Eating Healthy At Asian Restaurants

While it is a known fact that people in Asian cultures stay slim and live the longest, it is also a fact that the American version of Asian food may yield the opposite effect. If you are craving Sushi, Thai or Chinese, here are my tops tips to indulging in these oriental dishes.

SUSHI
If you want to eat clean, then steer clear of anything with Tempura or Mayo in the sushi rolls. Those words simply translate to high calories and high fat.


Green Goddess Sushi: I like to order an avocado and cucumber roll in brown rice and the Vegi-Vegi Roll - an all-vegetable roll that is wrapped in potassium-rich cucumber.

Z-TIP: If you are eating raw fish, make sure to dip it into soy sauce and have a generous amount of wasabi with it. Those two ingredients can help kill bacteria and parasites.

THAI
For Thai-food lovers one of my top Green Goddess-Approved Meals is the Papaya Salad. Papaya is knows for its high concentration of digestive enzymes that can help digest fats and aid with assimilation and weight loss.

My second favorite healthy Thai dish is a vegetable curry. I prefer to skip the tofu, unless it is organic, and load the dish up with seasonal vegetables. Besides the delicious flavor, curry dishes are rich in inflammation-fighting turmeric that has even been shown to help reverse Alzheimer’s disease.

Z-TIP: If you choose to go with the curry, opt for waist-trimming steamed brown rice which unlike white rice has extra fiber.

CHINESE
I believe Chinese food has been getting a bad rep due to the high-calorie dishes such as the General Tso’s Chicken or Pork Fried Rice. Despite this not-so-healthy fare, you can find plenty of dishes that are low in calories and high in taste. One of my favorite restaurants for healthy Chinese food is the famous P.F. Changs.

There I can indulge in the low-calorie Buddha Feast or the tasty Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings. One of the best things I like about PF Changs is that they have an extensive nutritional chart, so you can check what each dish offers. Another bonus is that they have a separate gluten-free menu, so those avoiding wheat, barley or rye can rest assured they will be eating clean!

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