Generally speaking, the leanest cuts of beef, port, lamb and veal are the
leg, loin, and round portions. Meats graded "select" has less fat than
"Choice" or "Prime" grades.
The best beef buys for lower fat are: eye of the round, top round, round tip,
top sirloin, or tenderloin.
Pork tenderloin of loin chops are best for pork
The leg or loin cuts for lamb or veal are lowest in fat.
Breast meat has lower fat in chicken or turkey. If you purchase ground
turkey, make sure you buy "ground turkey meat" and not just "ground turkey"
which has the fat included. Ground turkey has about 13 grams of fat; ground
turkey meat has about 5 grams.
To make meat as lean as can be:
Trim all visible fat before cooking
Remove skin from poultry (you need not do this before cooking as the fat in
the skin does not enter the meat. The skin can help keep the meat moist.
Broil, grill or roast meats rather than frying in fat. Thin-sliced chicken
or turkey cutlets can be sautéed in a Teflon pan with one tablespoon olive
oil.
Limit portion sizes to about 3 ounces cooked which means you should cook
about 25% more for the shrinkage.
Seafood
Seafood, for the most part, is low in calories, fat, and saturated fat. Even
the higher content fish are lower than most meats. Whiter fish usually has
less fat than darker fish.
Very low-fat (2.5 per gram) content fish include:
clams
cod
crab
flounder
haddock
sole
tuna
Low-fat (2.5 to 5 grams of fat) include:
Bass
catfish
mussells
swordfish
trout
oysters
Moderate-fat (5- 10 grams of fat) include:
herring
whitefish
salmon
Coho
blue fin tuna
Higher-fat (more than 10 grams of fat) include:
Atlantic mackerel
king salmon
Legumes
There are thousands of kinds of legumes (beans) including black beans,
kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans, etc. Beans are nutritional
treasures as they are high in fiber and protein, rich in complex
carbohydrates, B-vitamins, iron, and zinc, and are low in fat and
cholesterol. They are usually cheap to buy and can become part of many
recipes very easily.
Processed Meats
If you have to consume luncheon meats, choose ones that have 3 grams of fat
or less per ounce or are at least 95% fat-free. More hotdogs and luncheon
meats are available at the market that meet these qualifications.
Frozen Entrees
If you cook with a freezer and microwave, use these guidelines to choose
frozen entrees:
300-400 calories
30% or less calories from fat
Less than 800 Milligrams of sodium
The weight of the entree should be at least 9 ounces
Grains, Bread, Cereals, and pastas
Grains
Choosing whole grain breads and cereals is a great way to increase your
fiber intake. The benefits of a high fiber diet include prevention and
treatment of certain chronic diseases like colon cancer, coronary heart
disease, diabetes and biventricular disease. Nutritional experts recommend that
you should eat 20 - 35 grams of fiber everyday. Foods that are a good source
of fiber have at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving. Whole grains include
whole wheat, brown rice, whole oats and other grains that have their hulls
or outer layers still intact. When grains are processed to make products
like flour and cereal, the outer layers are removed and with them go the
vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Bread
For the best of whole grain goodness, choose breads that list one of the
following ingredients at the beginning of the list:
Whole-wheat flour
100% whole-wheat flour
Stone-ground whole wheat flour
Cracked wheat
Oatmeal
White flour is very low in fiber. Don't be fooled by the any of the terms
manufacturers use to confuse you such as:
Wheat flour
Enriched flour
Enriched wheat flour
Unbleached flour
Unbleached Wheat flour
Cereal
There's a quick way to determine if your chosen cereal is healthy. Your
choice should have at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving and not more than
3 grams of fat per serving.
Pasta
Pasta is a good source of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber and other
protein. Always cook pasta uncovered at a rapid boil. Pasta should be cooked
"al dente" which means chewy, not soft. It should be firm, especially if you
plan to use the pasta in other dishes where further cooking is planned.
Choose different types of pastas to avoid boredom. Pasta comes in every
conceivable shape and size.
Pasta is great cold mixed with raw vegetables such as carrot, onion, celery,
green pepper, black olives or any of your favorite vegetables. Use a light
or no fat dressing and keep covered in refrigerator for snacking or
lunchtime.
Fruit
Most experts agree that you should eat at least three fruit servings a day.
The servings can be in the form of whole, fresh fruit, canned, frozen, or
juiced. Try to use only whole fruit choices, especially when buying juice,
which may have lots of added sugars.
