反式脂肪）	•高盐会导致我们很容易脱水，高血压等相关问题。 •选择天然小吃（无盐水果和纯沙拉（无酱）。 •食用含燕麦，全麦饼干（需要控制份量，每次可摄取3片至6片）。
罐头食品（鲍鱼，蘑菇）	选择新鲜食物，而不是罐头食品（高盐和防腐剂）。
橘子	控制份量一天里2颗至3颗。 如果有腹泻的问题，需要避免食用。
烧烤（它与多环芳香烃有关—）由于过热），将导致致癌物产生（癌症细胞的发展）	•建议选择健康的烹饪方法（蒸，炒炸）。 •限制摄取的次数。 •避免食用已经烧焦的部分。

Chinese New Year (What's your food planning?)

Ding Dong. Next week is Chinese New Year and world wide of Chinese people are celebrating it. I just want to ask all my Chinese friends and readers, what do you eat most during Chinese New Year? Normally answers that I will get are pork, Bak-Kwa (dried meat), Steamboat, Snacks and so on. Of course, you will be drinking beers as well as soft drinks. So starting from today onwards, I will prepare few tips to share with all of you how we can celebrate a healthy Chinese New Year. For my non-Chinese friends, you can take my few post as a reading to understand our food culture and habits when we are celebrating Chinese New Year. I hope you will like it.


I will first started with drinks. Soft drinks (Ex Pepsi, Coke, 100 Plus etc), canned drinks, packet drinks and alcohol drinks are most of Chinese favorite in serving friends and relatives when they visit you but take note that certain drinks as mention contain high level of sweet and coloring. Why not we prepare other drinks as alternative to let your friends and relative choose. Soya, Green Tea and Barley drink (reduce body heatiness and high soluble fiber) should always be your smart choice. In fact, younger generation or kids should drink lesser cup of soft drinks for the good of your healthy teeth.

嗨，大家好， 还有几天就是普天同庆的华人佳节-农历新年了。有些人可能会认为农历新年是应该放纵自己，好好享受所有美食佳肴的时候了。然而，如果我们总是有带着这样的观念去庆祝一年中的所有节日，这几乎可以说每一个月都有佳节。因此，在这个开心时刻，我们为什么不养成良好的饮食习惯，并且在同一时间享受最喜爱的健康美食。

说到饮料，华裔爱在新年期间喝汽水，酒精饮料（啤酒）和罐装饮料（荔枝，龙眼）。我们应减少以上的饮料，多提供豆浆，绿茶/红茶和大麦水给亲戚朋友。这可以解决热气，还含可溶性纤维可以防止便秘。 所以大家应该警惕我们在新年期间所喝的饮料。

For western food Chinese lovers, you can refer back to my Christmas food planning post to get more information. Cheers.

Diarrhea (Foods to be avoid)

As I promise, here is the list of foods/drinks I designed for readers to have a better understanding. I believed most of you might not have the clue of the proper foods to take during diarrhea period. I hope my list can help and useful for everyone.

Type of foods	Example foods	Effects
Sorbitol containing foods	Apple, pear,  peaches, prune,            sugar-free products (chewing gums & artificial sweeteners)	Laxative effect and undigested sorbitol cause fermentation of bacteria.
High acidic foods	Unripe fruits,            citrus fruits (lime, orange, mandarin, tangerine, grape fruit),            vinegar,            tomatoes.	Major distress in the gastrointestinal tract.
Insoluble fiber	Raw vegetables –Lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, cabbage, peas, bran, carrots, beans, eggplant, mushrooms, spinach, sweet potatoes.            Fruits - avocado, guava, orange, kiwi.	Do not dissolve in water and passes straight into the intestines causing gas and diarrhea.
Dairy products	Butter,            Milk,            Ice cream or cheese.	Less amount enzyme lactase to digest lactose (milk sugar). Undigested lactose can cause gas, bloating.
Fatty foods	Fried foods,            Sesame seed oils	Speed up intestinal contractions.
Caffeine	Coffee	Stimulate bowel movements
Alcohol	Beer, wine, whisky	Dehydration

