As the weather gets colder, steaming hot pot once again becomes a popular choice at the dinner table. Gathering with family and friends around a warm pot is undoubtedly a great pleasure in the cold weather. However, eating hot pot improperly also poses hidden health risks.
When eating hot pot, pay attention to the order of your meal: vegetables first, then meat. Normally, we should eat in this order: vegetables first, followed by staple foods, and then meat. It's best to follow this order when eating hot pot too. Most people are used to putting meat in the pot first and eating it almost completely before adding vegetables, which is actually not ideal. Before starting the hot pot, drink some fresh juice first, then eat vegetables, and have the meat last. This order, on one hand, helps the digestive system absorb nutrients, and on the other, ensures that low-calorie vegetables make you feel full, preventing excessive calorie intake from too much meat. Additionally, when choosing ingredients for the hot pot, follow the principle of less meat and more vegetables. A meat-to-vegetable ratio of 1:3 is most suitable.
Besides the ingredients, the choice of hot pot dipping sauces is also very important. Common sauces in northern China include sesame paste, seafood sauce, and sesame oil dipping sauce. If you are mostly seafood dishes in your hot pot, try to avoid seafood-flavored sauces, as this can lead to excessively high purine levels, increasing the risk of gout. Sesame oil dipping sauce is high in fat and is not suitable for people with high blood lipids. Sesame paste, however, is more suitable for people with sensitive stomachs. Among common southern sauces, chili paste and broad bean paste are high in salt, making them unsuitable for people with high blood pressure. It is recommended to use seasonings made from vinegar, scallions, ginger, and garlic instead.
Avoid drinking ice beer while eating hot pot. For some men, enjoying hot pot with large gulps of ice beer is a favorite way to dine. However, this stark contrast between the hot and cold is a severe shock to the gastrointestinal tract, which can trigger indigestion, stomach pain, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal diseases.
Eat starchy foods when having hot pot too. Just like a normal meal, balanced and moderate nutrition is a basic principle for eating hot pot. However, when eating hot pot, few people can still eat rice, resulting in excessive protein and fat but insufficient carbohydrates. Therefore, you can cook some starchy foods in the hot pot to supplement your carbohydrate intake, such as potatoes, which can be considered both a vegetable and a grain, or lotus root, which is high in carbohydrates. In fact, there are many starchy foods among hot pot ingredients, such as bean noodles, vermicelli, and rice cakes. These foods are popular because they easily absorb oil and have a smooth, slippery texture, but it is not advisable to choose too much of them. It's better to opt for healthier whole grains, such as mixed grain noodles. Alternatively, you can pair your meal with various whole grain steamed buns. This not only increases your carbohydrate intake, but the fiber in whole grains also promotes intestinal peristalsis, aiding digestion and the elimination of waste from the body.