According to the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), a healthy diet needs to limit saturated fat to below 10% of total daily energy and reduce the consumption of high-salt foods to protect the cardiovascular system.
For pho, the risk of increased blood fat does not lie in pho noodles but mainly comes from the fatty meat, the broth containing fat floating on the surface and accompanying spices. Therefore, the first principle to eat pho while still controlling blood fat is to choose lean meat.
People at high risk of blood fat should prioritize chicken pho without skin, rare beef pho, braised or beef tenderloin instead of fat-rich skin, tendons or types of internal organs.
Another simple way is to limit drinking all the broth. Pho broth is simmered from bones for many hours, so in addition to minerals, it also contains a quantity of soluble fat from the spinal cord and animal fat tissue.
Although many restaurants have removed the fatty layer, the broth can still contain significant amounts of fat and sodium. People with high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure or fatty liver should eat more than drink water to reduce the amount of fat and salt intake into the body.
In addition, you should increase the amount of accompanying vegetables. Bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, basil, herbs and green vegetables provide fiber to help slow down the absorption of fat and cholesterol in the digestive tract.
WHO recommends that adults eat at least 400g of vegetables and fruits per day to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease and dyslipidemia.
A fairly common mistake is adding too much black soy sauce, chili sauce or fish sauce to a bowl of pho. These spices often contain high levels of sodium. People with high blood fat should taste before adding spices and only use in moderate amounts.
Nutrition experts also recommend not eating pho with fried hot dogs regularly. Hot dogs are processed by deep frying, increasing the amount of saturated fat and energy of the meal.
In addition to choosing ingredients, the frequency of eating is also very important. People with blood fat disorders should not eat fatty beef pho every day, but need to diversify food sources, combine fish, beans, green vegetables and whole grains.