以下是我所建议腹泻时应避免的食物：

含山梨醇食物	•苹果，梨，桃子，李子 •无糖产品（口香糖和人工甜味剂）	通便的作用和未消化的山梨醇可导致细菌发酵
高酸性的食物	•未成熟的水果 •柑橘类水果（柠檬，橙，柑，桔，葡萄等）， •醋 •西红柿（番茄）	可让肠胃感到负担而不适
不溶性纤维	•生菜，花椰菜，青花菜，洋葱，白菜，豌豆，麸皮，胡萝卜，豆类，茄子，蘑菇，菠菜，地瓜 •水果 （番石榴，橙子，猕猴桃）	不溶于水，直接传递到肠子可造成胀气和腹泻
乳制品	•牛奶 •冰淇淋或奶酪量少乳糖酶来消化乳糖（牛奶糖）	未消化的乳糖可引起胀气
脂肪的食物	•油炸食品 •芝麻籽油	加快肠道收缩
咖啡因	咖啡	刺激肠蠕动
酒精	啤酒，葡萄酒，威士忌	脱水

Diarrhea

Evening folks. I must take this post to notify all my Chinese readers that I am going to write few post of diet tips during Chinese New Year which falls on 3th of Feb. This post I am jumping into explaining diarrhea. I bet everyone of us experience diarrhea before right? Most terrible day if you are having diarrhea in the morning and you are going to suffer the whole day. If diarrhea which caused by food poisoning, it can last for 2-3 days.

The main causes of diarrhea usually are related to bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection infections, low immune system and so on. Generally diarrhea is happened when a person passes loose, watery stools for more than 3 times a day and in advance can cause dehydration, which means the body lacks enough fluid to function properly.


各位读者，配合华人农历新年，我过几天会和大家分享一些新年期间应该注意的饮食。今天专注在腹泻课题。现在有些人很容易有腹泻问题。这主要的原因可能与细菌，病毒或寄生虫感染，低免疫系统等有关。在食物中毒时，也许会一天里腹泻超过四次以上。腹泻是指一个人在一天里排出软，水水的大便超过三次。这可引起脱水，这意味着人体缺乏足够的液体做正常运作。


I will specify the foods to be avoid (in a details table) if you notice you are having diarrhea for the day.

Diet tips for post-surgery (Cont)

Hi everyone, sorry for late for next tips on post-surgery. I tried to blog everyday as I can but my work doesn't allow me to do so. Well, hope the number of visitors stat is the energy to push me forward. If you just underwent surgery (light or moderate, definitely serious cases should consult a personal dietitian) and need to know few general knowledge about do and don't in diet, this is the post you can read. First, make sure all the foods that ready to be eat is maintained in hot temperature. If you left it in room temperature for more than 1 hour, you better reheat by using microwave for 5 to 10 minutes.  All foods in canned or packet (vaccum sealed) can be consume, no worries about that (Must read the expire date). Ensure all the foods are not expired or spoiled before you take it. Honey is not allowed to take as it contains botulism (present in honey) which can cause bacteria infection. Drinking water should be boiled, sterilised or filtered.

手术后的病人应确保所有的食物，保持热的温度来吃。如果在普通室内放超过1小时，可在微波加热5至10分钟后才食用。罐头或包装的所有食物（真空密封）可以食用。确保所有的食物尚未过期。蜂蜜是不可食用的，因为它含有肉毒杆菌感染可引发感染。水应该煮沸，消毒或过滤后饮用。

I know some information may not be useful for you as it meant for post-surgery people, but just treat it as general knowledge which can guide you in future. Thanks for viewing.

