5 Healthy Swaps You Can Make While Cooking
Imagine this…you’ve returned from a gruelling day of work, or finished your last (of many) Zoom work meeting at home. You sit on the couch and try to get a few minutes of peace and tranquility.
But this serenity is cut short by thoughts of the million things you need to do after this — cooking, cleaning, exercising (maybe), preparing for the next day, etc. For your dinner, you may just end up whipping the first thing that pops in your mind (which may not necessarily be the healthiest), or even just order in. Healthy eating is the furthest thing from your mind…
Well, 2021 is the year to change this! It’s now more important than ever to look after your overall well-being, and healthy eating plays a huge part in this. Good dietary habits are essential to boost your immunity and lower your risk of lifestyle diseases.
You don’t need to make dramatic changes to your diet right away, but a good starting point is the way you prepare your meals. Here are few simple tips you can follow:
1. When having carbs, go for complex
Ditch: White rice, white flour, pasta, noodles, white bread.
Go for: Brown rice, wholewheat flour, whole grains like quinoa, wholewheat pasta and noodles, brown bread, multigrain bread, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Why: Foods rich in complex carbohydrates are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Fibre keeps you fuller for longer and hence, helps fight those cravings for an unhealthy sugar- or carb-loaded snack. Read our previous blog to learn more about carbohydrates.
2. Embrace your spice rack for different flavour enhancers
Ditch: Excess salt while cooking.
Go for: Spices (like turmeric, chilli powder, cinnamon, cumin, etc.), herbs (like oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, etc.), ginger, garlic.
Why: Salt is the major culprit behind hypertension, one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. Moreover, these flavourful substitutes have various health benefits and anti-inflammatory properties. For example, small studies have shown that cinnamon can lower blood sugar levels.
3. Go for the right kinds of cooking oils
Ditch: Solid fats (butter, shortening, lard, margarine) and tropical oils (palm oil, coconut oil)
Go for: Extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, soybean oil.
Why: Solid fats and tropical oils are loaded with artery-clogging saturated fats. Vegetable-based oils contain unsaturated fats, which are healthier types of fats. The American Heart Association recommends going for oils with less than 4 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.
4. Lose the high-fat dairy products while making curries and sauces
Ditch: Full-fat milk, processed cheeses, sour cream, heavy cream
Go for: Skim milk, reduced-fat milk, greek yoghurt
Why: Full-fat dairy products are high in calories and promote weight gain. Yoghurt is a healthy, protein-rich alternative to these fattening dairy products. Processed cheeses can be high in salt, so it’s important to check the packaging labels to choose the right one.
5. Natural is the way to go to sweeten your food or beverages
Ditch: Refined white sugar, condensed milk
Go for: Honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, coconut sugar, palm sugar (or jaggery), dates or date syrup, fruit concentrates
Why: Foods high in refined sugar give you nothing but ‘empty’ calories. This means you get all the calories without any nutritious benefits. But even when you have these alternative sweeteners, moderation is key. They may still be high in carbs.
This is definitely not a comprehensive list of all the changes you can make while cooking, but it’s a good place to start! Most of these healthy swaps can be made with things already in your pantry. A good diet is a hallmark of a healthy lifestyle. So this year, start making small changes as they can go a long way. Remember, the only person who can keep YOU the healthiest is yourself YOU!
DISCLAIMER: Dr. YOU aims to bring you the latest evidence-based science, and our content is for informational purposes only. The content is not medical advice or guarantee of an outcome. You should always consult a doctor or qualified healthcare professional if you need further clarification and before making any changes to your treatment plans and lifestyle, or that of others.
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