As temperatures drop and hot pot becomes a popular way to warm up, doctors are warning that overindulging can harm your health. Gastroenterologist Dr. Tso Wei-Ju shared that one patient developed a spike in cholesterol and mild fatty liver after eating hot pot for three consecutive days during the Start of Winter festival.
According to Dr. Tso, the patient’s total cholesterol jumped from 180 to 260 mg/dL (normal is below 200 mg/dL), prompting him to remark, “This isn’t winter nourishment—this is pouring oil into your blood vessels.” He added that adding a piece of fatty meat into the pot is “like wiping out three days’ worth of health.”
Dr. Tso highlighted three major hot pot “health traps”:
- Fatty meats = cardiovascular danger
A 2024 study in Journal of Clinical Lipidology shows that a single high-fat meal can raise LDL (“bad” cholesterol) by 25–30%, putting immediate stress on blood vessels. - Herbal broths = kidney strain
Many herbal soups contain over 4,000 mg of sodium, forcing the kidneys to work overtime for 24 hours to excrete the salt, which can cause next-day swelling and fatigue. - Creamy, rich broths = liver burden
Every 200 ml of thick soup contains high amounts of fat and salt that the liver must metabolize, increasing the risk of fatty liver with long-term consumption.
To eat hot pot more safely, Dr. Tso recommends choosing low-salt broths such as clear or kelp soup and avoiding spicy or herbal varieties. He also suggests the “vegetables first, meat later” method so vegetables absorb excess fat, choosing lean proteins like chicken breast or fish, and avoiding drinking the broth. If you must drink soup, scoop some clear broth before adding meat.
