Visit a Chinese restaurant, and you are likely to see Chinese chicken and broccoli on the menu. This dish consists of marinated chicken stir-fried with broccoli, garlic and sauce, although recipes vary. The fat in this dish may influence your health, so understanding the types of fat it contains can help determine if it is a good option for your meal plan.
Total Fat
One cup of Chinese chicken and broccoli contains 24.9 g of total fat. This is quite high, although it may not negatively influence your health if the remainder of your diet is low in fat. The daily recommended intake of total fat stands at 44 to 78 g of fat per day if you follow a 2,000-calorie diet. This equates to roughly 20 to 35 percent of your daily caloric intake.
Saturated Fat
A 1-cup serving of Chinese chicken and broccoli introduces 1.4 g of saturated fat into your diet. This is not a significant percentage of the suggested maximum daily intake of 16 to 22 g, but you should try to keep your intake as low as possible. Too much saturated fat in your diet may raise your risk of diabetes as well as heart disease. A study published in the July 2011 issue of the "Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews" suggests that decreasing your intake of saturated fat lowers your risk of cardiovascular events by 14 percent.
Trans Fat
Any trans fat in your diet can negatively influence your risk of heart disease, and Chinese chicken and broccoli does contain a small amount. One cup of this dish has 0.1 g of trans fat. The American Heart Association suggests keeping trans fat intake to no more than 1 percent of your total daily calories.
Healthy Fats
Approximately 13.4 g of the fat in Chinese chicken and broccoli derives from healthier types of fat, such as monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests getting the bulk of the fats in your diet from these two sources. Both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in this dish positively influence your cholesterol levels; monounsaturated fats can help lower your risk of heart disease, and polyunsaturated fat may lower your chances of developing type-2 diabetes.
References
- Fitclick: Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
- MayoClinic.com; Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork With These Nutrition Guidelines; February 2011
- "Cochrane Database of Systematic Review"; Reduces or Modified Dietary Fat for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease; L. Hooper, et al.; July 2011
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Polyunsaturated Fats and Monounsaturated Fats; February 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Dietary Fats: Know Which Types to Choose; February 2011
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