20 Ways to Lower the Fat in Your Cooking
Easy Ways to Cut Fat in Cooking
Use nonstick cooking spray instead of butter or oil; or at least
choose liquid oils over solid fats (preferably canola oil or olive oil)
Choose extra-lean meat and skinless chicken breasts
Trim all visible fat from meat
Grill, broil, bake, braise, steam, poach, and microwave foods instead
of frying them. Sautéing is ok with minimal amounts of oil, or use
nonstick spray or broth instead
Drain fat from cooked meats and blot them with kitchen paper if necessary
Use vegetables, beans or whole grains to replace some of the meat
content of burgers or meatloaf
Coat chicken and fish in breadcrumbs rather than batter, and bake them
instead of frying them
Choose chicken or turkey sausages instead of pork or beef sausages
Choose Canadian bacon or turkey bacon instead of regular bacon
Use one egg and two egg whites per person in your favorite egg dishes
or cakes; or cut fat and cholesterol completely by using egg substitute
Substitute two meat dishes each week for fish or vegetarian meals
Use fat-free chicken broth or fat-free milk in mashed potatoes, soups,
gravies and stews
Try fat-free evaporated milk in creamy soups and casseroles instead of
heavy cream
Top your pies or line your tarts with phyllo dough instead of regular
pastry
Oven-fry potatoes instead of making or buying French fries
Use herbs, spices, fruits and salsas to flavor your food
Substitute reduced fat cheeses for full-fat ones, and cut the amount
you use
Choose reduced fat sour cream or yogurt instead of full-fat versions
for stews, dips and spreads
Use reduced fat or fat-free cream cheese instead of the regular
version for cheesecakes
Replace some of the fat in baked goods with applesauce, plain nonfat
yogurt or low fat buttermilk
Good Fats, Bad Fats, Worst Fats Figuring out the Fats Conventional
wisdom on dietary fats has changed. Once, all fats were deemed
unhealthy, and responsible for all manner of diseases, from
cardiovascular disease to diabetes. But years of research have changed
our thinking. We now start with the premise that all fats are not
created equal-that there are good fats, bad fats, possibly-not-so-bad
fats, and very bad fats.
Let's take a closer look:
The Good: Unsaturated Fats As oxymoronic as it sounds, there are
actually good fats-the unsaturated kind that help fight the very
diseases that consuming excess fat was said to cause. These
unsaturated fats are divided into monounsaturated fats and
polyunsaturated fats, and both types are thought to have beneficial
effects on cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated fats help lower LDL
(bad) cholesterol while also boosting HDL (good) cholesterol.
Polyunsaturated fats are also thought to help lower total and bad
cholesterol. But monounsaturated fats tend to be favored over
polyunsaturated fats because some research suggests that
polyunsaturated fats are less stable and can reduce levels of good
cholesterol as well as bad.
But let's not ignore polyunsaturated fats. These are often a good
source of essential omega-3 fatty acids, found mostly in cold-water
fish, nuts, oils and seeds, and also in dark leafy greens, flaxseed
oils and some vegetable oils. Essential fatty acids cannot be
manufactured by our bodies, so eating these foods is the only way to
get them. Essential fatty acids are thought to lower blood pressure,
combat LDL (bad) cholesterol, fight inflammation and protect the brain
and nervous system.
Most cooking oils are made up primarily of unsaturated fats. When it
comes to choosing cooking oils, each type of cooking oil varies in its
ratio of monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fats. Two oils stand out
for their high levels of monounsaturated fats: canola oil and olive
oil. Other than nonstick cooking spray, these two oils should be in
your pantry.
At the end of the day, a good fat is still a fat in terms of calories.
Any labels on cooking oil that describe the oil as "light," are
referring to the taste or color, not the fat or calorie content. All
oils are 100 percent fat and are worth around 120 calories per
tablespoon.
The Bad: Saturated Fats Then there are the bad fats-those
artery-clogging saturated fats from meat and dairy products. These
fats are solid at room temperature. Saturated fats not only clog our
arteries, they also directly raise total and LDL (bad) cholesterol
levels. Avoid them as much as possible
But, we are told, some saturated fats may not bad at all: some argue
that coconut oil and palm oil may actually be beneficial because their
particular fatty-acid make-up means the they are metabolized
differently in the body. So it could be that plant-based saturated
fats may be more beneficial, or at least more neutral, than we think,
but there is no broad consensus on this yet. And while coconut oil and
palm fruit oil have been rehabilitated in the eyes of some, there are
fewer proponents of palm kernel oil.
Terrible Trans Fats The Worst: Trans Fats Finally, there are what are
now described as the really bad fats: trans fats, also known as
hydrogenated fats. Trans fats are created during a hydrogenation
process, where liquid vegetable oils are converted into solid fats.
Trans fats are thought to be worse for us than saturated fats because
they not only raise total and LDL (bad) cholesterol, but they also
lower HDL (good) cholesterol.
Trans fats lurk in all kinds of processed foods, from French fries to
Girl Scout Cookies. Thanks to new food-label laws, which came into
effect in January 2006, trans fats-once described as hidden fats-are
now listed on all packaged foods. And in the year or two before these
label laws came into effect, there was a lot of media attention
focused on trans fats, and what food manufacturers were doing to
reduce trans fats in their products. But has this increased our
awareness of these bad fats and made an impact on our eating habits?
In a recent survey by the NPD Group, a market research firm, 94
percent of us are aware of trans fats, and 73 percent of us are
concerned about them. But although most consumers were aware that
french fries and other fried foods contained trans fats, they were
less aware of the trans-fat content in other processed goods such as
cakes, doughnuts, and snack foods. Indeed, 65 percent of consumers
believed restaurant food was more likely to contain trans fats than
food eaten at home. And despite consumers expressing a desire to avoid
trans fats while eating out, sales of foods containing trans fats,
such as fried chicken, are still increasing.
What to Eat Either we're as confused as ever, or we choose to
disregard what we know. It's hard to pass up those McDonald's fries or
refuse to buy cookies from Girl Scouts.
The bottom line is that the body needs dietary fat. Fat is a source of
energy, it allows the proper function of cells and the nervous system,
and fat is required for the proper absorption of certain vitamins. Fat
also helps us maintain healthy hair and skin, and insulates us from
the cold. Nonetheless, we should limit our fat intake to no more than
30 percent of daily calories. Anything lower than 20 percent, however,
is unhealthy. Most of that fat should be unsaturated. Use liquid oils
over solid fats in cooking. Choose low-fat dairy products, and the
leanest cuts of meat and poultry. We should eat fish at least twice a
week, and keep processed food and fast foods to an absolute minimum.
Finally, back to trans fats: even if a food label proudly touts 0g
trans fats, it doesn't transform that food into a health food. It
means that the hydrogenated fat has been replaced by another kind of
fat, often a saturated tropical fat, which may or may not be more
beneficial.
Merry Christmas from LR
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