150. Don’t overlook canned vegetables and fruits, which retain most vitamins and minerals. The heating process of commercial canning partially destroys certain vitamins, but some nutrient
loss is inevitable whenever a food is prepared. “Fresh” produce is not necessarily more
nutritious, since much of it is harvested before it is ripe, trucked thousands of miles, and stored
for long periods—in which case nutrient losses can be great. Canned beans, pumpkin, corn, pineapple, spinach, and beets, to name a few, are actually quite nutritious. But watch out for
added sodium.
151. Most frozen fruitjuice pops, sorbets, and ices are only very distantly related to fresh fruits
or their juices. They’re more like frozen sweetened water. They contain little of the fruit’s
vitamins (unless they are vitaminfortified), but also little or no fat. For a more nutritious
fruity dessert, freeze your own juice in an icepop mold or icecube tray. Or freeze canned fruit
and then purée it.
152. Drain the sauce from stirfried takeout Chinese food, since that’s where a lot of the fat
lurks. Or simply leave behind the last halfinch of saucedrenched food in the container. Better
yet, order steamed dishes and ask for other lowfat preparations. And share your dishes, or take
most home leftovers. Entrees are usually huge—often a pound and a half each or more, enough
for four “sensible” portions.
153. Forget the old rule about eating raw shellfish only during “R” months (September to
April). That rule may reduce the risk of food poisoning, but certainly doesn’t eliminate it. About
5 to 10% of all raw shellfish are contaminated by vibrio bacteria. People with chronic diseases or
impaired immunity face a high risk of potentially fatal vibriorelated illness. Even shellfish “certified clean” is risky, since there’s no way to detect many viruses and bacteria in fishing
waters. To be safe, eat only thoroughly cooked shellfish (140°).
154. Always cut a hardshell winter squash in half before microwaving. A whole squash
cooked in the microwave can explode and cause serious burns. Piercing the shell with a fork
before cooking may not be adequate to vent the confined steam pressure.
155. If you’re grilling chicken, marinate it first—and not just for good taste. One study
showed that a chicken breast marinated in olive oil, cider vinegar, brown sugar, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, and salt produced fewer heterocyclic amines than unmarinated chicken when
grilled on a propane grill for 30 minutes. These substances, produced when meats are cooked at
high temperatures, promote cancer. Marinating reduced some of them by 99%. If you want to
consume the remaining marinade, be sure to boil it before serving.
156. Use a blender. Food processors have overshadowed blenders in recent years, but there are
some things blenders do better. They purée and liquefy foods to a smoothness few processors can
match. So dust off your blender to make healthy shakes and drinks. You can combine nearly any
fruits with skim milk and/or nonfat yogurt to make smoothies. Try frozen ingredients, such as
bananas or orange juice. You can also make vegetable “cocktails,” flavorful dips, quick
sauces, velvety soups, and lowfat sandwich spreads
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