Healthy Cooking Methods For Heart Health And Weight Management

BY Chef Murph January 27, 2019

By Chef K.T. Murphy

Healthy Cooking Methods For Heart Health And Weight Management:

In today’s era, people from all over the world are adopting a healthy lifestyle to combat the evils of stress, pressure, obesity and life-threatening diseases. Adopting a healthy lifestyle does not mean just changes in exercise and daily routine; healthy eating plays a major role.

Matelote-d_anguille-bordelaiseTo ensure that you have healthy eating habits, it is very important that you use proper cooking methods to make delicious and healthy food. It is very important to choose the right methods of cooking since not every method is healthy and will affect your health by increasing your cholesterol levels or lead to deposits of unnecessary fat in the body and to clogging of heart arteries.

Healthy Cooking Methods

Choosing the right cooking techniques is very important while preparing nutritious and healthy food as it has a tremendous impact on health. Heart health also means eating a low fat diet. According to the American Heart Association, no more than 7% of total daily calories should come from saturated fats.

Trans fats are the worst and should be avoided as much as possible, in fact, the American Heart Association recommends that no more than 1% of total daily calories should be from Trans fats. Have started using no oil in cooking using  non stick pans and vinegar’s or leftover wine with spices to draw flavors of  the dish

Unsaturated fats are known to reduce heart disease risk factors and come in two types: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Increasing the intake of these healthy fats improves overall health and plays a role in controlling blood sugar levels.

The right methods of cooking will help to control fat intake and also help retain the nutritional value of food because there are some cooking methods like deep frying or using excess oil or butter which may make food delicious, but, it will end up increasing cholesterol levels and leaving a bad impact on your heart and overall health.

Cooking Methods which can help you make your food healthier and tastier are:

1. Steaming: Steaming is one of the easiest and most nutritious cooking strategies to make your food healthy and tasty. Steaming helps you preserve the nutrients thereby making your cooked food healthier. Steaming also ensures that the natural pigments in certain foods are retained and this leads to glowing and healthy skin.

2. Baking: Baking is yet another healthy cooking technique which is used to make breads, desserts, biscuits and many other foods. To make it a healthier option, it is advisable not to include additional butter for greasing during baking; instead use parchment paper or no-stick cooking spray, which, has not fat or calories.

3. Poaching: Poaching is a wonderful culinary technique for eggs, chicken, fish and seafood as it does not include any unwanted fat content that might harm your body and helps make your food tastier. It is a very quick method of cooking lean meat.

4. Stir-Frying: In this technique, vegetables and/or lean meat is cooked at medium heat while continuously stirring and tossing them using as little oil as possible to avoid absorption of saturated fats. Use healthy oils such as olive oil which will not make your food nutritious but also delicious.

5. Grilling: Grilling is a wonderful way to cook vegetables, meat and poultry. It requires no added fat, and the fat drips off the grill and away from the food.

6. Stews and Soups: Making stews and soups, either in a stove top pot or in a slow cooker is a great method because the fat solidifies at the top of the pot once the food cools and can easily be removed.

All the above methods of cooking are great options for a dedicated and healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Heart Means A Healthy Body And A Long Life

Boosting your heart health is very essential which can be done by maintaining the normal blood pressure. To keep your heart happy and healthy, there are some things you should keep in mind.

1. Balanced diet is one of the most important steps to make your heart healthy. It can be done by making some changes in ingredients which include: addition of fresh herbs, less or no use of, using whole grains instead of their refined alternatives. Choosing lean meat like chicken and fish over red meat is a great way to a healthy heart.

2. Reduce the use of processed and canned food as they contain harmful chemicals in the form of preservatives, a lot of added sugars and are often high in sodium. They also often contain saturated fats, so, such foods must be avoided.

3. Adopting a form of physical exercise, be it walking, jogging, running or yoga can help you maintain your optimum body weight, control your fat content, induce proper sleep, reduce your mental stress and help keep your body and mind in good shape.

4. Keep a regular check on your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and blood sugar levels to maintain a healthy heart for a prolonged period of time.

All the best

Chef Murph

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