This kind of snack can satisfy your cravings without making you fat, so you can eat it with confidence even when you are losing weight!

In order to lose weight, many friends are determined to pay attention to their mouths and dare not eat any snacks, which makes losing weight not happy at all.

In fact, there is no need to do this. You can choose some snacks that are low in energy and satisfy your cravings. Among the many snacks, the most recommended is konjac products, but not all konjac products have low energy. If you choose the wrong one, you will still be fat.

Konjac silk picture: a shopping website

This article will talk about konjac systematically. In addition, we also searched for the popular konjac noodles, konjac cold noodles, konjac cakes, and konjac jelly on the Internet, and sorted out more recommended styles. Let’s read the article together.

How low in energy is konjac?

The konjac products that we can eat directly are mainly konjac shreds and konjac tofu . The energy of unseasoned konjac shreds and konjac tofu is only about 6 to 17 kcal/100 grams.

Photo: A certain brand of konjac noodles (12 kcal/100 g)

Photo: A certain brand of konjac tofu (17 kcal/100 g)

How low is this energy? It is lower than the energy of vegetables such as eggplant, tomato, green pepper, bitter melon, zucchini, leek, Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and kale.

Why is its energy so low?

This is because konjac is rich in glucomannan, a soluble dietary fiber with super water absorption capacity, which can absorb 50 times its own weight in water.

Both konjac shreds and konjac tofu are made from konjac flour absorbing a large amount of water . The energy of konjac flour is only about 1/2 of that of various starches. After absorbing so many times more water, its energy is naturally very low.

How nutritious is konjac?

The main ingredients are water and water-soluble dietary fiber . According to the data from the Japanese Nutrition Facts Table, the water content of konjac tofu and konjac silk is as high as 96 grams/100 grams, while the water-soluble dietary fiber content is about 3 grams/100 grams.

As for vitamins, the contents of vitamins A, D, E, K, C, B1, and B2 are all 0; as for minerals, the contents of potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc are very low, and only the calcium content is slightly higher. The calcium content of konjac tofu made directly from konjac tubers is 68 mg/100 g, and the calcium content of konjac silk is 75 mg/100 g.

Therefore, konjac shreds and konjac tofu are a good source of water-soluble dietary fiber, and can also provide a little calcium. As for other nutrients, you can't count on them.

Is it recommended to eat konjac for weight loss?

1

Konjac is not recommended as a substitute for staple food for weight loss

The konjac products recommended on the market to replace staple foods are generally konjac noodles or konjac cold noodles. Although their ingredients, in addition to konjac flour, also include some pumpkin powder, soybean powder, white kidney bean powder, etc., the energy may be higher than konjac silk and konjac tofu, but the carbohydrates and energy are still very low, and they are completely unqualified to replace staple foods . However, some sellers suggest that we use it as a staple food, and even replace a meal.

Picture: Screenshot of the merchant’s promotion. A friend of mine actually ate it this way and even left me a message to share his experience of eating it this way.

Feeling hungry within 2 hours after eating is a big taboo in a weight loss diet, because being very hungry indicates a large energy deficit, which will lead to rapid weight loss, resulting in a higher risk of weight rebound.

In addition, if you are too hungry, you may not even be able to hold on for 2 days, and the weight loss will end before it even begins. Therefore, it is definitely not a good idea to eat a bag of konjac noodles with only 37 kcal in one meal when losing weight.

Why are you so hungry? Let's do the math and you'll know.

White-collar women need about 1,700 kcal of energy every day. If they want to lose weight without feeling hungry, be easy to stick to, and not easily rebound, it is recommended that they eat about 1,500 kcal a day (different girls have different heights and weights, so the energy level will be slightly different, and not feeling hungry is the key).

If a regular meal accounts for 25% to 30% of the total daily energy supply, the energy is 375 to 450 kcal. However, the energy in a packet of konjac noodles is less than 1/10 of the recommended amount. It would be strange if you are not hungry.

Photo: A certain brand of konjac noodles

In addition, the main ingredient of konjac noodles is dietary fiber, not starch, so it is not qualified to replace part of the staple food.

2

Eating too much konjac can cause gastrointestinal discomfort

Some friends may say that it has low energy and low carbohydrates, so I can just eat more of it and it will satisfy my appetite.

This is really not possible, because the Chinese Dietary Guidelines recommend 25-30 grams of dietary fiber per day . Whole grains, vegetables, and fruits can provide dietary fiber. If we also eat a lot of konjac products rich in dietary fiber, it may cause gastrointestinal discomfort, such as belching, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation.

The following three friends left me a message saying that after eating too much konjac, their stomachs growled, they farted, and they had stomachaches.

Picture: My stomach growled when I ate too much konjac

Picture: Eating too much konjac causes stomach pain

Figure: Gastrointestinal discomfort for a week

3

Konjac replaces staple food and is prone to malnutrition

Even if you eat more and don't experience gastrointestinal discomfort, it is not recommended to use it to replace staple foods. After all, in addition to being too low in energy, its carbohydrate and various nutrient content is also extremely low, so using it to replace staple foods can easily lead to malnutrition.

