Making healthy choices when eating out

The Star

Dr Teoh Ai Ni, a research associate at Khazanah Research Institute (KRI), outlined ways to make everyday food like nasi lemak healthier.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00I think I get asked this a lot. People ask me, can nasi lemak be healthy?

00:05I will say, nasi lemak can be healthy if you follow as usual, follow the school-school spiral.

00:11Quarter plate of the nasi, quarter of protein, tofu, chicken, high in fat is okay,

00:19or even tempeh. Then half a plate of fruits and vegetables, but the nasi lemak that we have in

00:27the market, they only have at most three cupping of ingredients. Of course then that cannot be

00:35healthy. But my point is that they can be healthy, it's just that right now based on what we have

00:41out in the market, it's just not fine. Because the basic principle of healthy eating based on

00:48Malaysian dietary guideline is variety, balance, moderation and adequate. So they are not saying

00:56that you must strictly follow this rule. Of course it's recommended that you do this,

01:02but you don't have to feel like you failed your dietary guidelines if you go overboard.

01:07Maybe let's say if you opt for fried chicken versus a boiled fried chicken.

01:12So it's more about balance and being mindful. I would say that it's possible for you to eat

01:17healthier. Maybe not go for healthy, but healthier for every meal. For example, what I do is when I

01:23go for nasi kerabu, for example, I'll ask the owner to give me more vegetables, reduce amount

01:32of rice and reduce amount of gravy and contents. That's one way to be healthier. Not necessarily

01:38healthy, but healthier. On the days I can go for healthy one, for example, I just feel like eating

01:43something healthy, for example, a salad with some rice or brown rice, that's okay. On the days that

01:51I can be healthier, I do, I make it healthier. People also ask like, can burger be healthy?

01:56I would say yes, it can be healthy because burger has a carbohydrate, it has the protein,

02:01the meat patty, it has the vegetable. You just make sure everything is balanced. That's all you

02:06have. And if you, let's say, if you opt for a burger with, let's say, no vegetable, then if you

02:12have the ability, bring your own vegetable or if you have the financial capacity, just order

02:19and it should be fresh to go.

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