Chinese: Steamed Chicken and Broccoli “When ordering Chinese, focus on dishes packed full of lean proteins and vegetables with limited rice and noodles,” advises Palinski-Wade, who suggests ordering steamed chicken and broccoli with the sauce on the side.
If you're eating Chinese food, chances are there's going to be rice on your plate. And if that rice is white, be prepared for a major blood sugar spike. White rice is so troublesome that one study found that for each serving a person ate per day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes jumped by 11%.
Your best bets for lower-glycemic Chinese meals are egg drop soup, tofu with vegetables, curry tofu or chicken, dim sum (chicken or fish with vegetables), barbequed pork with mustard and seeds, chicken or scallops with vegetables, stir-fried chicken, shrimp, or tofu with vegetables, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and shrimp and snow ...
Low GI : Green vegetables, most fruits, raw carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils. Medium GI : Sweet corn, bananas, raw pineapple, raisins, cherries, oat breakfast cereals, and multigrain, whole-grain wheat or rye bread.
Chicken with green peppers is a lean choice. “Chicken is quite popular in Chinese dishes and white [meat] chicken is a lean protein,” Yiu says. Instead of going for a battered, deep-fried chicken entree like General Tso's chicken, she recommends a dish where the chicken is steamed or stir fried.
Worst: General Tso's Chicken
The breaded, fried chicken is smothered in a sugary sauce. One order clocks in at around 1,500 calories and 88 grams of fat, and it delivers more sodium than you should get in a day. Other fried dishes to watch out for: sesame, orange, and sweet and sour chicken.
Steamed appetizers and sautéed dishes are some of the best bets at Chinese restaurants. But if you want something deep-fried, get the most for your PointsPlus® values—one cup of General Tso's chicken has 5 more PointsPlus values then a cup of sweet and sour chicken.
Deep-fried egg rolls, fried rice, and a main dish dripping in oily sauce make this meal an unhealthy choice. The total sodium in this type of meal is more than most people with diabetes should have over 3 days. Beware the MSG (monosodium glutamate), a seasoning that sends the sodium content soaring.
Unless you overturn the original Fish and Chips recipe, you can't reduce its fat and carbohydrate content. For this reason, Fish and Chips are not a dish typically suitable for those who have diabetes.
Fried Chicken Restaurants
In general, poultry is a smart choice while following a diabetes-friendly diet—except when it's breaded or dipped in flour and fried. This version adds not just carbs but saturated fat and calories as well to menu items at restaurants like KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Popeyes.
Contrary to common belief, you can enjoy chips as a snack, even if you have diabetes. While you'll still need to keep an eye on sodium and be carb-conscious, you don't have to ban the foods you love from your diet.
“Curry is a great meal choice for diabetes patients to avoid blood sugar spikes,” reveals Dr Sarah Brewer, CuraLin nutritionist in a report.
In addition to being quick and easy, stir-frying is also healthy. It results in tender-crisp vegetables that retain more nutrients than if they were boiled. And since stir-frying requires only a small amount of oil, the fat content is low.
Chinese Chicken and Broccoli is packed with protein and veggies, making it a great healthy option for dinner or even lunch if you prefer. If you want to make this popular Chinese takeout dish more low-carb, you can serve it without the rice and opt for more chicken and less broccoli.
Teriyaki can be a very healthy dish given that it predominantly consists of protein from the chicken and a manageable amount of carbs from the sauce ingredients -- a serving of teriyaki chicken is only 321 calories with 45 grams of protein, 20 grams of fat, and 13 grams of carbs, following the recipe and portioning ...
Hot-and-sour soup, steamed dumplings, and entrees that are steamed or lightly stir-fried are better choices than fatty egg-drop soup, egg rolls, or deep-fried specialties.
"The healthiest way to cook chicken is to poach it," Lewis explains, "because you aren't introducing any other ingredient to the chicken other than the water it is boiled in." Similar to the way you'd poach an egg, all you'll need is the chicken you're using and some hot water.