KEY POINTS:
Indian takeaway curries contain some of the highest levels of saturated fat among takeaway foods, a British study has found.
They can contain more saturated fat, and a Chinese meal more sugar, than you should eat in a day.
And in order to burn the calories from an Indian meal, men need to exercise for 271 minutes and women 335 minutes.
That is equivalent to cycling for five hours.
The study by Britain's Which? magazine said Indian takeaway curries scored worst on saturated fat, compared with pizza or a Chinese takeaway.
A woman eating a portion of curry could be consuming more than a whole day's recommended saturated fat intake.
An average Indian meal had 23.2g of saturated fat. The daily recommended intake for women is 20g, and 30g for men.
A combination of naan, pulau rice and chicken tikka masala contained about 1338 calories. Chinese food contained 1436 calories and a thin-crust pepperoni pizza 929 calories.
The total average daily calorie intake for a man is 2500 and for a woman 2000.
More New Zealanders are eating out or buying takeaways and supermarket-ready meals than 30 years ago, when there were few supermarkets, and fish and chip shops dominated takeaway options.
The British study reflected the New Zealand situation, local dietitians said.
Otago University research dietitian Amber Parry-Strong said Indian meals were not high on the list of takeaways she would recommend.
"If people are having Indian, I recommend tandoori. All other dishes should be a once in a blue moon special occasion."
Indian curries, whether takeaways or supermarket-ready, were high in saturated fat, she said.
"The problem ... is in the use of cream and coconut cream, which have high saturated fat levels. Oil also adds to the total fat."
NZ Crop and Food Research tests on 44 takeaway foods showed the three highest levels of saturated fat were recorded in Indian samples.
NZ Dietetic Association executive director Jan Milne urged people to make an informed choice on Indian meals as most contained ghee or clarified butter. The ghee improved the taste but was high in saturated fat, Ms Milne said.
In a typical Indian takeaway, naan bread contained more calories, weight for weight, than chicken tikka masala and pulau rice.
One might think bread and rice healthier than the masala, but pulau rice is fried and naan bread has a thick layer of butter.
Ms Milne also linked the British study to New Zealand conditions.
"People have got it in their minds that Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's are bad in terms of saturated fat, so they turn to alternatives like Indian and Chinese takeaways.
"They don't realise they are perhaps equally bad."
She advised caution on Chinese takeaways as well, as most contained fatty pork.
Consumers' Institute's research manager Belinda Allan said it had not tested Indian takeaways since 2002. "We found that butter chicken was particularly bad - the sample we tested had 12 per cent fat, of which more than half was saturated fat."
The British study also criticised Chinese takeaways. Sweet-and-sour chicken, egg fried rice and vegetable spring rolls contained much less saturated fat than Indian takeaways, but three times as much sugar.
- NZPA
