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Mooncakes are a familiar gift during the Mid-Autumn Festival, adding warmth and joy to the celebration. However, few are aware of the concerning calorie levels they contain. Let's find out how many calories are in mooncakes and how to indulge in the festival without worrying about weight gain through this insightful read!
Curious about the calorie content of mooncakes?
The calorie content in each mooncake varies depending on the ingredients and composition. Here's the information on the calorie content in two common types of mooncakes.
Snowskin Mooncakes
Snowskin mooncakes have a variety of fillings such as lotus seed paste, green bean, mixed nuts, and more. Traditionally white in color due to glutinous rice flour, modern variations include mixing glutinous rice flour with matcha powder, taro, fragrant pandan leaves, and other ingredients. Here's the calorie content for each type of snowskin mooncake:
- Green bean snowskin mooncake contains approximately 600 calories per 175g cake.
- Green bean with salted egg yolk (1 egg yolk) snowskin mooncake is equivalent to 650 calories.
- Mixed nuts snowskin mooncake contains around 580 calories.
- Lotus seed snowskin mooncake contains close to 700 calories per 200g cake.
Each 200g snowskin mooncake can provide between 600 – 700 calories (Source: Internet)Baked Mooncakes
The crust of baked mooncakes is made from wheat flour while the filling is similar to snowskin mooncakes. Once baked to perfection, they come out of the oven with a shiny golden appearance and a fragrant aroma. Baked mooncakes are exceptionally delicious but also contain a high calorie content:
- A simple lotus seed filled baked mooncake contains up to 716 calories per 200g cake.
- Green bean (or red bean) filled baked mooncakes also contain up to 700 calories.
- Baked mooncakes with green bean filling and one salted egg yolk contain up to 780 calories per 200g cake. If there are 2 salted egg yolks, the calorie count rises to 850 calories.
- Mixed nuts filled baked mooncakes contain up to 750 calories.
Each 200g baked mooncake contains over 700 calories (Source: Internet)Are Mooncakes Fattening? The Health Benefits of Mooncakes
How many calories does each mooncake contain? Each one has small amounts of nutrients and the following health benefits:
- Provides a large amount of energy to the body as they contain a lot of sugar, fat, etc.
- Lotus seeds and red beans contain high levels of potassium, which nourishes the heart and regulates blood pressure.
- Various nuts containing Vitamin E have anti-aging effects, rejuvenate the skin, strengthen hair, and naturally darken it.
However, mooncakes contain refined sugar, fat, carbs, calories, and they do not have a lot of nutrients, fiber, and protein. Therefore, caution is needed when consuming mooncakes, especially for overweight young people and those with chronic nutritional diseases who should limit their mooncake intake as much as possible.
Moreover, excessive consumption of mooncakes can also lead to the risk of overweight and obesity for individuals with normal body weight, because:
- On average, each person needs a maximum of 2000 – 2500 calories per day. However, each mooncake contains from 650 – 850 calories, therefore, they are a factor that can significantly affect weight after each Mid-Autumn Festival.
- Especially, if you do not balance your diet and exercise, the risk of excess calories accumulating and converting into excess fat, leading to weight gain and obesity, is extremely high.
How to Enjoy Mooncakes Without Gaining Weight
Although mooncakes contain high calorie content, there are still ways to enjoy them without affecting weight. Therefore, to fully enjoy delicious mooncakes without worrying about weight gain, besides understanding how many calories mooncakes contain, when eating, apply the following tips!
Avoid Eating Mooncakes on an Empty Stomach
The first principle of weight control is controlling daily food intake. Because mooncakes have high calorie content, you should not eat too much. Eating mooncakes on an empty stomach will lead to losing control over the amount of mooncakes entering the body. At that time, you may consume from 1 – 2 pieces of mooncake, equivalent to 800 – 1500 calories, leading to the risk of excess calories. Therefore, eat mooncakes when you are quite full, at this time, you can easily control the quantity of mooncakes as well as the calories intake.
Avoid Eating Mooncakes on an Empty Stomach (Source: Internet)Avoid Eating Mooncakes When Feeling Fatigued
Consuming a lot of sweets when feeling tired can lead to a decrease in vitamin B levels in the body. Meanwhile, vitamin B is essential for the process of converting sugar into energy. Therefore, to avoid accumulating excess sugar, excess fat, and gaining weight, avoid eating mooncakes when the body is tired.
Eating too many mooncakes when the body is tired can easily lead to increased excess fat and weight gain (Source: Internet)Limit Eating Mooncakes in the Evening
Evening is a time of low physical activity during the day. When consuming too many high-calorie mooncakes in the evening, the ability to metabolize energy will be limited, instead, excess calories will be converted into excess fat and cause weight gain. Therefore, limit eating mooncakes in the evening!
Eating mooncakes in the evening easily leads to accumulating excess fat, causing weight gain (Source: Internet)Slice Mooncakes into Small Pieces
To easily control the amount of calories entering the body, slice mooncakes into small pieces and enjoy them slowly throughout the day. This method also helps you avoid the feeling of 'quick satiety' when eating mooncakes and helps reduce calorie intake, effectively preventing weight gain.
It's advisable to cut mooncakes into small pieces for consumption throughout the day (Source: Internet)Pair Mooncakes with Tea
Eating mooncakes and sipping tea is a common tradition during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Enjoying a cup of tea while eating mooncakes not only enhances the flavor of the mooncakes but also helps boost the body's energy metabolism. Therefore, drinking tea while eating mooncakes will alleviate concerns about excess calories and weight gain.
Drinking tea while eating mooncakes helps increase the body's energy metabolism (Source: Internet)Regularly Exercise to Reduce Excess Energy
To control weight, you must monitor the calories intake and expenditure. Therefore, regular exercise is essential to maintain a healthy and balanced figure. Especially on important occasions like the Mid-Autumn Festival, the calorie intake will be higher than usual. Therefore, you need to increase the duration and intensity of your workouts to burn off the excess calories.
Regular exercise and sports are essential to maintain a healthy figure (Source: Internet)Frequently Asked Questions
When unable to burn off the calories from mooncakes, the excess calories will accumulate in the body as fat cells, causing overweight and obesity. Moreover, accumulated fat in the abdominal cavity also leads to many health issues such as fatty blood, fatty liver, etc. Therefore, increase physical activity and engage in sports to burn off the excess fat accumulated in the body, helping to regain a balanced figure and a healthy body.
We hope this article from Mytour helps you understand how many calories are in mooncakes and how to enjoy them without gaining weight. Wishing you the fullest Mid-Autumn Festival celebration with your loved ones.