Diet tips for post-surgery (An idea from Steve Job recent news)

My interest mostly focus on diabetes diet planning as more similar cases occur in my working place. But, after I read the news where Apple CEO Steve Job (the architect behind my favorite Ipad) takes a medical leave due to health issue, the article triggers me some idea to share with you all some diet planning after surgery for those who is still recovering (for reading and reference only, else I suggest patient to get a full guidance from personal dietitian). By the way, Steve Job is making a right move to take some good rest (My view is Don't use your health to make Money). I guess he has a very good medical team treating him but most important is he needs to control his food intake. 


So, back to the topic, the most important diet key for after-surgery patient is to avoid taking raw or half cooked foods. For example, salad, raw vegetables (carrots stick, tomato, cucumber and so on), half-cooked eggs, raw seafood (oyster, mussels), half cooked lamb or beef. All foods must be cooked until well done.Raw foods contain a lot of bacteria that can cause infection happens. Fruits should be adequately cleaned and/or peeled before eating. If you consume dairy, it should be low fat or fat free.


听到了苹果CEO的新闻，他因健康原因将休息几个月。我在此想和大家分享动过手术的病人应如何控制饮食。手术后的病人是应该避免吃生的或半熟的食物。例如，沙拉，生蔬菜（胡萝卜棒，番茄，黄瓜等），半生熟鸡蛋，生海鲜（牡蛎，贻贝），半熟羊肉或牛肉。所有食物必须煮至熟透。没有熟透的食物含有大量的细菌，可引起感染发生。水果在食用前应充分清洗和/或去皮。如果你有选择乳制品，应该是低脂肪或无脂肪的。


Diet planning for post-surgery person is not a task of two to six months but years until you ware examined to consume more variety of foods. I will further explain Steve Job's case in the following post. So, keep the determination ON!

Diabetes (A note for Sally Yip)

Screenshot from http://ent.sinchew-i.com/node/24665

Hi all, after few days of holiday, is time to blog again. My friend just shared a link with me of a famous 80's Hong Kong Cantopop singer article (the article is in chinese but I can't find any english one) from Sin Chew daily. She is Sally Yip or known as Yip Sin Man who is popular for her music and wiki even calls her as "Celine Dion of Hong Kong". Well, the article mentions that she had diabetes right now after her dad is also a diabetes patient, but her case is light and just need certain diet control. Therefore, I would take this chance to share to everyone some diet tips for first stage of diabetes. 


Some might heard before that taking certain type of rice can control blood glucose level. Actually all type of rice can be served for diabetes people, the key is to control the portion size of intake for each meal. For each lunch or dinner, rice intake should be limit to only 1 Chinese Bowl only (search the size of the bowl). Any rice I mean can be white rice, brown rice, Jasmine Rice, Basmati Rice and so on which contain the same amount of sugar after being digested. Brown rice contains more fiber compare to white rice (for your information). So we need to control our intake rather than type of rice intake. In addition, consistent meal time is important for diabetes people. You better schedule your meal every week. I believe if you follow a correct dietary guidance, you can enjoy your life as normal too. For every diabetes people, cheers !


港星葉蒨文表示早前驗身，發現遺傳了父親的糖尿病，雖然不算嚴重，暫毋須吃藥，但飲食方面也需要小心，她會吃一種特別的米，並且需要戒口。我对控制糖尿病也有一些看法。对于糖尿病患者，所有类型的米都可食用，只有一个事情需要记住就的是控制每次食用的份量。例如，每一顿午餐或晚餐，饭的摄取量应为1碗。所有米实际上是含有相同的糖份，包括白米饭，糙米，香米等。糙米比白米饭含有较多的纤维，可以有效缓和糖份吸收。但是，我们还是应该限制米的摄入量，而不是选择任何特定的米和摄取过度的食用份量。定时吃饭也是对糖尿病患者很重要的。千万不要害怕食用任何面包或米饭。如果能够依照正确的饮食指南，你仍然可以享受食物的。

Food contraindication (Seafood)

Most of you may not aware of the meaning of food contraindication. It is more towards a diet term. An easier explanation from my view is I believe that a combination of certain foods can affect one's digestive system. Since fish and shellfish contain high iron level, I suggest people need to be aware of what should you eat on behalf of seafood on the same meal. This is important especially for anemia people. Examples of food/drink which I don't suggest you take along with the same meal of seafood are carbonated drinks (phosphorus), tea (tannic acid), coffee, milk (calcium) and oats (phytate). Above are several kinds of food/drink which is not suitable to intake with seafood based on my experience. The combination may results in decreasing the absorption of iron. So my friends, take note of it. 

