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Chomping down on Chinese food while watching the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing could seem like the ideal way to pay homage to the host country. Some Hakka Chow, Chilli Chicken, Schezwan Fried Rice and Veg Manchurian ... fantastic deliciousness. But if you get on that diet, your body will look more like Mahesh Bhatt than Mahesh Bhupathi. Nutrition analysis of Chinese dishes show that they are extremely high in calorific value, sodium content, high fat content and high in simple carbohydrates (which behave like sugar in your body). Many Chinese dishes are high on soy, which increases sodium content drastically in the food.

Excess sodium leads to increase in blood pressure and retention of water, which increases your weight and makes you look bloated and fat. So, whats a solution? Clearly, not eating Chinese food is a bad solution :) But you can make healthy choices while ordering Chinese food. Lets start with everyone's favourite .. those little steamed eatables called Dim Sum- You think its healthy because its steamed. But Dim Sum is primarily made of maida (refined flour), which causes your blood sugar to spike (watch out diabetics) and promotes fat storage. For starters, go for stuff that's stir fried, chicken satay, flavored veggies, or a clear soup with veggies and/or meat in it. Or you can skip the starters and go for the main course The main course is like a mine field of bad health bombs.

After one and a half years of work, I came up with the Chinese version cookbook in 1998 and got it published with a national publisher. About 560,000 copies have been sold since then.Grab A Copy Click hereIn 2000, my friend suggested me to translate my cookbook into English and bring it to all people around the world who love Chinese food. In order to let this book be suitable for most people, I visited all the major Chinese restaurants here in Ohio and studied hundreds of restaurant menus. I talked to scores of doctors about healthy eating and nutrition. I subscribed to several major health publications and read health news regularly. After two years of research, I came up with my English version e-cookbook "Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking".

This is the traditional symbol for the forces of yin and yang, sometimes described as two fish swimming head to tail. The left half is yin and the right half is yang. Taken literally, yin and yang mean the dark side and sunny side of a hill. People commonly think of yin and yang as opposing forces. However, it is really more appropriate to view them as complementary pairs. The Chinese believe problems arise not when the two forces are battling, but when there is an imbalance between them.

The Chinese cookbook also contains quite an extensive list of foods, including just about anything edible with very few taboos. The Chinese, who see eating as a fortune and life as an art, not only created various kinds of regional food styles in its own vast lands, but have also spread Chinese food culture to far across the seas. Today, in this world where even the farthest corners can seem as close as one’s backyard, Chinese food can be enjoyed in each and every metropolitan throughout the world. Like many other countries with a vast territory, Chinese cuisines are differentiated largely by its northern and southern regional tastes.

Although the best quality rice in China is grown in its northeastern regions, people in those regions, however, just as other northerners, prefer to eat pasta or pastry instead. In the north, classic dishes include Beijing’s lamb hotpot (fondue) and roast duck, and Shandong province’s Lu style cuisines. In the south, the principal foods (foods that are the main source of carbohydrates and dietary fibers, e.g. bread and cereal in the west) are rice-based. A relatively greater variety of dishes are found in the south. There you can find the hot and heavily spiced Sichuan food, Xiang (Hunan) food, sweet and delicate Huaiyang food and the Yue (Cantonese) style which are mosdy seafood and soups. Thus foreigners who have been to China are often pleasandy surprised by the great differences in taste and food types by region. Having Chinese food not only indulges people’s sense of taste, the sense of sight is also entertained. The Chinese culinary arts rely on the canon of “color (aesthetic beauty), aroma, and taste,” missing any one element would not make a good dish.

What is Chinese Food Therapy - Chinese food therapy dates back as early as 2000 BC.Chinese food therapy is a practice of healing using natural foods instead of medications. Chinese food therapy is a modality of traditional Chinese medicine, also known as Chinese Nutrition Therapy. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, which is also known as the Niejing, was written around 300 BC is important in forming the basis of Chinese food therapy.

Philosophy of Chinese Food Therapy - The philosophy behind Chinese food therapy is that everything must be balanced.  This begins by discovering the polar opposites of foods that are available and combining them for a middle ground.  Yin and yang are the philosophy that is used for foods, giving the best combination of elements for health.  Yang is known to increase body heat, which will raise the metabolism to process nutrients.  Yin then combines with this to decrease the body heat, which will balance the nutrients that are being processed in the metabolism. 

The Chinese culture has a special way of serving food that is cut into small bite pieces which is made almost mandatory. It is hard to find knives at the dinner table in Chinese food serving. Chinese food also stresses the importance of the right combination of ingredients like herbs and condiments. The food should also look good in color and texture and a well prepared food deserves to be eaten with harmony. The Chinese food is cooked with the intention of increasing the health benefits like longevity and having healing powers and medicinal value.

A good Chinese food is prepared with poly unsaturated oils and does not use milk based ingredients like cream, butter and cheese. Although meat is used in Chinese food, it is used in moderation and hence avoids high levels of animal fat and cholesterol. Such a food is called authentic Chinese food which is in fact, an ideal Chinese food, good for the health. In a traditional Chinese food, emphasis is given to rice, noodles and vegetables.The Chinese food can be chosen, to make a great difference by opting for various dishes with different nutritional value. Chicken or beef dishes and vegetables are a good choice.