Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
From my observations, a large proportion of Chinese food has these characteristics:
1. oily (I would never be able to use one of the standard sized oil bottles from here in China unless I owned an industrial sized deep frying machine)
2. fatty meat (disgustingly so)
3. excessive carbohydrates (a word that nobody seems to have ever heard of in China -- why is that?)
4. salty
So, how can people consider this stuff to be "healthy"?
Now, before you try to fight back, I will dismiss out of hand the following so-called arguments:
1. "That's only Chinese food in Chinese restuarants. You need to eat what people eat at home." Sorry- that is simply not true. It's the same stuff people. You have to train your ayi to do cooking without loading down the food with oil and salt (and they complain because "It won't have any taste!")
2. "You don't know how to order". This is total BS as well. I purposely pick out the things that are less oily. You let your Chinese colleague order and you better believe that is going to be oily and have huge chunks of fat floating in it. And he'll eat every bite!
Feel free to flame away.
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wefrucar
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Your question seems to be operating on the assumption that anything with oil, fat, carbs, and/or salt must be unhealthy.
For the record, none of those things are strictly bad.
Also, who's been saying that chinese food is healthy? (Aside from chinese people who have never eaten anything else?)
Sometimes I feel it is maybe unbearable always be traditional Chinese girl.
BJnerd
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Yes, the more of those things you have, the less healthy. Fatty meat and oil add calories a lot faster than other things. And oily noodles are loaded with calories and little nutritional value.
Let's say you take something like shui zhu yu (fish floating in chili oil). You can have a lot more brown rice and steamed veggies by weight than shui zhu yu. Also, oil is not very good for you, at least the stuff in most Chinese dishes. We are not talking about olive oil here.
And lot's of people say that Chinese food is healthy! You can't be serious that you haven't heard anybody say this before.
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Taylor1314
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Chinese food is healthy in condition that it is properly cooked. More often than not, too much oil and salt are used to make the dishes taste delicious, but I don't think it's healthy. But generally speaking, Chinese food is healthier than western food such as hamburgers, fried chips, etc. Chinese people eat rice, vegetables, fish, and the like, which are very nutritious.
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Herbz
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
China only wanted Libya's oil for cooking!
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lucreziab
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
I was watching a program on Chinese tv the other day, they were showing all these vegetables that are healthy. Then they cooked a dish with them and it was swimming in oil. We both said, No! No! They just killed that food!
lorpon
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Well, I do not think that they are really healthy, detoxifying probably. If you want something healthy, then you must take Korean food. As a matter of fact, western culture even take bibimbap as part of an integral diet thanks to its healthy ingredients.
I love Chinese food, it is delicious and all but I would not really consider it healthy. And I agree that it is oily and in what ever sense you classify it, oil is still oil no matter how virgin it would be.
ReneeWine
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Edit: why some Chinese have China breath? Is it because of some Chinese food?
Comfortable.
uchimataleao
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
LOL!! What a joke!
uchimataleao
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
I think it is partly because of the absolutely whimsical nutrition aspect of Chinese medicine, and partly because of the kind of western foods commonly consumed by Chinese people which in turn gives them a skewed idea of what foreigners eat.
No we don't eat snickers bars and pizza every single day.
uchimataleao
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
...and just to keep it fair, most people in American couldn't tell you the first thing about what is healthy either.
ChinaJosh
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
In defense of Chinese food, you're talking about a country with a great deal of variety in their cuisine. Sure, Sichuan food is typically swimming in chili oil. Northern cuisine has tons of thick, often oily or sauce smothered noodles. Other cuisines favor fatty meats like the (imho) disgusting fatty pork dishes. But if you talk more of Cantonese or southern cuisine, you get more steamed dishes, more fish and vegetables, less oil and salt, and often times a healthy dish.
Of course people like to talk up their food and how great or amazing it is, and just like most people, they have that specific ideal in mind and apply it to the whole. You could also consider the school of thought in food combining. Overall though, of course its an overstatement to say that all Chinese food is healthy, just as it would be to say that all Western food is unhealthy.
MichalWilk
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
So why Chinese people are so skinny if their food is suppose to be so unhealthy?
When I eat at restaurants, I often see Chinese skinny women eating HUGE lunches(big bowls of noodles, meat, etc.), that I could barely fit into my stomach, and still they are so skinny.
Even when it comes to the deep fried vegetables, they are still crispy and half-raw in the middle, which, I think, makes them healthy.
When I ate greasy stuff in Europe, I very often had some stomach problems, however in here I am definetely eating even more greasy stuff and so far, my metabolism is working more than fine and my jeans are getting looser than ever.
zhenlai
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Well I certainly hope you enjoyed your life. It sounds as though you are attempting to cut it shorter than it should be.
