Dietary Considerations
Medical and metabolic diet considerations for Chinese food
Medical diet needs often depend on sauces, starches, portion size, sugar, sodium, and cross-contact. Chinese menus can be navigated, but dish names alone are not enough.
Common medical and metabolic concerns
| Concern | Menu issues to check |
|---|---|
| Diabetes | Rice, noodles, buns, sweet sauces, cornstarch-thickened sauces, breading, and portion size. |
| Ketogenic | Rice, noodles, wrappers, buns, sugar, cornstarch, breading, sweet sauces, and some vegetables. |
| Celiac disease | Soy sauce, wheat noodles, dumpling wrappers, breading, shared fryer, shared wok, and sauce ingredients. |
| Gluten-free preference | Similar to celiac, but risk tolerance may differ; restaurants should not use one label for all cases. |
| Sodium-sensitive diets | Soy sauce, oyster sauce, broths, pickles, cured meats, salted fish, and prepared sauces. |