There are so many benefts to eating a home meal. Learn five ways to cook healthy in your kitchen and enjoy the rewards.
In a world where you can eat your heart out and still maintain your cholesterol and weight would be very close to utopia. However, the grim reality of earth is that for every bite of your favorite bagel you take, you must climb an extra flight of stairs to work every day! All the foodies out there, how many times have you given up your favorite snack because you were already behind your gym schedule?
Contrary to the popular perception, cooking healthy is not about giving up on your flavor palette or sacrificing the spices in your kitchen cabinet. If donning a chef hat and whipping up delicacies to binge on is what you love to do in your free time, then the way to a healthy body is through your kitchen! Simply tweak your daily recipes with healthy ingredients and cooking techniques, and you will see how guiltlessly you can scoop out an extra helping of your favorite food, says Aetna.
1. Don’t fear the fats
Fats are harshly dubbed as bad for health. However cliché it may sound, but not all fats are bad for health. Apart from tasting good, fats also absorb nutrients in the body. While picking out fats, make sure to pick unsaturated fats like avocados, nuts, and olive oil over saturated ones, including butter. Switching your morning breakfast from toast to avocado toast can be a starter. You may also try the power xl vortex air fryer, which reduces the calorie intake by 70-80%, reviews Tiny Kitchen Divas.
2. Enough of sugar-coating!
Who does not love sweet talk! But there is a thin line between sweet-talking and sugar-coating, which passes right through your kitchen. Added sugars to your diet, which is more than a prescribed amount, can put you at risk of blood pressure and diabetes. Even if you abandon sugar altogether, you still consume some amount of it. How, if you ask. Well, check the grocery items’ ingredient list before buying and discover how even the most staple ingredients have hidden sugar. So, while cooking a dessert, remember that you are already consuming sugar from other sources. Try to include natural sweeteners like honey, which controls the calorie intake and keeps your weight under check. You can also include fruits to add sweetness to the dish. Fruits serve as an appetizing garnish too.
3. Not worth your salt
Sodium should also be restricted to 2300 mg in the everyday diet to avoid the risk of high blood pressure. Like sugar, salt is also found in small quantities in various raw foods. In fact, if a member in your family is above 50 years of age, the sodium intake must be reduced to 1500 mg. To maintain a healthy diet, make sure to find alternatives to salt in your food. For this, you can start by buying fresh vegetables and fruits daily, which are low in sodium naturally. While cooking, lemon, wine, and other citrus fruits are some kitchen cabinet ingredients that can serve as healthy alternatives to the high sodium diet. Besides, you can also include pepper in your diet, which makes up for salt.
4. Meat and poultry
Most of us are in the habit of washing raw meat or beef in running water to remove bacteria or pathogens. Agreeing with the fact that our elders have taught us always to wash a food product before cooking, it may not be for the best when it comes to meat, fish, or steaks. The reason is that rinsing the meat does not really help in removing the bacteria or harmful pathogens. The proper way to do it is to cook the meat slowly and thoroughly and check for the right temperature.
5. Increase your frequency of potions
An important thing to remember while cooking healthy at home is to increase your frequency of potions rather than changing your portion size. Irrespective of the fact if you are trying to gain or lose weight, you must always take small meals at least 5-6 times a day. This can include fruits, salads, energy bars, sprouts, and other healthy options.
Avoid microwaving the food more often, and you can have a healthy body without compromising your food habits. All it takes is a few steps to stay fit, not huge sacrifices.