New Delhi: Cooking oils are essential for a healthy body and can enhance your diet in multiple ways.
Perhaps, oils are the basis for a variety of dishes, adding flavour and taste to your recipes.
Too much of any oil can add extra calories to your diet, putting you at risk of several health problems, and not just unhealthy weight gain.
That’s because cooking oils – whether it’s from animal, vegetable, nut or seed – have high-fat content and it’s imperative that you cook your food with minimal oil while also ensuring that you opt for healthier options like olive oil and avocado oil, etc.
Perhaps, making healthier food choices doesn’t mean you need to give up your favourite foods or eliminate oil from your diet.
There are a number of ways to make your recipes healthier and tastier without adding excessive amounts of oil, fat, or salt.
Wondering how to create healthy, delicious meals with minimum or no oil? Read on to learn how you can reduce oil consumption without compromising your taste buds.
Tip 1: Bake, grill or steam your food instead of frying it. This will also make your recipes look and taste great while retaining the nutrients.
Tip 2: Opt for snacks that are baked, roasted or steamed rather than fried or processed snacks, which are high in calories and trans fats linked to various health problems. Eating fried and processed foods on a regular basis will increase your risk of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.
Tip 3: The FSSAI’s recommendations also ask to measure oil using a teaspoon each time when cooking.
Tip 4: It is recommended that you use a combination of healthy oils to ensure you get all essential nutrients – such as sunflower oil, ricebran oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, mustard oil, coconut oil, etc.
These oils contain less amounts of saturated fats, but are loaded with essential fatty acids that improve your health in multiple ways.
Tip 5: One way to reduce your oil intake is to get clever in the kitchen – for instance, try roasting your favourite papad instead of frying it.
The FSSAI also suggests that you should buy and use only a fixed quantity of oil, and then gradually reducing the quantity you buy each time.