Healthy Chinese cuisine, like any healthy diet, follows the principles set forth by the World Health Organization (WHO). A healthy diet should exclude trans-fatty acids, minimize intake of total fats and use unsaturated vegetable-oil based fats instead of saturated animal-based fats. It should also limit the intake of free sugars and iodized salt (sodium) and increase the consumption of high-fiber and low fat foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts.http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/diet/en/index.html Like all other cuisines, it is difficult to prepare healthy Chinese cuisine from processed and preserved foods.http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/Elliot-brown-2007.pdf The view of Chinese cuisine as being fatty, salty, and therefore unhealthy, are largely a misconception coming from western Chinese restaurant foods. Authentic homemade Chinese dishes cooked from fresh ingredients paint a different picture. Fish, meat and eggs are steamed in the Guangdong area. Oily, over-seasoned or inappropriately cooked dishes, which destroy the original nutritional value, color, aroma, and flavor of the foods, are actually considered bad Chinese cooking.http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/g_food_drink.html

The keys to preparing healthy Chinese cuisine are choosing the suitable ingredients, seasonings and cooking methods. Most Chinese families tend to prepare meals with a significant proportion of vegetables mixed with some meat because vegetables are generally less expensive than meat except in the very dry regions like Tibet. Poultry, pork (in the south) and lamb (in the north) are eaten much more often than beef when meat is available. The essence of Chinese cooking is to preserve the fresh, natural flavor of the ingredients.http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/g_food_drink.html The use of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is more a restaurant practice. Deep-fried dishes are only available sometimes at home and stir-fried dishes are usually prepared using little oil.http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cpns/Documents/Network-FV-HealthyChineseCookbook.pdf

Chinese culinary culture has slowly evolved into eight major regional cuisines, characterized by their own regional climate, geographical environment, local produce, cultural traditions and cooking methods.http://www.vtc.edu.hk/~ccti/Eng/location_eng.htm

• Shandong Cuisine
• Guangdong Cuisine (Cantonese Cuisine)
• Sichuan Cuisine
• Hunan Cuisine
• Fujian Cuisine
• Zhejiang Cuisine
• Jiangsu Cuisine
• Anhui Cuisine