有些鱼，贝壳类含有大量的铁质如蚝，蚵类，所以食用时与其他食物的配搭也必须要小心选择，尤其是贫血症的人。例如，汽水（磷），茶（丹宁酸），咖啡，牛奶（钙）和麦片（肌醇六磷酸）是会减低铁质的吸收。

Cooking fish/shellfish

If you like to cook, and if you like to cook seafood by your own, this is the tips I may want to emphasize. Most people would choose fry as the cooking method for fish/shellfish, no doubt this method is easiest but from my view - frying makes fish and shellfish much higher in fat, especially if they’re cooked in batter. I wouldn't choose to cook so, we can choose a healthier way such as steamed or grilled. Choose wise for your health and daily life. Cheers.

如果你要做出健康的菜肴，必须记住选择蒸，烘焙或烧烤等去烹调鱼类或贝，甲壳类。这会比煎炸来的健康。煎炸的食物往往会令食物含有大量的饱和脂肪，尤其是被牛奶、面粉、鸡蛋等裹着去油炸的。因为牛奶、面粉、鸡蛋等会吸收更多的油。

Shellfish allergy

Just like nuts, shellfish can cause allergy to certain person but how do we know that we maybe allergy? Well, most of the symptoms are itching, eczema, swelling and more serious diarrhea or vomit. Itching is the most common symptom which I faced before on patients but some of them maybe will get diarrhea or vomiting too if their stomach encounters food intolerance. Itching and major skin redness is a string sign showing you are allergy to any shellfish (once again examples are shrimp, crabs, lobster, squid and so on) if you consume it a meal before.Keep in mind allergy is not only happening once and it may happens again if you don't consult doctor to get a better solution. So folks, beware of shellfish and always know what you are eating!

贝类可导致过敏, 我们怎么知道我们可能过敏？症状大多是瘙痒，湿疹，红肿，更严重的腹泻或呕吐。痒是最常见的症状，但其中一些可能会出现腹泻或呕吐。胃不耐受也可以导致泻肚及呕吐。最后我的建议还是如有瘙痒或湿疹的症状，而且不止一次，应该询问医生的意见了。

Cholesterol in Shellfish

What is actually shellfish? Well this term normally refers as seafood such as shrimp,clams,crab,oysters and so on. They are seafood that has sometime type of shell covering them. Yeap, from the picture, we can't resist their taste =). The dark side is shellfish is one of the food that can cause allergy most, so we need to choose wisely for our seafood selection. This post I will explain shellfish's cholesterol consumption before I explain shellfish allergy in next post. Which type of seafood contains high cholesterol? The popular one would be clam, mussels, oyster, squid lobster, prawn with head, crab roe, fish roe, and fish head. Therefore, take note of the portion you are having if you are a seafood lover. My little advice would be each consumption such as prawn, squid or oyster should limit to 6 medium pieces only. Besides, prawn head and small intestine also need to be clean clearly to avoid cholesterol consumption.

在选购贝或甲壳类时，必须要注意有些是含有较高的胆固醇。含量比较高的是虾壳类，蚝，蚵，蚌类，鱿鱼，龙虾，鱼卵，鱼头等。这类海鲜是必须控制食用次数，最多也只能一个月一次而已。此外，每次食用的份量也必须限制如虾只，鱿鱼或蚝只只能食用6只。另外提醒虾只的头部与内脏都要清除干净，以避免摄取过量胆固醇。


You need to know clearly the cholesterol contain for some of the popular seafood in order to choose your meal wisely. I tried to collect some data of it to share with you all in future. Plan for a better seafood diet regardless your age (not only elder people faces high cholesterol).