Easy Ways to Cook Mega Healthy

By: Gina Clark
Submitted: 2008-07-01 12:29:28
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Cooking healthy is essential for a diet rich in vitamins and nutrition.  What we eat improves or damages our health, so it is imperative to cook with health and wellness in mind.

To have a healthy diet, certain ingredients need to be limited when cooking.  A typical diet and recipe tend to be high in sodium.  Reduce the amount of salt called for in recipes by one-half to one-fourth.  You can also try using low-sodium ingredients, like soy sauce and tomato-based products, instead of salt.  To limit the amount of fat when preparing dishes, decrease the amount of margarine and butter called for in recipes by at least one-half.  Cooking spray is also a much lower fat alternative to oil.  (If you choose to cook with oil, use one of the healthy oils, like macadamia oil, peanut oil, canola oil, coconut oil and olive oil.  The bad oils that should be avoided are walnut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil and soybean oil.)

Adding flavor to food can also have healthy benefits, in addition to a better taste. Garlic has been shown to help heart and digestive problems.  It also assists in fighting infections, diabetes and parasites.  Lemon juice has been shown to cleanse the liver, fight infections, purify the blood and strengthen bones and teeth.  Controlling constipation, gas, bloating, diarrhea and heartburn are other healthy advantages of cooking with lemon juice. 

A healthy diet consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and nutrition.  To add more vegetables to dishes, replace some of the meat with vegetables, like broccoli.  (Limiting or decreasing the amount of processed meat in a diet also has healthy benefits, as it is said to reduce the risk for cancer.)  Choose the leafier, darker vegetables, like spinach, kale and carrots, over lighter ones, like celery and iceberg lettuce.  The darker vegetables are much higher in vitamins and provide more nutrition.  Also, increase the amount of fruit when you cook by adding chopped fruit to desserts and baked goods.  Or better yet, stop cooking desserts and instead serve fresh fruits. 

It is important to prepare meals with plenty of fiber for a healthy diet.  Fiber is found in the peels of fruits and vegetables, like apples and potatoes, so don’t peel fruits and vegetables.   Cook beans more often and serve them as a side dish.  One cup of kidney beans has 13.1 grams of fiber.  Another option to increase the amount of fiber to dishes is to add one tablespoon of flax meal or wheat germ to baked goods. 

Food is directly connected to one’s health, present and future, so make the most of the meals you prepare.  Stop cooking to eat, and begin to cook for better health and wellness.
 

Gina Clark writes on nutrition and fitness. Visit her blog for healthy tips to improve the quality of your life.

Article source: Expert Articles

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