September 15th this year is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditional festivals in our country are all about food, of course. Different festivals have different foods to eat. For example, during the Lantern Festival, you eat tangyuan (sweet glutinous rice balls); during the Dragon Boat Festival, you eat zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings); and during the New Year, you eat dumplings... When the Mid-Autumn moon is full, you eat mooncakes. In fact, more than a month ago, businesses entered the "mooncake season," implementing action plans around the production and sales of mooncakes. If you go to supermarkets and shopping malls, you will find that this year, many businesses have put in considerable effort in promoting the ingredients of their mooncakes, with many playing the "health," "sugar-free," and "healthy" cards in the hope of making a larger profit during the mooncake season.
To commemorate traditional festivals and continue our culture, we should still buy and eat some mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Now, let's focus on how to manage the health aspect in three key areas: selecting, storing, and eating mooncakes. Various "internet-famous mooncakes" attract people's attention. How are they, really? Zheng Jinfeng, director of the Nutrition Department of Nanjing General Hospital, explains that in fact, a small piece of mooncake is mostly made up of flour, oil, and sugar. Not many nutrients can be added, and even if they are, it's a drop in the bucket. Mooncakes are simply festive foods; you can't eat many of them, let alone achieve a health-preserving effect. The human body gets its nutrients from a variety of foods.
Every household is busy buying mooncakes. Mooncakes are delicious, and the moment of reunion is warm, but health factors must not be ignored when choosing mooncakes.
1. Selection
In recent years, the ingredients, shapes, quality, varieties, and flavors of mooncakes have been constantly innovating. Originally, mooncakes were mainly sweet, but now they come in all five flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, and some even have numbing spicy flavors. But no matter how much they change, the main ingredients for making mooncakes always include flour, cooking oil, sugar, eggs, and various fillings. The nutritional content of mooncakes varies with their ingredients. In terms of nutrition, a 1-liang (50g) mooncake contains about 200 kcal of energy, which is equivalent to the energy in a bowl of rice; 5-8 grams of protein, about 10 grams of fat, and also some minerals and vitamins. Generally speaking, the nutritional characteristics of mooncakes are high in energy and fat. Therefore, when selecting and eating mooncakes, you should carefully read the relevant information on the packaging, especially the ingredient list and nutrition facts, and then choose according to your taste, preference, and health condition.
Check the label. Look at the name, ingredient list, production date, shelf life, manufacturer's address, product execution standard number, QS mark, and production license number.
Choose products from regular manufacturers, not from those without proper certification (the "three-no" products).
Prefer packaged products and choose fewer or no unpackaged products.
"Sugar-free" products do not mean they are free of energy.
The so-called "health-preserving" effect of "health" mooncakes is unreliable.
Choose according to your taste, preference, and health condition.
2. Storage
Different varieties of mooncakes have different shelf lives. Fresh meat mooncakes have a shelf life of only 1 day, unpackaged mooncakes are at least 10 days, and boxed mooncakes are at least 25 days. Do not eat mooncakes past their expiration date. Soft-filled mooncakes contain more moisture and can only be stored for about 7 to 10 days, while hard-filled mooncakes can be stored for about 1 month. Because mooncakes contain a lot of fat, they should be stored away from light to prevent the oil from oxidizing. When storing, do not place them with other foods or items to avoid absorbing other flavors and losing their proper taste and character.
3. Consumption
The nutritional value of mooncakes is far less comprehensive and balanced than that of a regular meal, so mooncakes cannot replace a regular meal.
Focus on tasting them in small quantities and varieties. Share them with family, friends, or colleagues. This way, you can taste different flavors without overeating.
For those who are overweight or obese, choose mooncakes with fruit or vegetable fillings that are lower in energy to avoid consuming too much energy and adding a burden to an already overweight body.
For those with high blood sugar or diabetes. Mooncakes have a high sugar content. Diabetics with good blood sugar control can eat 1/4 of a regular-sized mooncake between meals. Diabetics with poor blood sugar control should avoid eating mooncakes, even "sugar-free" ones.