Tips for Eating Nasi Padang Without Worrying about Cholesterol

TheIndonesia.co - Cardiologist and Blood Vessel Specialist from the Indonesian Association of Cardiovascular Specialists (PERKI) dr. Vito Anggarino Damay, Sp.JP provides healthy tips for those of you who are worried that bad cholesterol will rise after eating Nasi Padang.

First, he reminds you to eat vegetables that are usually available, such as cucumbers and boiled cassava leaves. Vito recommends that you ask for more servings of vegetables because these fiber sources are also useful for reducing the absorption of bad cholesterol.

"If we eat, actually there are a lot of vegetables, ask for more vegetables, because vegetables can reduce the absorption of bad cholesterol. So it (bad cholesterol) is not absorbed at all and is thrown away when defecating. So it is very helpful if there are lots of vegetables," said Vito interviewed by Antara on Thursday afternoon, April 7, 2022.

Next, you should control the amount of gravy from the various side dishes that you will eat. Eating directly at a Padang restaurant is an advantage for you in this case because you can control the amount of gravy yourself. However, if you take Nasi Padang home, you can ask the restaurant to limit the sauce that he puts in.

"The gravy, if I like it, asks for it to be mixed, but not too much, so that when you take it home it won't get too wet and if we eat somewhere it's better to separate it, so we can adjust the gravy so it doesn't have to flood the rice," said Vito.

Another healthy tip is to drink plain tea which is usually provided by the restaurant for free. According to Vito, tea can help lower the absorption of bad cholesterol, helping to balance the metabolism of good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. That way, tea helps prevent too much bad cholesterol from being absorbed or sticking to your blood vessels.

Another tip, if you want to take Nasi Padang home, you should ask for half the portion of rice. Usually, the rice portion for takeaway will be more than the portion eaten directly at the restaurant.

Finally, don't forget to balance your food consumption by exercising regularly for at least 30 minutes per day. "So (rice consumption) is okay but you know how to eat it, especially the vegetables. There are lots of vegetables, there is cucumber, so we fill ourselves with vegetables," he said.