With Christmas just around the corner, people are now planning for
their Christmas party and Noche Buena. We usually prepare for
a sumptuous dinner to be shared with the family at exactly 12
midnight or after the midnight mass. It is in these times that we always
neglect our diet and gobble foods high in cholesterol, salt and sugar. It
is during this holiday season that we let our bodies pack some more fats and
add more weight.
But before picking up our spoon and fork and drool on those crispy
lechon (roasted pig), succulent ham, soft and flavorful humba (braised pork
belly), hot and oily bulalo (beef marrow stew), creamy mango float and other noche buena
regulars, let us be aware that:
1. Every bit of those food
that you put in your mouth will be absorbed by your body and every gram of it
has its equivalent (1 gram of fat = 9 calories; 1 gram of protein = 4 calories;
1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories; 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories).
2. On a daily 2,000-calorie
balanced diet, you need to consume 50 g of
protein, 300 g of carbohydrates, 65 g of fat (20 g of saturated fat, 300 mg of
cholesterol) and 25 g of fiber.
3. Therefore,
eating a plate full of slices of lechon and ham, humba, pasta, desserts in one
meal can be packed with fattening calories, harmful cholesterol, and deadly
salt and sugars.
To give you an idea what I am talking about, here
is an example of a typical Christmas or Noche Buena plate with computed calorie
and cholesterol count.
1.
1 – serving Rice (1 cup) = 242 cal; 0 mg
cholesterol
2.
2 – serving Lechon (200 g) = 484 cal; 190 mg
cholesterol
3.
1 – serving Smoked Ham (100 g) = 122 cal; 22 mg
cholesterol
4.
½ – serving Humba (50 g) = 86 cal; 14 mg
cholesterol
5.
½ - serving Chopsuey (1/2 cup) = 50 cal; 0
cholesterol
6.
1 – slice Mango Float = 280 cal; 12 mg
cholesterol
7.
1 – bottle Beer (330 mL) = 139 cal; 0 cholesterol
To sum up, you had 1,043 calories and 238 mg
cholesterol in one EXTRA midnight meal! This is half of your daily calorie
requirements and 80% of your cholesterol intake. No wonder it is in this
holiday season that a lot of people gained weight and got heart problems.
With
the extra calories you had, you need 2 hours of high impact aerobics or 2 hours
of non-stop jogging or 5 hours of walking to burn out the excess calories.
It
is important that we should watch out our food intake by choosing the right
food and eating in moderation those that are high in fat and cholesterol and be
prepared to go to the gym to sweat out and burn out those calories.
