Tips For Changing Recipes for Health

Changing Recipes to be Healthier

Home-cooking can be good for you or it can be fattening and unhealthy. Quickly browse through your favorite recipe books and in some cases you’ll soon see how the calories and fat can mount up.

That is not to mention all the salt (sodium chloride) in some recipes, although it has a role to play, too much can be harmful.

But don’t despair, there are simple changes you can make to recipes that can help you reduce bad fats, calories and the salt. This will help you stay fit, trim and healthy. Here are a few ideas to start you off.

Apple sauce instead vegetable oil: If you are baking bread, cakes, muffins or quick bread, try swapping oil with applesauce, like for like on quantity. You can often do the same thing with butter. If you still like the taste and texture that the vegetable oil adds, you can substitute half of the applesauce for the oil. This simple change reduces bad fats and calories. Alternatively, try using olive oil instead of vegetable oil.

Egg substitutes: There are several brands of egg substitutes that you can use in place of eggs in many recipes. Some can even be scrambled – check the instructions. Egg substitute should be lower in fat and calories. If you are intolerant of eggs, check the label carefully for “allergy information”. However, do remember that eggs in moderation are good for you, being a complete protein.

Broth for flavor and moisture: Instead of adding oil to your vegetables or rice, use broth. Chicken, beef and vegetable broth will all add a great flavor to your dishes without adding calories. If you are using bouillon cubes, try adding two to the cooking water. If you are worried about your sodium intake, be sure to buy low-sodium broth and bouillon cubes instead.

Reduce the amount of salt you add to food, or “low-sodium” salt which is based on potassium instead of sodium. While many people enjoy the extra taste from added salt (sodium chloride), in excess it can raise your blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease. The Blood Pressure Association, a UK based blood pressure charity, believes that reducing salt intake to 3g a day could prevent around 20,000 stroke and heart attack deaths in the UK each year. Low sodium salts can reduce sodium intake by about 60% yet maintain all the flavour. Potassium is also essential for good fluid balance and muscle function.

Use lean ground turkey instead of ground beef: Lean minced turkey is tasty and cooks just like minced beef. Depending on the quality (some are better, and some are really bad) minced beef has a lot of fat. Although you can drain off the fat, it’s never completely removed. Minced turkey instead is leaner and has few calories and fat grams than minced or ground  beef.

Low fat cheese and dairy: A very easy switch you can make is to use low fat cheese and dairy products in your cooking such as low or no fat sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt and ricotta cheese. In recipes, you will hardly notice the different. Remember that some low fat or fat free cheese does not melt in the same way as ordinary cheese, but you can use it if you are just using a little in tacos or other recipes.

Use natural yoghurt instead of cream – reduces calories and is better for you because it helps provide healthy gut bacteria. Natural yogurt is something of an acquired taste, but if you do it gradually you’ll soon get to the stage where you don’t notice it. Honestly!

Making the switch to low fat, low calories and low sodium does not have to be hard. You can use these tips to make your recipes better for you.

Please add a comment to share your own favorite tip for changing recipes to be more healthy.