7 Tips for Cooking Lower Fat Recipes to Improve Your Heart Health

Let’s face it, most people love eating fatty foods. Our culture is fond of eating fried foods because they are easy to cook, and at the same time very delicious. However, these foods do not sit well with our heart and its blood vessels. Young people may think that older people are the only ones who become afflicted with cardiovascular diseases, but what they do not know is that the effect on fat in our body starts very early through the deposition of fat in the blood vessels. As time passes by, these fats and cholesterol blocks accumulate in the blood vessels, until such time that no blood can pass through the obstruction created by fats. This leads to heart attack and, in some cases, death.

Therefore, it is very important that you modify your cooking habits as early as now to avoid any hear diseases in the future. Here are seven tips on how to cook foods with low fat content to ensure a healthy heart:

1. Choose lean meat. These are the non-fatty parts of an animal. They are called lean because they contain little to no fats at all. If you are going to cook chicken breasts, it may be better if you remove the skin since the skin contains fats. If you are going to cook beef or pork, make sure that you trim all the fatty parts before cooking them.
2. Use liquid oils rather than solid fats. Solid fats, such as butter and cooking oil, contain saturated fats, which also increase the cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol buildup can lead to blockages in your arteries, subsequently leading to high blood pressure or even heart attacks. Instead of using the normal cooking oils, use vegetable or olive oil, which are low in saturated fat.
3. Choose a healthy cooking method. The way that you cook your food makes a big difference. Frying, though easy to do, is a very fatty way of cooking your food because you have to immerse your food in oil and let it absorb all the saturated fats contained in oil. Instead of frying, you should try other cooking methods like steaming, broiling, poaching, baking, and grilling. They are healthier alternatives to frying.
4. Include fish and vegetables in your meals. It can be a good idea also to replace meat with vegetables, such as the meat in your hamburger for instance. Try to allot a day for you to go meatless and just eat vegetables and fish all day.
5. Eat fat-free and low-fat foods. Make it a habit to check the nutritional label and look for the fat content of foods. Go for those that claim to be low-fat or fat-free. Cut down on foods that are high in sugar as well.
6. Use fruits, herbs, and spices for flavoring your foods. These flavorings are very nutritious since they are made up of fruits of vegetables. For example, instead of a high-fat salad dressing, you can just use dried herbs and lemon juice as a non-fat topping for your salad.
7. Cut your portion sizes. Even if a certain food is low in fat, you can still get high amounts of fat from it if you do not watch your serving sizes. Therefore, always eat foods in moderation, since anything that is eaten in excess can be bad for your health.

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