skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Food and Cooking Tips for Eating Healthy
Eating healthy food doesn’t mean switching to salads. Healthy cooking is easy because in many cases, you can can change the recipes so they offer a healthier alternative.
It’s a good idea to minimize ‘hidden fats’ by choosing lean meats and reduced fat dairy products. Processed foods can also have lots of hidden fats. Dietary fats are best when they come from the unrefined natural fats found in nuts, seeds, fish, soy, olives and avocado because this fat is accompanied by other nutrients. A little oil added on the food can be a good thing. If you add one spoon of oil to vegetable dishes it will help your body absorb fat soluble vitamins and antioxidant phytochemicals.
Low fat cooking begins when you are shopping:
- If you need to use oil, try cooking sprays or apply oil with a pastry brush.
- Cook in liquids (such as wine, lemon juice, fruit juice, vinegar or water) instead of oil.
- When a recipe calls for cream as a thickener, use low fat yoghurt, low fat soy milk or evaporated skim milk.
- When browning vegetables, put them in a hot pan then spray with oil, rather than adding the oil first to the pan. This reduces the amount of oil that vegetables (such as mushrooms) can absorb during cooking.
- When serving meat and fish, use pesto, salsas, chutneys and vinegars in place of sour creams, butter and creamy sauces.
Water soluble vitamins are delicate and easily destroyed during preparation and cooking.
Salt is a traditional flavour enhancer, but research suggests that a high salt diet could contribute to a range of disorders including high blood pressure.
- Don’t automatically salt your food – taste it first.
- Add a splash of olive oil or lemon juice close to the end of cooking time or to cooked vegetables – it can enhance flavours in the same way as salt.
- Choose fresh or frozen vegetables, since canned and pickled vegetables tend to be packaged with salt.
- Limit your consumption of salty processed meats, such as salami, ham, corned beef, bacon, smoked salmon, frankfurters and chicken loaf.
- Choose reduced salt bread and breakfast cereals. Breads and cereals are a major source of salt in the diet.
- Iodised salt is best. A major dietary source of iodine is plant foods. If you eat fish regularly (at least once a week), the need for iodised salt is reduced.
- Avoid salt-laden processed foods, such as flavoured instant pasta, canned or dehydrated soup mixes, chips and salted nuts.
- Margarine and butter contain a lot of salt.
- Most cheeses are very high in salt so limit your intake or choose lower salt varieties.
- Reduce your use of soy sauce, tomato sauce and processed sauces and condiments (for example mayonnaise and salad dressings) because they contain high levels of salt.
- Use herbs, spices, vinegar or lemon juice to reduce the need for salt.
Culinary herbs are leafy plants that add flavour and colour to all types of meals. In many cases, they can replace the flavour of salt and oil. Remember:
- Herbs are delicately flavoured, so add them to your cooking in the last few minutes.
- Dried herbs are more strongly flavoured than fresh. As a general rule, one teaspoon of dried herbs equals four teaspoons of fresh herbs.
- Apart from boosting meat dishes, herbs can be added to soups, breads, mustards, salad dressings, vinegars, desserts and drinks.
- Herbs such as coriander, ginger, garlic, chilli and lemongrass are especially complimentary in vegetable-based stir-fry recipes.
To make a sandwich even healthier:
No comments:
Post a Comment