【Mid-Autumn 2021】Your Ultimate Mooncake Guide – 5 Health Tips You Shouldn’t Miss
2020-7-29
Happy Moon Festival! Time to reunite with family and friends and enjoy mooncakes. Whether you are a fan of classic mooncakes or modern flavours, both could be health traps. Learn tips below and leave your dinner table without guilt!
 
 

1. Avoid Salted Eggs

According to World Health Organisation, adults should limit their cholesterol intake to 300mg or below. One preserved duck egg contains 619mg cholesterol, which is almost 3 times more than chicken egg and twice the recommended intake. It also contains 40% more saturated fat than usual chicken egg. Eating too much cholesterol and saturated fats can clog up your arteries and block blood flow to the heart, and eventually causing heart disease and stroke.

 

Green Common's Tips

Skip the preserved duck egg or go for cholesterol-free vegan mooncakes with added nuts. . In spite of their high calories, nuts are especially beneficial to you as they are cholesterol-free, a good source of fiber and unsaturated fats which do good to your heart instead! 

Classic Blueberry Mixed Nuts
 
 
 
 

2. Avoid Food Coloring

You probably didn’t know about the possible relationship between food coloring and ADHD in children. According to 2007 research funded by the UK Food Standards Agency, artificial food colours are harmful to health and could increase risks of hyperactivity or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children. As pretty as they seem, food colorings are added to custard mooncakes and snowy mooncakes to give colourful and attractive appearance. Watch out food colourings “The Southampton Six”: E102, E104, E110, E129, E124, and E122. They may cause adverse impact on activity and attention in children.

 

Green Common's Tips

Look for natural colours such as beet juice extract, turmeric powder, spinach juice, blueberries etc. Otherwise, natural food colorings from plant sources are better than synthetic colorings, you may also check out Curcumins (E100), Riboflavins (E101), Carotenes (E160a), Beet Red (E162) etc. 

 

 
 

3. Keep Portion Small: Not more than ¼ of the mooncake per day

Imagine a family of four sharing a traditional mooncake and custard mooncake, ¼ piece of each adds up to alarmingly high calories, approximately 400kcal which requires an hour jogging to burn off. Apart from calorie intake, too much sugar is also bad for you. According to World Health Organisation, adults should limit their sugar consumption to 25g per day. Just a small quarter of regular-size mooncake (50g) contains 16-19g sugar, which is already 64% of our daily recommended intake. 

 
 
 

4. Eat more High-Fiber Foods in advance

Balance is everything. If you consume extra fat and sugar from mooncakes, cut down on meat or refined grains in your meals! Add more vegetables to your diet as they are low in calories and rich in fiber, especially soluble fiber which slows down digestion of carbohydrates and helps prevent blood sugar spikes after eating mooncakes. Natural sweetness from fruits and vegetables can satisfy your sweet tooth. Try star fruits and taro! They have low sugar content and help add fiber to your diet. Other examples of non-vegetables that are high in soluble fiber include oats, black beans, nuts and seeds.

 
 
 

5. Pair your Mooncake with Tea

In case you don’t have a habit of drinking tea, start today! Teas such as green tea, black tea and oolong tea contain a considerable amount of polyphenols, which may hinder digestion of carbohydrates and lower blood sugar levels. Polyphenols are normally present in plants and bring loads of health benefits e.g. as strong antioxidant, treating digestion issues, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. According to recent studies, it is also suggested that tea polysaccharides may help suppress blood glucose surge after a sugary diet. Since mooncakes contain much sugar, we do not recommend eating fruits, drinking fruit juices or other sugary drinks after meal. Tea with no sugar added would be a good pair with mooncakes.

 

 

Shop Green Common Vegan Mooncakes: https://bit.ly/MooncakePreorder2021_blog

 

This article is written by Nutritionist Jade Wong. 

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Green Common is the world’s first plant-based concept store to create a revolutionary food and lifestyle experience by introducing some of the most advanced global food-tech innovations. Our sales network has spread to over 10 countries and regions. Green Common aims at encouraging you to move toward a plant-based diet, our Green Sharing column includes everything you need to know about a plant-based diet, including dietitian's exclusive tips on how to eat smart, sharings by green KOLs, innovative vegan recipes, and more!