One of your fruit servings should be a citrus fruit such as oranges to
ensure an adequate supply of vitamin C. Fruits are also a great source of
beta carotene, Vitamin A, and fiber. Kiwi fruit, and strawberries are great
sources also. Experiment with different fruits that are in season. Remember,
the US imports fruits from countries whose seasons are opposite ours so you
can get fruits and berries from Australia and other places in our winter.
Try papayas, mangos, and other fleshy fruit. Experiment with berries for
cereal or snacking.
Vegetables
You should consumer between 3 and 5 servings of vegetables daily. Vegetables
come in two forms: Starchy ones such as carrots, peas, beets, and corn and
fibrous ones such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, celery, and
greens. You should try to eat the starchy ones early in the day - for lunch,
for example, and then switch to fibrous ones later in the day. Eating
fibrous vegetables late in the day or evening, acts like a "rotor rooter" to
help you digest and pass your food consumption through your intestines and
colon during the night.
Vegetables such as broccoli and other green vegetables. peppers, and turnip
are great sources of Vitamin C while broccoli, carrots, kale, spinach,
sweet potatoes, and winter squash are great
Dairy
The Dairy food group consists of milk products, eggs, yogurts, and cheeses
Milk
Many people what the difference is between whole milk and skim milk. Well,
it's about two pats of butter. Whole milk has 2 teaspoons of fat (8 grams),
2% milk has 1 teaspoon (4 grams), and 1/2% milk and skilm milk have less
than a gram of fat.
Low-fat (less than 30% calories from fat) included:
Skim, 1/2% and 1% milk
Non-fat dry milk
Evaporated Skim milk
Low-fat buttermilk
Nonfat yogurt
Skim-milk yogurt
Lowfat yogurt
Medium fat (25-40% calories from fat) include:
2% Milk
High-fat (more than 40% calories from fat) include:
Whole Milk
Evaporated whole milk
Whole milk yogurt
Light cream
Half-and-half
Heavy cream
Sour cream
Yogurt
Yogurt is pasteurized milk cultured by special bacteria (yogurt cultures).
This is what gives yogurt it's creamy texture. Make sure you buy yogurt that
has "active" cultures. If it does, there is a symbol on the carton that says
so. If you ever opened a carton of yogurt and found a watery layer on top,
that's whey - a protein found in milk. It contains B vitamins and minerals,
so stir it back into the yogurt.
Cheese
There's no easy way to distinguish low-fat cheese from high-fat cheese
without reading the nutrition label. Lower fat cheeses can be soft or hard,
white or yellow. Follow these guidelines:
Low-Fat Cheese: less than 5 grams of fat per ounce
Medium-Fat Cheese: 6 to 7 grams of fat per ounce
High-Fat Cheese: 8 or more grams of fat per ounce
Fats & Oils
Fats come in three types: saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated.
Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol, while poly- and mono-may actually
help lower blood cholesterol. Remember fat is fat, so even the healthy ones
contain the same amount of calories as the bad kind, so be careful using any
oils.
Sources of saturated fat include:
full fat dairy products like whole milk
cheese
ice cream
fatty or marbled meats
butter
palm oil
coconut oil
Sources of polyunsaturated fats include:
vegetable oils(corn, safflower, soybean)
soft margarines
most salad dressings
fish
Sources of monounsaturated fats include:
olive oil
canola oil
peanut oil
avacados
olives
most nuts
So...how much fat do we need in a day?
Most experts suggest limiting fat intake to no more than 30% of your daily
calories. What does this mean in grams? You can calculate our daily fat gram
limit if you know your calorie intake:
1 total calories.day: 1,800 2. Drop the last zero 180 3. Divide # by 3 = 60
grams
This table might help:
|
Daily Calories
|
Daily Fat Intake
|
|
1,200
|
less than 40 grams
|
|
1,500
|
less than 50 grams
|
|
1,800
|
less than 60 grams
|
|
2,200
|
less than 73 grams
|
Snacks & Sweets
There are lots of low-fat snacks available such as:
light microwave popcorn
baked tortilla chips
pretzels
cereal with milk
flavored rice cakes
raw vegetables
bagels
If you really need to satisfy a sweet tooth, try:
graham crackers
gingersnaps
fig bars
frozen fruit bars
angel food cake
fresh or dried fruit
animal crackers
|
