Healthy Eating for Festivals

Mid-Autumn Festival is here.  Hey guys, how are you going to celebrate it?  It is quite popular to gather with friends and relatives and enjoy festive food together.  Keeping up with good health while enjoying food is not difficult, the secret is to maintain a balanced diet and to decide the type and the amount of food based on the Food Pyramid.  Below are some more tips on healthy festive eating for you to consider.

One of the most popular choices among all festive food during the Mid-Autumn festival is probably the moon cakes.  However, do remember to eat moon cakes in moderation because most moon cakes are high in sugar, fat and calories.  You are welcome to visit the "Mooncake Equation" section on the website of the Department of Health's Central Health Education Unit for the healthy tips in consuming moon cakes.  Seasonal fruits, such as star-fruit and pomelo, and plain sticky rice balls without sweet paste fillings, are other healthier festive food options.

Eating out is another popular social activity.  Try to order dishes that are prepared by steaming, boiling, blanching, roasting or baking, and avoid selecting food that is high in fat, salt or sugar.  When at buffet, don't forget to maintain a balanced diet even though you are facing the temptation of good food.  Please visit the "Eat Smart" section of our website for more information on healthy eating.

When choosing beverages, try to stick to non-alcoholic drinks, such as tea, water or fruit juice.  If you do drink alcohol, please drink sensibly.  Since different types of alcoholic beverage have different alcohol levels, knowing what a "standard drink" is will help you to assess whether you are consuming alcohol at a safe level.  For example, a can of beer (about 370ml of 5% alcohol) and a glass of red/white wine (about 150ml of 12% alcohol) both equal to about 1.5 standard drink unit.  The safe level for male is no more than 2 units a day.  If you are interested in knowing more about sensible drinking, please visit the "Drink Smart" section of our website and have a go at the "Sensible Drinking" game from our Men's Health Test section.

Enjoying festive gathering with friends and relatives happily and healthily – that's a smart guy's choice!



 

(Last Updated on 28-09-2004)