The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) has warned against eating at all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurants without carefully choosing the ingredients, as people could easily exceed the recommended daily calorie intake.
Community Health Division head Lin Li-ju (林莉茹) on Friday last week said that the recommended daily calorie intake for an adult weighing 60kg who leads a sedentary lifestyle is about 1,800 calories and the recommended intake for a main meal is about 600 to 800 calories per meal.
Lin said an estimated 2,500 calories — which is equal to the number of calories in nine bowls of cooked rice — can be consumed in just one meal at an all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant, with the fat content of the meal estimated to be as high as 150g — equivalent to consuming 10 teaspoons of lard — which exceeds the recommended daily maximum intake of 60g of fat by 1.5 times.
Sodium intake can also reach as high as 5.8g, which is also about 2.4 times higher than recommended daily maximum intake for an adult.
The agency said the top three processed hot pot ingredients with the highest calories are bean curd skin, venetian tofu and pig blood cake. Tofu and blood cake also rank in the top five with the highest sodium content.
The agency urged people not to eat hot pot too frequently and to choose ingredients low in calories, fat and sodium, because excessive fat and sodium intake can cause obesity and increase risks of cardiovascular diseases.
It suggested that people choose light soup cooked with kelp or vegetables over creamy or spicy ones, eat more vegetables and mushrooms, choose white meat such as fish or chicken rather than red meat, and remember to remove the skin to reduce fat intake.
People are also advised to reduce the amount of processed foods, sauces and desserts when eating hot pot meals, it added.
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