If you say that you are on a healthy diet, then it obviously suggests that you are eating low fat foods because there is a general notion that fatty foods are not healthy to eat. Although low fat cooking always leads to weight loss but contrary to the popular belief, low fat cooking is not always about cutting out all fats from the food. Low fat cooking is all about avoiding harmful fats and keeping the beneficial fats and lack of such information leads to a number of mistakes in a low fat cooking. So, read through for nine common flaws of low fat cooking:
Adding oil to pasta water
While reading or discussing the method of cooking low fat pasta, you might have often come across the idea of adding oil to the pasta water in order to prevent it from sticking together and also to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the cooking pot. But, in reality when you add oil to the pasta water, it helps in preventing the sauce from sticking to the pasta. Moreover, putting oil also removes certain nutrients from the pasta and ends up adding unnecessary calories to the food. So, instead of adding oil, allow the pasta water to boil consistently and keep stirring frequently in order to prevent it from sticking together.
Boiling the veggies
If you are on a low fat diet, then you are supposed to increase the intake of vegetables to a great extent as vegetables contain all kinds of natural vitamins and nutrients which help your body to function properly and also prevent you from gaining weight. However, many of us are not aware that boiling the vegetables may seem a simple and quick way to cook them but it strips them of a great deal of natural nutrients like proteins and vitamins. So, to prevent the elimination of the necessary nutrients from your veggies, start cooking your vegetables in a vegetable steamer.
Stop peeling all the veggies and fruits
It is our natural urge to peel off fruits and vegetables before having them and although in some cases it is necessary, but we often peel off certain fruits or vegetables which can be consumed without peeling. Many fruits as well as vegetables contain a major portion of the natural nutrients like vitamin A and vitamin C in their skin or right beneath the skin. So, peeling off the skin of such fruits or vegetables only ends up removing a good deal of natural nutrients from the food. So, next time you take up the knife to peel off any such foods, just think twice before you peel.
Skimping on flavor
Most of the people believe that nutritious meal or low fat meals must be tasteless and bland as adding any kind of flavor would only result in increasing the amount of fat or calorie. However, this idea is an illogical one and in most cases, having foods very low on flavor always ends up in more craving for unhealthy or flavored foods. Moreover, flavoring your food with spices like basil or cayenne pepper will not only make your food tasty and spicy, but will also help in speeding up your metabolism process and end up burning a few calories in your body.
Overcooking the food
Most of the people tend to overcook their low fat foods especially vegetables, as there prevails a common idea that if you overcook your food, it will result in adding up more taste to your food. But many people are not aware that instead of adding taste, overcooking your vegetables will only make it more unappetizing and remove a good deal of its nutritional value. So, overcooking your vegetables will not only make an unattractive meal but will also fail to provide you with all the necessary nutrients. Therefore, next time you cook your veggies, make sure that you do not cook them until they lose their original color.
Repeating the same food everyday
If you are served with the same food everyday, then it is obvious for you to get sick of it within a few days and this exactly happens with the people who are on low fat diet. We have often heard of many cases where people lose their motivation of having low fat foods within a few weeks and having the same meal everyday is the main reason behind majority of such cases. So, keep changing up your low fat recipes constantly and avoid having the same food in a row for more than three days. Try using different cooking ingredients and also try various cooking methods every night to make your food delicious and attractive every day.
Cooking vegetables immediately after chopping them
Avoid cooking your vegetables immediately after chopping them as this process prevents adding up more nutritional values to the foods. The act of chopping the vegetables also ends up breaking the cell walls present within them which help in activating certain enzymes. Most of these newly activated enzymes convert certain substances into healthier substances and if you cook them immediately, the heat stops the conversion process and also ends up destroying the newly formed compounds. So, for maximizing the healthful properties of the vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, garlic, onions and collard greens, allow them to rest for a minimum of 10 minutes right after cutting them.
Charring meats and vegetables
Grilling is often favored as a healthy method of cooking as it reduces the requirement of oil. Although grilling reduces the amount of oil in the food but due to the high temperature, it also results in charred meats or vegetables. Besides the grill, charring can also occur in a pan or in the oven and charring is not at all a healthy sign for the foods. It not only destroys all the nutritional values of the foods, but also creates harmful carcinogens and free radicals in the process. So, instead of using the grill every time, you can try cooking your food in flavorful broth, steaming or you can even try baking a low temperature.
Using olive oil for cooking
Olive oil is considered as healthy oil in comparison to other oils, but majority of us are not aware that olive oil is not good for cooking purposes. Olive oil is not a favorable replacement for butter or other oils as the main phytonutrients present in olive oil get completely destroyed after a few minutes in high temperature. Moreover, during cooking the healthy fats of the olive oil get oxidized due to the high temperature and ends up creating free radicals which are very harmful for your body. So, avoid using olive oil for frying but it is an excellent choice for salads and also good for cooking soup.