When energy and nutrition are insufficient, the body will shut down relatively unimportant functions, such as menstruation. So some friends use konjac as a meal replacement and end up driving away their periods.

Picture: Konjac meal replacement drives away menstruation

4

It can be used as a snack to satisfy your appetite when losing weight.

We eat three meals a day in a balanced way, but between meals we always feel greedy and want to eat a few more bites to satisfy our appetite. Konjac products are a good choice.

Ready-made konjac shreds or konjac cold noodles, paired with ready-made low-calorie vinaigrette or salad dressing, are so convenient; or you can make your own chili vinaigrette.

However, ready-made konjac shreds or konjac cubes are difficult to taste. In addition, konjac noodles or konjac cold skin made from konjac flour need to be processed with edible alkali or lime water. If they are not soaked several times, they will taste strange , so many friends think it is very unpalatable.

Picture: It tastes terrible

So how should we eat it? The following friend's recommendation is a good one.

Freeze the konjac tofu like tofu, and then it will have many holes like frozen tofu, making it easy to absorb the flavor.

How to eat it? According to the ways shared by my friends, it is delicious to stir-fry it with old chopped pepper, sour pepper, and pork belly.

Another friend's recommendation was also great.

Figure: Making a substitute for fans when ants climb trees

We can also add a little konjac rice when cooking rice, so that we can consume slightly less energy by eating the same volume of rice.

Of course, we can also choose konjac products such as konjac jelly, konjac cake, and konjac cake as snacks, which will taste better after professional formulas.

How to choose among various konjac products?

1

Konjac shreds, konjac tofu

The main ingredients are water and konjac flour. Some konjac tofu (konjac blocks, konjac cakes) will also add seaweed and hijiki to increase the smoothness. You can buy them and try them to see which one you like.

They are the original processed products of konjac and have similar energy. When choosing, the most important thing is to choose those with high solid content . For example, some have a solid content of 50%, while others have a solid content of ≥ 80%.

If you want to buy it at a better price, you can add the word "commercial" when searching for konjac shreds or konjac tofu. This is equivalent to wholesale, which will be much cheaper than retail.

2

Konjac noodles

Although it is called konjac noodles, most of them are actually konjac noodles with only water, konjac powder and titanium dioxide (pigment) as the ingredients, such as the first 6 items in the table below. In this case, you can choose the first one with the lowest energy . After all, we are going to eat it as a snack, so naturally the lower the energy, the better.

The 7th ingredient also has pumpkin powder added, the 8th ingredient also has soy protein powder added, and the 9th ingredient not only has soy protein powder but also pumpkin powder added. The taste may be better if slightly adjusted, and the energy content is not high, so you can also try it.

3

Konjac cold noodles

The ingredients and nutrition of konjac cold noodles and konjac noodles are similar, see the table below for details. Just be careful not to add too many ingredients to avoid increasing oil and salt intake.

4

Konjac jelly

The konjac jelly in the table, 1 to 4 have 0 energy, you can choose any of them. But the most recommended one is 1, why? In addition to konjac, 2, 3, and 4, carrageenan and locust bean gum are added, so the carbon water content is higher, especially 2 and 3.

The first one, in addition to konjac, also adds chia seeds and carrageenan, so the carbohydrate content is also high. In addition, it is also fortified with various vitamins and minerals, which is a plus in terms of nutrition. In addition, the white peach flavor is seasoned with peach concentrate juice, which tastes more natural than seasoning with essence alone.

5

Konjac Soup (Vegetarian Tripe)

The most important thing to consider when choosing Konjac Shuang is energy and sodium. Low energy means less additional sugar and oil, while low sodium content means less salt is added.

Among the 16 types of konjac snacks in the table below, none of them has an absolute advantage in terms of energy and sodium content, but some are slightly better.

Among them, the sodium content of items 1 and 2 is the lowest, and the energy is not high either, about half of the highest energy item; items 3 to 6 have the lowest energy, but the sodium content is higher. Among all the items, give priority to these 6 items, and then lightly blanch them before eating, and they will be perfect.

6

Konjac Cake

The main ingredients of items 1 to 8 are basically egg white liquid, konjac powder, whey protein powder, inulin, and some salt and food additives are added. Among them, items 2 to 6 use a formula from a foundry, so the nutritional composition table is exactly the same.

The energy and sodium content of these 8 types are not too high, and the protein content is relatively high. As a snack, eating one (basically 30 grams each) will only consume 100 kcal of calories, which is acceptable.

This is the systematic content about konjac. If you are losing weight and want to have some snacks to satisfy your cravings, konjac is really suitable!

References

[1] Rios-Hoyo A, Gutierrez-Salmean G. New dietary supplements for obesity: what we currently know. Curr Obes Rep 2016;5:262-70. [PubMed abstract]

Planning and production

Source: Nutritionist Gu Chuanling (ID: guchuanlingyys)

Author: Gu Chuanling, Deputy Secretary General of Capital Health Nutrition and Gourmet Society, Registered Nutritionist

Editor: Zhong Yanping