Pak choi, also called bok choy or simply Chinese cabbage, is a leafy vegetable related to the turnip. Pak choi is a staple in many Chinese dishes, and it is widely available in the United States. Pak choi is low in calories, so it can be a good food to include in your weight- loss dieting plans. Pak choi provides numerous important nutrients, so can be beneficial even if you're not dieting.
Calorie Content
Pak choi is a low-calorie food. A cup of shredded, boiled pak choi contains only 20 calories. That makes it appropriate for even the strictest of diets, and you can burn the calories in pak choi quickly through exercise. For example, five minutes of weightlifting or two minutes of jogging would burn 20 calories.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide half of the calories in pak choi, and each cup of shredded, boiled pak choi contains 3 g. Carbohydrates act as a primary fuel source for your body, but some research suggests that reduced-carbohydrate diets can benefit dieters. A study from the July 2008 edition of "The New England Journal of Medicine" found that low-carbohydrate diets provided more weight loss than low-fat or Mediterranean diet plans.
Fiber
Most of the carbohydrates in pak choi come from fiber; each cup contains 2 g. Fiber aids in weight management because it promotes feelings of fullness. It also can help regulate your blood sugar and cholesterol levels and protect your digestive system from hemorrhoids and other conditions.
Protein
Pak choi is rich in protein considering the low calorie content. Each cup of shredded, boiled pak choi contains 3 g. That's half of what an egg provides, although half of an egg also would provide 15 more calories than 1 cup of pak choi. Protein is vital for maintaining and building your body's tissues.
Fat
Pak choi doesn't contain any fat. While a high fat content makes foods high in calories, fat also provides feelings of fullness and energy and aids in vitamin absorption, so it is important to obtain elsewhere.
Vitamins and Minerals
Pak choi is a rich source of vitamins and minerals, providing about 32 percent of the daily suggested intake -- 2,000 mg -- of potassium and 144 percent of the daily suggested intake of vitamin A. One cup of boiled, shredded pak choi also contains 74 percent of the suggested daily intake of vitamin C, 16 percent of the suggested daily intake of calcium and 10 percent of iron.
References
- MyFitnessPal: Calories in Cabbage - Chinese (pak-choi), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt
- Mayo Clinic; Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour; December 2009
- "The New England Journal of Medicine"; Weight Loss with a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet; I. Shai et al.; July 2008
- Colorado State University Extension; Dietary Fiber; J. Anderson, S. Perryman, L.Young and S. Prior; December 2010
- LIVESTRONG.COM MyPlate: Calories in Egg
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