Chinese Home-cooked Dinner

The Menu

Stir-fried Clam and Chinese Lettuce Stem with Garlic

Braised Beef Shank with Mini-pumpkin

Steamed Red Crab

Plain Rice Congee

What’s for Lunch?

Vegetarian Sushi Set Lunch

Unhealthy Eating Can Make A Bad Mood Worse

Taking part in unhealthy eating behaviors may cause women who are concerned about their diet and self-image to experience a worsening of their moods, according to Penn State researchers.

In a study, college-age women who were concerned about their eating behaviors reported that moods worsened after bouts of disordered eating, said Kristin Heron, research associate at the Survey Research Center.

“There was little in the way of mood changes right before the unhealthy eating behaviors,” said Heron. “However, negative mood was significantly higher after these behaviors.”

According to Heron, who worked with Joshua Smyth, professor of biobehavioral health, Stacey Scott, research associate in the Center for Healthy Aging, and Martin Sliwinski, professor of human development and family studies, people who experience disordered eating patterns may exhibit behaviors such as binge eating, loss of control over eating and food intake restriction.

The researchers, who presented their findings at the American Psychosomatic Society conference in Miami, detected little change in the participants’ moods prior to unhealthy eating. While negative mood was worse after disordered eating, a positive mood did not change either before or after any of the behaviors studied by the researchers.

The researchers gathered data from participants in real-life situations. The team gave handheld computers to 131 women who had high levels of unhealthy eating habits and concerns about their body shape and weight, but did not have eating disorders. Several times during the day, the devices would prompt the participants to answer questions about their mood and eating behaviors.

“What we know about mood and eating behaviors comes primarily from studies with eating disorder patients or from laboratory studies,” said Heron. “We were interested in studying women in their everyday lives to see whether mood changed before or after they engaged in unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors.”

Smyth said that the study could lead to better treatments for women experiencing eating problems.

“This study is unique because it evaluates moods and eating behaviors as they occur in people’s daily lives, which can provide a more accurate picture of the relationship between emotions and eating,” Smyth said. “The results from this study can help us to better understand the role mood may play in the development and maintenance of unhealthy eating, and weight-control behaviors, which could be useful for creating more effective treatment programs for people with eating and weight concerns.”

Source: Penn State

Chinese Pork Stew

Ingredients

10 oz pork belly
3 hard-boiled eggs, shell removed
2 tbsp shrimp paste
1 tsp minced garlic
2 slices ginger
1 tbsp cooking wine
2 stalks green onion
1 sprig cilantro for garnish

Seasoning

2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
dash ground white pepper
1 tbsp light soy sauce

Thickening

1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

Method

1. Blanch pork in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Remove and drain. Cut into thick slices. Marinate with 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot. Sauté pork briefly. Add ginger, green onion, garlic and shrimp paste. Sprinkle wine and toss for 30 seconds. Mix in seasoning. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add egg and cook for another 20 minutes until pork is tender. Mix in thickening. When sauce thickens, turn off heat. Slice each egg into two halves. Serve pork with eggs after garnishing with cilantro.

Source: Hong Kong magazine

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