Nutritionist shares homemade yam and date paste mooncakes, a healthy and zero-burden choice

2026/09/23 13:22

Nutritionist shares homemade yam and date paste mooncakes. (Provided by Beirong Hsinchu Branch)

[Reporter Liao Xueru/Hsinchu Report] The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Fragrant mooncakes are an indispensable delicacy during the festival, but the high calories, sugar and fat hidden behind them often become a heavy burden on the body.

Xu Jiayu, director of the Nutrition Department of the Hsinchu Branch of Taipei Veterans General Hospital, reminds everyone that when celebrating the festival, you must pay attention to dietary balance and portion control. The team of the Nutrition Department also used their ingenuity to specially develop a healthy snack "Yam and Date Cake" suitable for the whole family, providing modern people with a new mooncake option that is both delicious and zero-burden.

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Xu Jiayu pointed out that commercially available mooncakes often add a large amount of fat and refined sugar in order to achieve a crispy texture and rich flavor. A traditional Cantonese double-yolk mooncake has 700 to 800 calories, which is equivalent to a whole meal. Even though it looks like a small egg yolk cake, the calories are close to 300 calories a piece.

It is worth noting that the public is wary of the sugar content of sweet mooncakes, but often ignores the alarming fat content. For example, pineapple cakes contain about half a tablespoon of fat, egg yolk cakes contain about one tablespoon of fat, and braised pork and mung bean cakes with bean paste contain up to two tablespoons of fat. For the elderly and patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, these high-fat and high-sugar snacks can easily cause physical burden, so the intake must be strictly controlled according to personal conditions.

In order to balance the fun of the festival with health control, the "Yam and Date Paste Cake" developed by the Nutrition Department team of the Hsinchu Branch of Taipei Rongzhong Hospital is specially made of yam and purple sweet potato, steamed and pressed into a fine puree. It completely replaces the traditional cake crust made of flour and oil, and then wrapped with natural date paste filling. This snack has a dense, soft texture and is easy to swallow. Even the elderly and young children with weak teeth can enjoy it easily. The one-portion portion design makes it easier to control the calories and get rid of the threat of high oil and sugar.

When enjoying Mid-Autumn Festival cakes, Xu Jiayu recommends pairing them with sugar-free tea drinks such as sugar-free green tea, oolong tea or herbal tea, instead of sugary drinks to reduce the absorption of additional sugar. In addition, you should greatly increase the proportion of vegetables and high-fiber foods during the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue dinner, and maintain regular exercise. As long as patients with chronic diseases and the elderly master the principle of appropriate amounts, they can enjoy the warm moments of reunion between people in the full moon while protecting the health of themselves and their families.

Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes fat content comparison table. (Provided by Beirong Hsinchu Branch)