Tag Archives: healthy choices

Food For Comfort And Health

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Food For comfort

The typical American diet exceeds the recommended levels of added sugars, refined grains, sodium and saturated fat, according to data collated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Unfortunately, many of our favorite comfort foods – if we follow traditional recipes – can tip us over the edge in these categories. With some carefully chosen tweaks and substitutions, however, it is possible to enjoy our favorites without costing our health, helping to cultivate a healthy relationship with food as we journey towards a holistic lifestyle.

Perfect Pasta

Mac and cheese ranks highly as a popular comfort food. Traditional recipes, featuring refined pasta and high levels of fat and sodium, are a problem for those of us following a healthy eating plan, but luckily, there are ways around this. Whole wheat macaroni is the first substitution to make, ensuring you avoid the blood sugar spikes associated with white pastas. Cooked and pureed butternut squash combined with vegetable stock can be mixed into a roux, providing the base for a healthier cheese sauce. You can use less cheese by maximizing flavor in other ways: adding roasted garlic, for example, or paprika. Yogurt could be used in a more traditional cheese sauce, and vegetables can be added to increase the nutritional value of the meal. Any pasta dish can be given a healthy twist by using whole wheat noodles and increasing the vegetable content. Use herbs and spices for low-sodium flavor, and minimize your use of processed meat products.

Fried Favorites

Some of our most-loved comfort foods tend to be fried, but banishing the fryer doesn’t mean we have to lose out. The way in which we heat up our food is heavily linked to its nutrition, but it’s absolutely possible to put a healthy spin on fried chicken without losing flavor: combine breading ingredients with paprika, cayenne pepper and garlic powder and bake chicken pieces for a deliciously crispy – and healthy – meal. Fish can also be breaded and baked, which is much better for us (but no less tasty) than battering and frying it. Remember that many of the bases for unhealthy foods are actually natural whole foods: if we treat them correctly, they can be enjoyed as part of a healthy lifestyle. Potatoes themselves aren’t bad for us… but what we do to them can be. Fresh potatoes in place of frozen fries can be tossed in olive oil and a small amount of salt to produce a healthier french fry alternative.

Safer Sweets

If we want to stay on track, it’s important not to deny ourselves the occasional treat. However, there are things you can do to make those sweet treats healthier if you want to enjoy them more regularly. To cut down on refined sugars in cookies and cakes, consider substituting them with maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar. Replace half the white flour with wholemeal if you’re baking a fruit pie, and ask yourself if you really need to add sugar to the fruit. Again, desserts that are traditionally fried can be baked – a donut is still a donut when it’s hot from the oven. Even cheesecakes can be made healthier with some careful use of yogurt or coconut milk.

A whole health approach to eating isn’t simply about eating more vegetables. Food should bring us joy, and finding healthy takes on our favorite comfort foods is way to incorporate good nutrition into our diets without denying ourselves the pleasures of a treat.

For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.

Author Credit: Allie Oliver

Are You Consuming Too Much Sodium?

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Are You Consuming Too Much Sodium? Here's What The Experts Say.

Sodium is a naturally occurring, essential mineral that helps regulate body fluids and kidney function. Of concern to many is the fact that high doses can cause hypertension, kidney damage, and decrease of calcium absorption. It can cause bloating, fatigue and increase your risk for strokes and heart disease.

The Right Nutritional Value

The recommended daily intake of sodium is 2,300 mg per day. A low sodium diet is considered between 400 – 1000 mg a day. A normal sodium diet is considered between 1500 – 2,300 per day, and a high sodium diet between 2,500 and 4,000 mg per day. The average American diet contains over 3,500 mg per day, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Experts agree that damage of high sodium accumulates and can have a long term, life threatening effect.

Even those of us who think we are eating well and are careful about our food choices, may not realize how much sodium is lurking in our foods. Processed, canned, jarred and frozen foods have high levels of sodium, as do most restaurant prepared meals and certainly “fast foods” where sodium and flavor enhancers are added for taste and texture.

Few of us realize that foods we eat every day are loaded with sodium. In considering the examples below, it becomes clear that, once again, the best foods to eat are fresh and unprocessed, which not only contains more nutrients, but contains much less sodium.

High Sodium Foods To Avoid:

> One cup of cocoa has 950 mg of sodium.
> A chicken fillet sandwich has 940 mg of sodium.
> Tomato ketchup has 1042 mg.
> Parmesan cheese contains 1862 mg.
> Processed cheese has 1189 mg.

The list goes on. The more processed the food, the more likely it is to contain high sodium levels. On the other hand, Fresh fish, fruits, nuts, eggs, beans, meats and vegetables have low levels of sodium.

For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.