22 ways to modify your recipes for a healthy heart
June 28, 2008 by Liz Harper · 1 Comment
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Ever wondered how to still create great tasting meals, but reduce the calories and/or fat intake? Well here’s a few tips that might help you out….
- If for example you were making a Steak and Mushroom Pie and the recipe called for 750 g braising steak… you could try reducing the meat to 500g and add 200g of canned kidney beans.
- Replace any butter with margarine or canola oil
- Use reduced salt stock
- Remove salt altogether
- Use filo pastry instead of puff pastry
Eggs…not as bad as they’re cracked up to be???
June 11, 2008 by Liz Harper · 4 Comments
For a long time now, there has been a lot of bad stuff said about eggs in relation to dietary cholesterol and fat levels.
But in actual fact, eggs are highly nutritious. They contain good quality protein and 10 vitamins and minerals. One egg contains approximately 5g of fat…and that fat is mainly the “healthy” unsaturated fats that we need to include in our diets for healthy eating.
One egg contains about 1.5g of saturated fat and NO trans fat – the type of fats that raise blood cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.
The Heart Foundation says that “The Healthy population can include cholesterol rich foods such as offal (e.g liver, brains, kidney etc) and egg yolks as part of a healthy eating pattern.
Those at risk of cardiovascular disease, especially with high blood cholesterol, should discuss how much cholesterol rich foods they can eat with their doctor or accredited practicing dietician.
Deciphering Food Labels
June 4, 2008 by Liz Harper · Leave a Comment
Reading food labels can be confusing…sometimes manufacturers can disguise saturated fats by calling various names, and ‘Reduced Fat’ doesn’t necessarily mean low fat and ‘Lite’ or ‘Light’ can mean anything.
With all these marketing smoke screens…its easy to fool yourself into thinking you’ve made some healthy food choices.
So here’s some information that might help you make better food choices on your next grocery shop…
Marketing/Labelling…
- Cholesterol Free: This doesn’t mean that the food has to be healthy, low in fat or kilojoules, or low in saturated fat. It just means it’s free from dietary cholesterol. Some foods might be cholesterol free, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t high in saturated fat…e.g coconut and palm oil fit into this category. Commercial biscuits and cakes often contain coconut and palm oil which as usually listed on the ingredients as ‘vegetable fat’ or ‘vegetable oil’.
- Lite or Light: This can refer to anything. They might have less salt, fat or sugar. It doesn’t necessarily mean low in kilojoules (or calories) or low in fat. In some cases ‘Lite’ is used to say something about flavour. E.g olive oil that is lite in flavour.
Plant Sterol enriched margarine spreads can help reduce blood cholesterol
June 1, 2008 by Liz Harper · 2 Comments
We’ve all seen margarine spreads in the supermarkets that boast about being “cholesterol reducing” etc. Have you every wondered if they really work?
Well…This is some information that I found on an information handout from the Heart Foundation…
What is a plant sterol?
Plant sterols are naturally occurring components mainly found in vegetable oils but are also present in smaller amounts in nuts, legumes, breads and cereals. Traces are also found in fruit and veges.
What effect do plant sterols have on blood cholesterol levels?
Plant sterols can lower blood cholesterol levels by around 10%, depending on how much is consumed. A reduced blood cholesterol level is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.
