Eating healthy is the best way to stay healthy. However, healthy eating does not mean discarding all your favorite dishes; rather it means eating everything in a sensible way, so that the food can provide you nutrition but do not work as a source of poor health. When you are preparing your food at your home you have the open scope of following healthy cooking tips so that you can come up with healthy but tasty dishes that can actually provide you nutrition. Here are some of the best tips to help you in cooking healthy and tasty foods at home,
Use unsaturated Olive oil for cooking
Unsaturated olive oil has lower calories and it is much less harmful for the body compared to many other oils and butter. The other best thing about olive oil is that, it lets you cook in much less oil. So, replace your cooking oil with unsaturated olive oil to make the dishes healthy. However, keep in mind, that even olive oil is not very good for your body if you consume it daily, so try to keep the quantity to minimum.
Stop using cream in your dishes
We all like that creamy gravy in our dishes but the cream you add to it to get that feel and taste is certainly not good for your body and works as a source of lots of extra calories. You can easily prepare thicker, creamy gravy by mixing corn flour with low fat milk and then boiling it for some time. This might not taste as good as cream but can work as an effective and healthy replacement for cream in any dishes.
Settle for oven- frying over deep frying
Deep frying the vegetables, chicken or fishes in oil makes them quite unhealthy for your body. You can easily control the amount of oil you take in with these dishes by switching to oven-frying over deep frying. Simply dip your chicken, vegetable or fishes in a tasty coating of eggs or corn starch, spray them lightly with olive oil and then bake them in the oven. Oven-fried dishes contain much less calorie than the deep-fried ones.
Opt for whole grains
Whole grains that are unpolished are much richer in nutrients compared to the polished variety. Many nutrients of grains remain concentrated in the grain coats and coat nearing regions, which are discarded during the polishing. Unpolished grains, including rise and pulses will not look that good, but they are sure to taste better and are much more healthy as far as their nutritional value is concerned.
Shift to low calorie dairy products
Dairy products act as one of the major source of calorie in our daily diet. So, opt for low fat milk and yogurt instead of whole milk and butter. Instead of using cheese in your dishes, start using low fat mayonnaise which contains much less fat than the normal variety. However, even if you shift to the low fat ones, always keep a check on how much and how frequently you use them in your food.
Use artificial sweeteners in your diet with caution
Artificial sweeteners are not at all good for your body or health. They do not only supply lots of fats to your body but also work as a source of free-radicals that can harm your body. So, whenever you are using artificial sweeteners in your dishes try to keep the amount to minimum. If you are preparing a desert try to use some fruits in it, like banana, instead of sugar to get that rich sweet taste.
Watch the sodium intake
Sodium is vital for the smooth functioning of our body, but high amount of sodium can be very detrimental for the cardiovascular health. Hence keep a check on the amount of salt you use in your daily diet. However, do not plan to go salt-less as it might have other side effects on the body.
Use herbs for seasoning and garnishing
Herbs are actually good for our body. By seasoning foods with different herbs you can add a fresh flavor to them, which can also be an effective way to use less oil, cheese and spices in your foods. Garnishing with lots of fresh herbs adds to the presentation of the dish and also benefits health.
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Originally posted in Beauty & Health Tips
