On this day of the Lantern Festival, folk have the traditional customs of burning lanterns for Buddha, viewing flower lanterns, dancing lions, guessing lantern riddles, and eating tangyuan/lantern, but many people still can't tell the difference: is the Lantern and Tangyuan the same in the end? What's the difference? Today we will talk about the difference between the two, and how to eat healthier.
01
What is the difference between Lantern and Tangyuan?
Although the Lantern and Tangyuan are both round and eaten on the fifteenth day of the first month, they are really not the same thing. The differences are:
Figureworm creative
Directions: The Lantern is "rolled" out, and the tangyuan is "wrapped" out. The traditional Lantern practice is based on the filling, first fixing the filling, and then putting the filling on a sieve with a lot of glutinous rice flour, rolling around... Until rolled into a ball stained with glutinous rice flour. The tangyuan is first made of glutinous rice skin, and then the filling can be wrapped in.
Cooking: In general, the Lantern steaming or frying is more (if you want to cook, it takes a long time, the soup is more turbid), and the tangyuan is mostly boiled.
Taste: The taste of the Lantern is on the hard side, and the tangyuan is soft on the taste.
Storage method: Tangyuan can be frozen for a long time, while the Lantern is not. Lanterns are generally sold fresh, because if frozen, it is easy to crack.
02
Is tangyuan easy to digest or difficult to digest?
Sticky rice will be used to make tangyuan, many people think that glutinous rice is sticky and difficult to digest, which is really a bit of a misunderstanding of glutinous rice.
The starch structure of the white surface of rice is amylose, and more than 99% of the glutinous rice is pullulan, which has more branches in the structure, which is easier to gelatinize, and when people digest starch, they are hydrolyzed from the end of the molecule, and amylopectin is easier to be hydrolyzed and digested because of many branches.
Therefore, compared with the rice white noodles we usually eat, the blood glucose index of glutinous rice is also faster, and the GI of rice is 82, while the GI of glutinous rice is 87. People find glutinous rice difficult to digest, probably because foods that use glutinous rice, such as tangyuan, Lantern, and Eight Treasure Rice, often add a lot of sugar and fat at the same time, giving people a "greasy" feeling.
The difference between amylose (left) and amylopectin (right) shows | Figureworm creative
In short, warm tangyuan / Lantern chewing slowly and eating less, or easier to digest. However, if you wait for the tangyuan /lantern to be cold before eating, not only will the texture become hard, it will be more difficult to chew, but also increase the difficulty of digestion, and there may be acid reflux and heartburn.
03
Is sugar-free healthier?
The emergence of "sugar-free tangyuan / Lantern" on the market is the "focus" of diabetics and weight loss partners, thinking that eating it can not worry about the rise of blood sugar, but also will not consume too much sugar and gain weight, so it is often unscrupulous when eating.
In fact, even "sugar-free tangyuan/lantern" does not mean that it is healthier! For example, the xylitol peanut dumplings in the picture below are sugar-free, but the use of xylitol instead of the added sugars in the filling, but the calories, fat, and carbs are not low.
For example, 100 grams of rice balls (about 8 of them) are equivalent to the calories of 2.5 small bowls of cooked rice. And will eat 14.4 grams of fat, accounting for almost half of the daily fat intake recommended by the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents".
Xylitol peanut dumplings | Courtesy of the author
In addition, although xylitol has little impact on postprandial blood sugar, after all, the main raw materials of tangyuan and Lantern are glutinous rice flour, the overall carb and fat content has not decreased much, eating more will still cause relatively large postprandial blood glucose fluctuations, but also lead to excessive calorie intake, increase the risk of obesity.
Therefore, even if the "sugar-free tangyuan / Lantern" is not necessarily very healthy, you have to eat it leisurely.
04
It can be eaten healthily
Tangyuan and Lantern are also proper staple foods, although they are not large, but the calories are not low. To slow down postprandial blood sugar and control weight, the most important thing is to learn to match.
Reduce staple food: Tangyuan / Lantern is the staple food, so this meal to reduce the intake of other rice noodles, or do not eat other rice noodles, just take the tangyuan or Lantern as a staple food to eat less, it is recommended to control at 4 to 5 can be, equivalent to 1 ~ 1.5 bowls of rice calories.
Increase vegetables: Vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, which can enhance satiety, promote gastrointestinal peristalsis, and delay postprandial blood sugar. It is recommended that you can eat enough 1.5 to 2 fists of cooked leafy green vegetables per meal.
Protein can not be less: the intake of the right amount of protein can also delay postprandial blood sugar, with eggs, meat, fish and shrimp, soy products, with staple foods to eat together can play a role in reducing the effect of postprandial blood sugar reaction. For example, the GI of white rice is 82, but the GI of rice + fish is only 37; the GI of steamed buns is 88, but the GI of steamed buns + sauce beef is only 49. [1]
In addition to paying attention to the above collocation in the diet, you must also pay attention when choosing tangyuan/lantern: try to choose one with low calorie and fat content, and the ingredient list is best not to contain lard.
This is because studies have shown that after the addition of lard, the time for glutinous rice food to rise to the peak of blood sugar after a meal will be delayed, and the peak blood sugar will still be high, while higher fat will also reduce the blood sugar control ability of the next meal. And there are also animal experiments that show that excessive amounts of lard may promote insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. [2]
05
These 5 types of people eat tangyuan / lantern should pay attention
People with three highs must eat less: blood sugar is higher after meals.
People who lose weight should eat less: Tangyuan and Lantern calories are not low.
The elderly and children should eat less: avoid increasing the burden of digestion.
Infants under 3 years of age are best not to eat: even if the outer skin is not hot, but the filling temperature is higher, it is easy to burn, and glutinous rice is more sticky and chewy, and it is easy to cough, and there is a risk of suffocation.
People with gastrointestinal discomfort and poor digestion should eat less: avoid gastrointestinal discomfort.
summary:
Tangyuan and Lantern are not a kind of food, and no matter which one you eat, you must control the amount. Lantern Circle, Moon Circle, First Moon Fifteen Reunion Circle! Although the Lantern and Tangyuan are delicious and delicious, be careful that eating too much will become a "round pier"! Happy Lantern Festival!
Author | Xue Qingxin Member of Chinese Nutrition Society Registered Nutrition Technician Health Manager Public Dietitian
Review | Song Shuang, Associate Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Editor-in-charge | Ding Song
bibliography:
Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Ingredient List, 6th Edition, Volume 1[M].Peking University Medical Press, 2018
Mao X X, Shen X N, Xie R N, et al. Effects of different dietary fats on sugar tolerance and insulin sensitivity in rats[C]// Shanghai Cereals and Oils Science and Technology Academic Conference, Shanghai Cereals and Oils Society Academic Annual Meeting. 2004.
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