Starch calorie bomb fried rice starts at 800 calories

Rice is the staple food of Oriental people, but many people who are trying to lose weight think that eating a bento is too high in calories, and they think eating a portion of fried rice or risotto instead seems to be "eating less." Nutritionists say fried rice, oily rice and risotto are potential calorie bombs because they are all stir-fried with large amounts of oil and drizzled with thickening sauce. In order to fill customers up, one plate of rice is about two bowls of rice, and the total calories are no less than a bento.

Fried rice, oily rice and stewed rice are potential calorie bombs. They are either stir-fried with large amounts of oil or drizzled with thickening sauces. In order to fill customers up, one plate of rice is about two bowls of rice. Nutritionists remind us that the total calories are no less than a bento. (Photography by Huang Zhiwen)

The fried rice sold in the market is greasy and has as much calories as a bento

Zhang Silan, a nutritionist at Neihu Cathay Clinic, said that a bowl of white rice has about 280 calories. As for commercially available fried rice, oily rice and stewed rice, a plate of rice often has nearly 2 bowls of rice, so the basic calories are 560 calories. However, in the case of fried rice and oil rice, a lot of oil is often needed during the stir-frying process. One tablespoon of oil contains about 45 calories, and a serving of fried rice requires at least 3 portions of oil, plus the calories from shredded meat and egg. Therefore, not only does it feel greasy when you touch it, but you also consume a lot of oil.

Risotto with thickened sauce is high in calories

Therefore, a serving of fried rice starts at at least 800 calories, and may even exceed 1,000 calories, which is no less than the calories in a chicken drumstick lunch box. As for risotto, the main source of calories lies in the sauce and ingredients. Even if you choose seafood ingredients with lower calories, the sauce is thickened and the sauce is thoroughly stirred when eating the risotto, so a serving of seafood risotto still contains nearly 1,000 calories.

Nutritionist Zhang Silan said that this type of staple food not only has high calories but also a high glycemic index (GI value), so people's blood sugar will rise rapidly after eating it. For patients who want to control their weight or have diabetes or high blood pressure, it is not conducive to the stable control of weight and disease.

Fried noodles may need more oil to increase the taste

If we replace the rice with pasta, will the calories be reduced? Nutritionist Zhang Silan pointed out that simply comparing white rice and pasta, such as white noodles, rice vermicelli and glass noodles, pasta does have lower calories, but if cooked into fried noodles, pasta often needs to be stir-fried with more oil to taste good, so the total calories are no less than fried rice.

Reduce calories by increasing the amount of green vegetables

Nutritionist Zhang Silan reminds us that no matter whether it is fried rice, oily rice or stewed rice, there is still a big problem that you cannot eat vegetables. Therefore, the recommended way to eat should adopt the following principles:

1. Limit this type of food to just one meal a day.

2. It is best to share it with two people and add some extra blanched vegetables.

3. It is best to choose light vegetable soup as the main soup, and avoid ordering stews or other soups.