Cooking A Cholesterol Free Feast

 

    When it comes to lowering one’s cholesterol levels, it is a must that one changes his or her eating lifestyle. Cholesterol buildup in the body is actually caused by eating way too much of the sinful types of food like processed meat, fried food, sugar rich foods and beverages like chocolates (although dark chocolate, the bitter kind is actually proven to help lower one’s cholesterol levels) and soft drinks.

1. Eliminate Catalyst Factors

It is also important to note that people who have bad lifestyle habits are the usual targets of having incredibly high cholesterol levels. Smoking and drinking are the common vices that people, not only those who are suffering from high cholesterol levels, should eliminate once and for all from their systems.

2. Cooking With No Cholesterol In Mind

– When buying cereals or microwavable pre-packed foods like t.v. dinners look at the labels on the side of the box to ensure that you are not going to take in excess calories and fat

– Being aware of what you take in is the first step in lowering high cholesterol

– Avoid restauraunts and fast food places that offer all you can eat meals or incredibly enormous meals

– The serving size listed on the packaging is sometimes misleading – a serving size is not always the total size of the package, it is often one-half or even less

3. Know How To Read Food Labels

Food labels are divided into two parts – the top half deals with aspects of food you should limit, such as total fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein. The bottom is a summary of those you need, such as vitamins, iron, etc.

It is actually quite hard to understand what most food labels mean, in a way they are quite deceiving. You may think that you are eating healthy when in reality you are unknowingly taking in cholesterol, fat and calories in reduced levels. Here are a list of some of the claims that we can often find on our food’s packaging according to the Food and Drugs Authority –

– Calorie-free –

This product has fewer calories per serving (around 5 calories less) than the leading brand. It does not mean the product contains no calories.

– Low-sodium –

This product contains less than 140mg of salt per food serving.

– Low-calorie –

The food is actually less than 40 calories per serving.

– Low-cholesterol –

Less than 20mg of cholesterol as well as only 2 grams of fat per food serving



25 percent less of what health professionals specify for the nutrients as well as the calories of a usual food product of the same type

Cooking Healthy For Radiant Health

 

     Who can resist the mouth-watering pictures in a cookbook? Who doesn’t have childhood memories of the fragrances that wafted from the kitchen on holidays, and even on regular, ordinary days? Spices, bread baking, cookies fresh out of the oven – all these trigger a deep longing in most of us. As eating holds a guaranteed spot in everybody’s daily schedule, so do those who prepare it. They have beome the uncrowned gods and goddesses of our lives.

Real cooking consists of more than opening a can with a dull picture of green beans on the front, or popping a TV dinner from a wax-covered box into the oven or microwave. The true goal of cooking is to nourish these marvelous bodies that we live in, to allow them to grow and express vitality and strength, to keep them healthy and able to overcome environmental germs and bacteria. Summarized in one word, the main purpose of cooking is heath!

When does a fruit or vegetable (or any baked item) furnish us with the most nutrition? The experts feel that food grown in one’s own environment will usually contain the most nutrition. Freshly harvested food provides the maximum nutritional value. After a fruit or vegetable has been sitting for several days, or transported around the world, the value of the vitamins and minerals diminishes.

The best means of ‘cooking’ fruits and vegetables for their health value is to eat them raw in salads or as snacks. As soon as heat is applied, a good quantity of the nutrition is destroyed. A good cook can prepare a beautiful plate with the natural colors of freshly picked fruits and vegetables.

Genetically engineered food has infiltrated the growing of almost all crops. This procedure didn’t exist until the last decade, and it remains highly controversial as the long range effect on humans has never been tested.

Briefly described, this procedure consists of infecting a healthy seed or grain with various bacteria or insects to lengthen its shelf life, to make it look ‘pretty’ for the consumer long after the nutritional value has dissolved. This not only has a negative effect on one’s health, but leaves the cook with a less than delicious product to serve.

Cooking with natural foods that are organically grown (that means with no harmful pesticides or chemical fertilizers) gives today’s health conscious cooks the best chance to delight in the time spent shopping and in the kitchen. Whipping up a carrot cake that will enchant both family and friends (best make two cakes while you’re at it), or preparing a quick but nutritious breakfast so the body will gleefully handle the challenges of the day without needing to be drugged by coffee or caffeine, make heading for the kitchen the favorite part of the day! Truly the cook is the god of the household!