96. Skip the bacon and cheese. A bacon cheeseburger averages 250 more calories than a plain
hamburger—plus a good deal more saturated fat and cholesterol.
97. When shopping for onions, look for strongertasting varieties. The strong taste and smell
come from antioxidant compounds called polyphenols, which may reduce the risk of cancer and
other diseases. Western Yellow, New York Bold, and Northern Red onions are highest in
polyphenols. Shallots, though milder in flavor, also rank high.
98. Steam instead of boiling. Mineral loss is usually twice as great in boiled vegetables as in
steamed ones.
99. When you eat yogurt or cottage cheese, don’t discard the whey—the watery part that
separates out and sits on top. It contains B vitamins and minerals but almost no fat. Stir the whey
back into the yogurt or cheese.
100. Watch out for Japanese ramen (wheat noodles), packaged as an instant soup “lunchinamug.” They are very high in fat because they are usually dried by deepfrying in lard
or palm oil. Another drawback is the high sodium content of the accompanying seasoning
packet.
101. Remove the skin from chicken: this can cut the fat content by three quarters and the
calories by half. Choose the breast instead of the thigh: skinless dark meat has twice as much fat
as skinless light meat.
102. Cultivate a taste for buttermilk. It actually contains no butter and usually has very little
fat: most buttermilk today is made from nonfat or lowfat (1%) milk. Not just a refreshing
beverage, buttermilk is also useful in cooking.
103. Handle ground meats carefully. They are more perishable—and also more likely to cause
food poisoning—than other meats. Once ground, the meat has a larger surface area than whole
cuts, making it an easier target for bacteria.
104. When your mouth is “on fire” from hot pepper, one way to cool it off is to drink milk (a
spoonful of yogurt will also help). Hot pepper’s burning component is capsaicin, which binds to
your taste buds. Casein, the principal protein in milk, helps wipe away the fiery compound.
105. Speed up the ripening of most fruits by keeping them in a paper bag for a few days: this
traps the ethylene gas produced by the fruit. Apples give off lots of ethylene, so you can speed
the ripening of other fruits by placing half an apple in the bag with them; the apple, however,
will turn mushy.
106. Try evaporated nonfat milk as a lowfat, lowcalorie substitute in recipes calling for
cream. A halfcup of cream has 400 calories, almost all from fat, while evaporated skim milk has
about 100 and only a trace of fat.
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