Imagine
grilled seafood, legumes, marinated meats and
tofu simmered with enticing sauces from soy,
plum and spicy chilies, embellished with the
heady scent of peanut oil, aromatic herbs and
nuts. On the side, envision steaming rice, noodles
and bok choy, a compulsory glass of wine and
you could be forgiven for feeling like one of
Pavlov’s dogs.
The delight of Asian foods reinforce why recent
“hula hoop” diets characterized by “oh-so-simple”
and tasteless approaches to nutrition have been
laid to rest. The culinary joys of the Asian
cuisine pose a delicious argument for why healthy
eating is achievable everyday, as well as for
“Thanksgiving Day Feasts”. After all, this day
of thanks is more than just turkey, dressing
and roasted vegetables and can allow us to appreciate
the flavors and spices of our multicultural
society by delighting in an assortment of Asian
foods.
Thankfully over 50 years of research justifies
our attraction to Asian fare by showing that
the prevention of heart disease, cancer, diabetes
and successful weight management is best achieved
through following the principles of the Asian
diet.
There are 9 key principles of the Asian diet
that you may wish to consider when thinking
about the healthful food you wish to purchase,
prepare and take pleasure in during your Thanksgiving
Day Feast, including:
Two-thirds of what you eat can come
from a variety of:
1. Plant oils, such as nut, seed, canola and
other vegetable oils
2. Cereals and cereal products, mostly whole
grain or with a low Glycemic Index like rice
3. Vegetables
4. Fruits
5. Nuts, seeds and legumes
Moderate quantity of:
6. Dairy products
7. Alcohol (Moderate consumption is 1-2/day
(female) or 2-3/day (male) standard servings
Choose mostly fish, poultry and least
red meat:
8. 2-3 servings of fish/seafood per week and
2-3 servings poultry per week
9. Minimal red meat and its products (i.e. once
per week)
Take-Home Message No 1. What’s cooking
with oils?
The number 1 take-home message from the Asian
diet is to choose and enjoy a variety of healthy
dietary fats and oils from vegetables, nuts
and fish. This has enormous health benefits
as they are usually rich in heart healthy monounsaturated
and polyunsaturated fat and antioxidants. Plant
oils (canola, vegetable, safflower, nut and
seeds) and fish oils (especially salmon, tuna,
sardines, and other deep sea fish) reduce blood
triglycerides and increase good cholesterol
when consumed instead of a large amount red
meat and animal fat (butter, animal fats, lard,
and trans-fat margarines). In addition, dietary
fat makes its healthy plate partners (rice,
vegetables, fish, salad and legumes) taste even
better and prevent food from being tasteless
and uninviting.
In this way choosing healthy dietary fats can
be considered integral to the healthful Asian
cuisine which continues to teach us the significance
of dietary fat and and long term dietary compliance.
After all, it is great to consider eating healthier
foods for your Thanksgiving day celebration,
however if you are unable to continue eating
these foods through the days of the year you
might be left feeling like a turkey when you
realize you could have easily embraced the health
benefits of the Asian cuisine and reduced your
risk of poor health and chronic disease.
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