A steaming hot pot is the best way to warm your stomach and heart. For ordinary people, it's enough to pay attention to the principle of balanced nutrition, such as a proper mix of meat and vegetables. However, for special populations like diabetics, improper food choices during a hot pot meal can pose significant health risks. In this issue, I'll explain the key points for special populations when eating hot pot.
Diabetics should order fewer shrimp dumplings and fish balls, and opt for whole grains as their staple food.
Unstable blood sugar is a major concern for diabetics, so this group should pay attention to the following points when eating hot pot.
First, choose leaner meats like fish, shrimp, chicken, or fresh lean meat. Shrimp dumplings, fish balls, and other items contain a large amount of fatty meat and starch, and crab sticks are also high in starch, so they should be eaten sparingly.
Second, leafy greens and gourds should be the first choice for vegetables. If you eat starchy vegetables like potatoes, lotus root, taro, or sweet potatoes, you should reduce the amount of staple food.
Third, whole grain products like buckwheat noodles or mung bean noodles should be the first choice for staple food.
Fourth, avoid fruit juice and sugary drinks. Plain water, light tea, or sugar-free soy milk are all good options.
Gout patients should eat less seafood and animal offal, and choose soda water as their beverage.
A low-purine diet is the general dietary principle for gout patients. First, the diet should be mainly vegetarian, with a small amount of meat, and it's best to avoid seafood and animal offal. Most vegetables and fruits are low-purine foods. In particular, vegetables like rape, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, kelp, and gourds are rich in potassium, which helps inhibit the precipitation of uric acid.
Second, choose fewer fungi and mushroom-based broths, as fungi like wood ear mushrooms and mushrooms are high in purines. Patients with hyperuricemia should not eat hot pot with a mushroom broth, and especially should not drink the hot pot soup.
Second, choose fewer fungi and mushroom-based broths, as fungi like wood ear mushrooms and mushrooms are high in purines.
Again, seasonings like chili, Sichuan peppercorns, and mustard can trigger a gout attack, so they should be used sparingly, whether in the broth or as a dipping sauce. Finally, choose soda water, as it can neutralize uric acid and is an excellent beverage for gout patients.
Gout patients should not drink alcohol when eating hot pot, as alcohol metabolism produces lactic acid in the body, which affects the excretion of uric acid. In addition, when eating hot pot, gout patients should cook vegetables before meat, which not only helps control the intake of meat and energy but also avoids excessive purine intake.
Obese and hyperlipidemia patients should eat less frozen tofu and opt for a clear broth.Controlling energy and fat intake is the top priority for obese and hyperlipidemia patients. In terms of broth choice, avoid spicy and numbing broths as they contain a lot of oil. A clear broth should be the first choice, and tomato or mushroom broths are also good options.
In terms of ingredients, almost all vegetables are a good choice for obese and hyperlipidemia patients. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, low in calories, and high in fiber, which not only increases satiety but also reduces the absorption of fat and cholesterol.
However, fatty beef slices and fatty lamb slices are high-fat foods. Those with high blood lipids should choose more low-fat options like chicken slices, seafood, duck blood, or tripe. Tofu can also be used as a substitute for meat, but frozen tofu is very good at absorbing oil and soup, which can lead to unknowingly consuming a lot of calories. For seasonings, try to avoid high-fat, high-calorie sauces like sesame paste. Using a small amount of sesame oil with some light soy sauce and a proper amount of vinegar can significantly reduce the calories.
Hypertension patients should eat less processed meat products and keep their dipping sauces light.
Hypertension patients must strictly control their salt intake when eating hot pot. First, the dipping sauces and broth must be light. Sauces like leek flower sauce or fermented bean curd are often very salty, so choose them sparingly.
Second, order fewer processed meat products like luncheon meat, sausages, fish balls, or beef balls, as these items are already salted during their preparation. Combined with the salt in the broth and dipping sauces, it's easy to cause excessive sodium intake.
Finally, add more broth to the pot as you eat to prevent the soup from becoming too concentrated, which would also concentrate the salt content.
It should be reminded that many people like to pair hot pot with cold drinks. The alternating consumption of cold drinks and hot food can easily damage the gastrointestinal tract. This is especially true for those with cardiovascular diseases like hypertension. Drinking a cold drink right after hot pot soup can cause the blood vessels in the stomach and intestines to constrict and then dilate rapidly, which may lead to fluctuations in blood pressure. Therefore, hypertension patients and other high-risk individuals should avoid the alternating consumption of hot soup and cold drinks.