FOOD AND NUTRITION
68. Avoid fried eggplant. It soaks up oil quickly, like a sponge—more than any other vegetable,
even more than French fries. Try grilling, broiling, baking, steaming, or braising it instead of
frying.
69. Follow these guidelines for cooking eggs. You need not cook eggs to the hard and rubbery
stage. Boiling an egg in its shell at 140° for 3H minutes should kill virtually all bacteria.
Scrambled eggs and omelets are fine if cooked just past the runny, moist stage (they should be
set, but don’t have to be rock hard). If you’re frying eggs, “over easy” is best: fry them for about
3 minutes on one side, then about 1 minute on the other.
70. Eat sweet potatoes. Despite their sweet taste, they have about the same number of calories
per ounce as white potatoes. A 3Hounce baked sweet potato contains three times the
recommended daily amount of beta carotene, half theRDA for vitamin C, and just 100 calories.
71. Avoid the typical package of ground poultry, which usually contains skin and too much
fat. Look for ground turkey breast; it should be labeled 96 to 98% fatfree (by weight).
72. Try veggie burgers. They’re served in many restaurants, and you’ll find them in frozen,
refrigerated, or mix form in the grocery store. Veggie burgers may be primarily soy and/or may
contain any combination of mushrooms, onions, peppers, rice, oats, barley, bulgur (cracked
wheat), rye, gluten (wheat protein), beans, spices, and egg whites. In a restaurant, ask the waiter
what’s in the veggie burger and how it’s cooked. Some veggie burgers are almost fatfree, but
some are high in fat, especially if nuts or cheese are major ingredients.
73. Eat beans and other legumes. Beans, lentils, and dried peas are all good sources of soluble
fiber, which, if consumed regularly, may help lower blood cholesterol levels.
74. Cook with fresh herbs. They contain powerful antioxidant compounds, according to a
USDA analysis. Herbs that scored highest by far were oregano and marjoram—just a tablespoon
or two of the chopped herbs would supply significant amounts of antioxidants. Fresh herbs are
more potent (in flavor and antioxidant power) than their dried counterparts, and culinary herbs in
general have more antioxidant potential than medicinal ones, such as ginkgo.
75. To boost your calcium, eat sardines. When eaten with their small edible bones, three small
fish (one ounce each) supply 370 milligrams of calcium, more than a cup of milk. Canned
salmon, also eaten with its bones, supplies nearly as much calcium.
76. Try pink or red grapefruit. Ounce for ounce, the pink variety has more than 40 times more
beta carotene than white grapefruit. And the darker the pulp, the more lycopene. This carotenoid,
also plentiful in tomatoes, may help lower the risk of certain cancers.
Comments
Post a Comment