Whether you’re searching for food, cooking or eating out, nutrition and health is something which is on many people’s schedule. The truth is it can be tough to avoid low fat, no added salt and mild claims that are found on many food labels, and healthier menu choices are starting to pop up in restaurants and fast food outlets.
So how do you know whether tonight’s spaghetti bolognaise is healthy or only a health hazard in the making?
There are a few basic guidelines to follow when you are cooking, shopping and eating out. Moreover, tools such as food labels provide essential information regarding a food’s nutritional value and armed with a little knowledge it’s possible to browse a menu without blowing your daily kilojoule budget.
There are several cookbooks and TV shows that tempt us with pictures of beautifully presented food. But what looks good might not be good for you — except as an occasional treat. To separate the decadent from the heart-healthy look for recipes :
Use lean beef or specify trimmed meat, skinless chicken/poultry, fresh fish or fish canned in brine or spring water rather than high-fat cuts of meat or crumbed/battered fish.
Use reduced-fat or low-fat ingredients like low/reduced fat milk, yogurt and cheese.
Use polyunsaturated fats as opposed to sources of saturated fat, by way of instance, specify unsaturated margarine rather than butter, use oils like canola, sunflower, olive, peanut or sesame instead of ingredients like coconut or palm oil or ghee.
Use low-fat cooking techniques like grilling, barbequing on a grill, dry baking or carbonated with small quantities of healthy oils, steaming, boiling, poaching or roasting on a rack. Use herbs and spices for flavouring, by way of instance, coriander, pepper, ginger, garlic, basil, oregano, cumin and parsley.
Use only smaller quantities of high salt ingredients like fish and soy sauce, stock cubes and salted meats such as salami and bacon.
Avoid considerable amounts of added sugars, by way of example, table sugar, honey, fructose and golden syrup.
Specify wholegrain ingredients, e.g. wholemeal flour, rolled oats, barley, brown rice.
You may even enhance the nutritional profile of a recipe by substituting high saturated fat, sugar or salt ingredients with healthy alternatives. For instance, sour cream in recipes can be replaced with low-fat natural yoghurt instead, light evaporated milk may be used instead of cream or coconut cream, and fruit purees can add moisture and sweetness to substitute some of the sugar and fat used in cakes.