How to reduce fats?
Swap half your butter
Instead of cooking with butter, choose oils that are low in saturated fat like sunflower and olive oils, which will help keep your cholesterol levels down at healthy levels and are lower in calories, too. If you want the taste of butter, try swapping half and see if you notice the difference.
It’ll be all white
White fish is an excellent healthy food and although it isn’t high in omega-3 oils, it is still a fantastic way to fill up on protein and essential minerals and amino acids without adding fat. Try halibut, skate, sea bass and plaice as well as the usual cod and haddock.
Bet on the butter
Don’t automatically choose margarine instead of butter if you want to reduce calories – margarine doesn’t actually have fewer calories than butter, unless it is specifically labeled as such. It simply has less saturated fat.
Replace with rice
Reduce fat, increase fiber and save money by replacing half of the meat or poultry in a casserole recipe with brown rice, bulgur or cooked and pureed dried beans or lentils.
Don’t be lily liveried
Check the source of your omega-3 oils carefully. If possible, try to avoid those made from fish livers in favour of those extracted from the flesh of deep water fish. Pharmaceutical grade is the purest of deep water fish. Pharmaceutical grade is the purest as it undergoes a variety of purification processes, so choose that for children or if you’re pregnant.
Half your fat intake
All the different fats in foods can be confusing, but make your diet is simple and give yourself a head start in the health stakes by aiming to make half of your fat intake polyunsaturated, and at least half of this oil containing omega-3s.
Limit the cheeseboard
High meat and dairy product diets generate excess methionine in the body, which is converted into the blood factor homocysteine that has been shown to damage arteries and cause heart disease. Reduce your intake of these foods or increase your intake of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid, which help restore the balance.
Oil your vegetables
Instead of adding cholesterol-building butter to your steamed vegetables, make them even healthier by using a low-fat dressing or a dash of olive or flax-seed oil.
Avoid hydrogenates
Most UK supermarkets are starting to remove hydrogenated oils from some own-label ranges, but there’s still a long way to go. These killer oils are even more harmful to health than saturated fats. Avoid them whenever you can.
Cream off the cream
Instead of using full (heavy) cream, which is high on calories and saturated fat, use evaporated skimmed milk instead, or low-fat yogurt. Or try mixing the two together for a slightly creamier texture.
Get your eggs white
It is the yellow yolk of the egg which contains the most calories, which explains the Hollywood trend for egg-white omelettes. In recipes containing lots of egg, try substituting two egg whites for one whole egg, or three whites for two whole eggs to cut calories.
Choose oils carefully
While most vegetable oils contain unsaturated fats and are therefore healthy, some – such as the coconut, palm and palm kernel oils found in many processed foods – contain high levels of saturated fats. Limit them in your diet, again, by avoiding processed foods.
Trans-form your eating
Saturated fats are bad in excess but our bodies do need some for optimal health. Trans fatty acids (commonly called trans fats), however, are the real villains of the food world. Formed when vegetable oils harden and seen on labels as hydrogenated oils, they raise cholesterol and have been linked to heart disease.
Add an apple
Reduce the fat content of recipes by substituting half of the vegetable oil with apple sauce. You’re unlikely to taste the difference and you’ll not only be cutting the fat by half, but adding a dose of vitamins and antioxidants as well.
Swap meat for fish
If you pop to the sandwich bar a lunch-time, choose something healthy like smoked salmon instead of more fattening sausage, salami, ham or beef and you’ll get a helping of omega-3 oils into the bargain.