美国鬼子
Sciency
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Well, it's much less processed... though I have my qualms about how its fertilized.
The market veggies are so.... big and bland. The fkn corn tastes like rubber. The tomatoes barely have any tomato in them....
And you never know if what you're buying's been grown over an old battery dump or not.
Still, I guess it's potentially better than cheez whiz, cool-whip, and all that chemically, artificial, irradiated crap in the States.
Galaxies don't move Sciency. They're in a fixed position.
johnrousseau
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
I guess it really depends what cooking method you use for your food. I usually use steaming and stir-frying for the Chinese cuisines.
John
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blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
If can do one thing, would be great.
blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
why eat sandwich or fast food or bread always at noon? isn't menu monotonous?
could it feed your stomach enough?
I perfer sandwich as breakfast if I choose. I like to eat convenient food when I am in inconvenient situation.
If can do one thing, would be great.
roota
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
You really need to learn more about Chinese food.
Learn Chinese http://openchinese.org/
blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
in order to do not let someone's head change into a sandwich or a hamburger, I decide to learn from my mother!

but now no motivation.
but actually I think I cook well. I really good at boiling common and popular things and creat some dishes. usually guys who eat food that I cook, they say the dishes are not yuck, but weird, they can not figure out what is the taste.
are you talking to me?
If can do one thing, would be great.
dan4
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
Sorry I disagree. Americans are well informed of what is healthy or not...they just choose to follow bad habits.
I'm diabetic, and China is a living hell for me. It's hard just to find simple juice drinks that aren't overly sugared. Coke Zero is one of the healthiest drink options for me...how fcked up is that?
Damn I'm hot. I'm on fire!
blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
I think chinese dishes need to be cooked using affection.


so they are healthy!
chinese foods are not an assembly line work. they are not fixed and accurate to how many grams of stuff you should add to when you are cooking. just you feel its ok, well its ok. so you can see same food in the different restaurants is not different taste. cuz different kitchener is different for the control of taste of the dish.
and dependent on your taste, we can cook different taste. if you like sweet taste, well this dish can be sweet. if you like spicy taste, same dish can be spicy.
I think the cooking of chinese dishes is flexible, so its difficult to learn well, not like sandwiches and hamburger. I think you can cook according to your feeling.
If can do one thing, would be great.
ReneeWine
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
I want to eat chuan cai(川菜), which is spicy. It is so tasty. I do not care whether it is healthy, because I will not die immediately after I finish those dishes.
Comfortable.
MsTang
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
For the record I was diabetic for many year in the UK, in China I found it very difficult to maintain a sugar free diet, I then had to come of my medication because i was starting to pass out, I went to hospital and they said my sugar levels were to low, couldn't work that out but even so i stopped the medication but i was still getting these giddy spells.
Chinese doctors were telling me I'm not diabetic , i need to get my sugar levels up..
So when i was back in UK this year, I had full check up,results , not diabetic, low cholesterol, everything in the black. I argued i was diabetic before but the UK doctors said I'm not now.
I'm wailing the larger down no problem now, drinking what ever coke, eating what ever sweets.
Biggest difference in my diet over the years for this cure.
Massive intake of Chilies on a daily basis, i use them in all my cooking or add dry chilies to my food. Really bad craving for chilies.
I only ever eat Chinese food in China, exactly how they eat.
Never eat from any western food place, rarely hit McDonald KFC etc.
I checked out a few web sites about Chillies and diabetes and yea there is a connection but un proven so far.
Any way good news because I can totally abuse my body again!
Don't get why China got so many Diabetics thou now...
MrTang is a f-kin idiot!
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blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
酸菜鱼
acid
If can do one thing, would be great.
weagesdf
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
so fat and carbs are bad? do you just eat lean meats?
They call me 撸撸.
I am Mr. 撸管
BJnerd
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
This is the typical Chinese person's response.
I was thinking of something more along the lines of steamed brown rice, steamed veggies (without a trace of added oil or salt), and a piece of grilled chicken breast. Or a salad that consists of more than simply lettuce piled high with thousand island dressing. Or a baked potato. The choice is not between Chinese and McDonalds but even if it were, I doubt McDoands is any less healthy than most of the Chinese dishes I have seen.
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blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
McDoands is any less healthy
If can do one thing, would be great.
BJnerd
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
* face palm *
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blackgrey
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
kick u!
If can do one thing, would be great.
Natasha.
Re: Why do people say Chinese food is healthy?
i really don't like chinese food.
Sushi <3 and mediterranean (salads,fruit,fish,a little pasta) is basically all i eat.
chinese people say that these things "have no taste". but i think chinese food is oversalted, overspiced, and sometimes gooey! and it has far too much oil.
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