Sample Menu
Here’s a typical 1,500-calorie day of meals on the Asian diet, provided by Oldways:
Breakfast:
Chinese scrambled eggs—
1 egg
¼ cup crumbled tofu
½ cup spinach
½ tbsp. oil
½ tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
Sprinkle of fresh chopped chives and black pepper
Snack
1/8 cup almonds
Lunch
2 Vietnamese Kale Spring Rolls (Kale leaves stuffed and rolled with):
2 large shrimp
1/8 cup vermicelli noodles
½ cup bean sprouts
¼ avocado
¼ chopped tomato
1 tbsp. fresh basil
1 tbsp. fresh mint
1 tbsp. peanut sauce for dipping
1 cup Tom Yum Gum Soup
½ cup fresh pineapple
Water with fruit juice
Dinner
1 cup vegetable curry (carrots, cauliflower, beans, peppers, onions, spices, and cashews)
½ cup Basmati brown rice
1 cup steamed bok choy
¼ piece naan bread
1 small pear
12 oz. can of beer to drink (optional)
Snack
¼ cup steamed edamame
Nutrition
Here’s a breakdown of the nutritional content of a day’s meals on a typical Asian diet, alongside recommendations from the government’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Because this diet is highly individualized, your actual intake will vary. Diet figures were supplied by Oldways.
| Traditional Asian Diet | Recommended | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 1,588 | Women | Men |
|
21-25: 2,000 26-50: 1,800 51+: 1,600 |
21-40: 2,400 41-60: 2,200 61+: 2,000 |
||
| Total Fat | 33% | 20%-35% | |
| Saturated | 6% | Less than 10% | |
| Trans | 0% | N/A | |
| Total Carbohydrates | 50% | 45%-65% | |
|
Sugars (total except as noted) |
20% | N/A | |
| Fiber | 31 g. | Women | Men |
|
19-30: 28 g. 31-50: 25 g. 51+: 22 g. |
19-30: 34 g. 31-50: 31 g. 51+: 28 g. |
||
| Protein | 16% | 10%-35% | |
| Sodium | 967 mg. | Under 2,300 mg., under 1,500 mg. for 51+ | |
| Potassium | 3,934 mg. | At least 4,700 mg. | |
| Calcium | 717 mg. |
19-50: 1,000 mg. 51+: 1,200 mg. |
|
| Vitamin B-12 | 1.9 mcg. | 2.4 mcg. | |
| Vitamin D | 23 mcg. | 15 mcg. | |
Recommendations apply to adults 19 and older except as noted. Recommended calories assume a sedentary lifestyle. g.: grams. mg.: milligrams. mcg.: micrograms.
Last updated by Angela Haupt | January 07, 2013
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