Is Soondae Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss) 

If you have ever walked the streets of Korea you have most likely encountered the popular Soondae, or Korean Blood Sausage.

In fact, it has become quite a popular snack or dish in several Asian American restaurants with several varieties using different meats such as beef intestines, pork intestines, or even squid.

Soondae not only utilizes different kinds of meat, but it also varies in terms of stuffing, which can be either rice, minced meat, or even glass noodles. 

But more importantly, you may be wondering, Is Soondae Healthy?

Soondae is a higher carbohydrate dish that has a moderate amount of protein and is low in fat which makes it a relatively good snack. This essentially means that Soondae is not necessarily the healthiest low-calorie snack but is something you can consider eating in moderation.

In this article, we will be discussing some tips on how you can incorporate Soondae into your diet while still achieving weight loss.

Here are some tips you can implement when eating Soondae to stay fit and lean: 

1. Understanding Soondae’s Nutrition Facts

2. What to Eat With Soondae

3. Understanding How Many Calories to Eat Per Day

Now that we know the three steps to eat Soondae while staying lean, let’s take a deeper look at each of these tips.

Tip 1: Understanding Soondae’s Nutrition Facts

The main ingredients that go into Soondae include either pork or beef intestines for the main flavor and overall shape of the blood sausage.

The stuffing usually consists of rice, vermicelli noodles, and a couple of minced vegetables.

These ingredients all on their own are actually all pretty healthy, but what happens when they are all combined?

Let’s go over the foods that go into Soondae!

Organ meats are actually some of the healthiest cuts of meat out there!

The reason why is because they tend to be high in protein and low in fats, which are the types of meats you want to be looking for whenever you are trying to lose weight because protein is the most satiating macronutrient and will keep you full and energized longer. 

This is why Soondae is so low in fat because it utilizes beef intestines rather than other cuts of steak, which tend to be much higher in fat making it overall a much higher calorie chunk of meat. 

Rice and vermicelli noodles are both high carbohydrate dishes that are foods you need to be careful how much you are consuming because they tend to be higher in calories and are some of the easiest foods to overeat.

This is where Soondae gets a majority of their calories because the beef intestines and vegetables are much lower compared to the rice and vermicelli noodles.

Now that you know all the ingredients that go into the typical Soondae, let us look closer into the nutritional information of this delicious blood sausage.

One serving of Soondae, which is approximately 170 g, has 8 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbohydrates, and 18 grams of protein.

For 270 calories this is a great dish that you can fit into your diet!

You still want to make sure your portion size is appropriate because eating over one serving can tally up your overall calories.

Just because Soondae is higher in carbohydrates does not mean that it is unhealthy food that will make you gain weight.

It is important to understand that the only way you gain weight is by eating too many calories over the amount that you should be eating to maintain your weight.

There is no single macronutrient that causes you to gain weight!

However, it is still important to keep well-balanced nutrition of the three macronutrients to make sure that you are getting the right nutrients for your body.

Soondae has a pretty good balance and is not a detrimental high-calorie food that can put you off track! 

Tip 2: What To Eat With Soondae 

As we talked about before, it is important to make sure you are not eating too much.

We saw earlier in the nutritional information for Soondae that it is more carbohydrate-heavy,

so for a balanced meal you might want to avoid other high carbohydrate foods like rice or noodles and stick with the vegetables. 

Vegetables have so many benefits because they are not only low-calorie dishes,

but they are filled with fiber which can keep you feeling satisfied and prevent you from overeating.

This is why I love to fill my plates with vegetables and make sure every one of my meals has at least one source of green.

That way, I can become more full without having to have overconsumed on calories.

The reason why we want to avoid eating foods like rice and noodles with the Soondae is that these high-calorie foods can quickly add up and make your 350 calorie meal into 550 calories.

You don’t need to totally cut out rice or noodles, but since Soondae is already made of these, try other lean sources of protein on the table like fish or chicken.

These foods will make you feel more full compared to plain white rice. 

Tip 3: Understanding How Many Calories to Eat Per Day

In both sections mentioned previously, a word you probably saw that constantly popped up is calories.

It is for a good reason too! No matter what your weight is, your gender, your age, or physical makeup, you need to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight.

What this essentially means is that you need to be burning more calories overall than you are consuming. 

How do you know how many calories you are burning every day though?

According to the NASM website, your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) can be calculated by adding up three things that all contribute to burning calories. (1)

First would be your RMR, or Resting Metabolic Rate, which are the number of calories your body burns at rest.

Essentially, imagine if for the entire day you just laid in bed and did not move at all, your body still needs to keep your internal bodily functions active so you still burn calories! 

Next, you would add in your TEF, or the Thermic Effect of Food, which is how many calories you burn while eating, which involves the whole process of chewing, biting, swallowing, absorbing, and all the other actions involved while digesting the food. 

Finally, you will add in your daily activity or movement throughout the day or any exercise that you do.

This is why exercising is so important and we will discuss more this in the following section!

It seems very complicated, but the good news is that your TDEE can be calculated just by entering it into one of the online calculators that take your gender, height, and weight to calculate your TDEE.

Keep in mind that every individual’s TDEE is different so the number you get from the calculator is a great place to start, but you might need to make adjustments here and there. 

‘If you are trying to lose weight, start off by making sure you are eating fewer calories than your TDEE but do not cut down too drastically too fast because this could make your diet difficult and unsustainable.

I recommend starting off by cutting out around 300-400 calories for a moderate pace weight loss journey, but it all varies from individual to individual so see what works best for you!

This is why you can incorporate a delicious Soondae into your diet and still lose weight!

As long as you are in a caloric deficit, regardless of what foods you eat, you will be able to shed off fat.

The only downside of eating unhealthy foods is they tend to be high in calories and low in satiety, so eating too many unhealthy foods can often put you in a calorie surplus or leave you feeling hungry. 

CONCLUSION 

Remember though, although nutrition is a huge factor that influences weight loss, it is important to pair this journey with exercise as well, especially strength training.

Several years of research on the benefits of weight training have shown that individuals that do some sort of consistent resistance training at least 3-5 times a week have shown not only a great amount of weight loss but are also able to keep the weight off! 

The secret to this phenomena is that strength training leads to a build-up of muscle.

Not only does your body recomposition into a more fitting and athletic-looking aesthetic, but having more muscle also increases your resting metabolic rate which essentially means you burn more calories at rest! 

We understand that not everyone has access to a gym membership or feel comfortable starting off in such an intimidating environment.

Although I would strongly recommend that everyone should get a gym membership, don’t worry we got your back!

Here is a link to some of my favorite home workout equipment that I love to use whenever I am in a rush and need to fit in a quick workout for the day or I don’t feel like leaving the house.

I highly recommend these at-home gym pieces of equipment that make sure I still get a good workout in for the day, leaving me feeling super satisfied and pumped for the rest of the day. 

https://www.aspirefitnesswalnut.com/home-workout-equipment

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