All of us enjoy a treat every now and then, and when it comes to our food, it's easy to develop bad habits like treating ourselves a bit too often. Our diet has such a huge impact on our lives, influencing the way we feel both physically and mentally. Eating healthy food can make us feel great over time, improving our motivation and concentration, as well as helping our bodies get the nutrients they need to work properly.
On the other hand, comfort eating is a common choice for many of us when we're having a hard time in life, and the serotonin release of snacks like chocolate and fatty, fried foods can feel too good to turn down. We all know these are unhealthy, but there's no reason we have to remove these foods from our diets entirely, as long as we're eating plenty of other healthier foods and getting plenty of exercise too. In fact, you could even make your favorite fried foods a little bit healthier to reduce the guilt too.
Baked
Foods
Changing up your cooking
method is probably one of the best ways to make any meal healthier.
When frying food, the main unhealthy component is actually the oil
you're frying. While it's a very effective method to cook your food
with, oils are generally very high in fat, and it clings to your
food, even if you dab it dry before serving. Consuming excessive
saturated
fat is really bad for your health over time.
Changing the way in which you cook your food can reduce the amount of fat you put into your body to remedy this, however. Choosing to bake your foods is one way in which you can improve the nutritional value of your meals and reduce the amount of fat in your diet. It can taste just as good too. The right seasoning can transform a dish, no matter how you cook it. Just try not to substitute your oil for excessive sodium, as this is just as unhealthy.
Air Frying
As
stated above, there's no reason why you need to exclude fried food
from your diet entirely, but if possible, search for a healthier way
to fry those chicken wings or tater tots instead of dunking them in a
deep fat fryer, soaking them in all of that unhealthy oil. Air fryers
are devices for the kitchen that have completely changed the way we
look at cooking.
These great gadgets need very little oil to fry the foods you put in them. They can do their job with as little as a teaspoon of oil, and if you combine this with a low-fat oil choice, you'll be stunned at just how good that food tastes, as well as how much healthier it is. You could easily make your own homemade southern-fried chicken meal using your air fryer, and you'll be in awe of how crispy and tender the results are.
Choose Healthy
Recipes
A great way to start eating
healthier foods is to expand your cooking repertoire with new
recipes. However, there are countless sites online that offer
versions of your family's favorite recipes that may be much healthier
and even tastier. Learning new recipes can also help you implement
new techniques and give you the confidence to change your favorite
recipes independently.
Recipe sites like A Clean Bake offer a number of grain-free recipes, low-sugar, and generally healthier than many other recipe ideas. Using recipes like this can help you remove certain elements from your diet that could otherwise be impacting your health negatively. Of course, if you are concerned about your weight or your nutrition, or those of a family member, your first port of call should always be your family physician, who can provide you with helpful advice and information.
Regulate Frying
Temperature
One of the biggest
issues with frying your favorite foods is getting the oil too hot.
All oils have a different smoking point, and once you heat that oil
past that point, it begins to release something called free radicals.
These free radicals can be harmful to the body, as they can cause serious diseases like cancer. Choose an oil with a much higher smoking point, such as olive oil, and make sure you don't use an excessive temperature when cooking.
Low Fat Oil
When
frying your foods, you should always be looking at choosing an oil
that is low in saturated fats as much as possible. While excessive
oil of any type is not entirely healthy, avoid
unhealthy vegetable oils wherever possible, including sunflower,
canola, and corn oils. Instead, quality virgin olive oil, avocado
oil, peanut oil, or flaxseed are much better options. Just remember
to use them as sparingly as possible.
Avocado oil contains the highest monounsaturated fat contents, which are healthy fats that your body actually benefits from significantly. Unfortunately, these healthier oils can be a bit more costly, so be wary of this when deciding on an oil.
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