Contents
Advice to reduce dietary fat
What foods are best for losing weight?
Fatty meats must be taken into account if we want to diminish or calory intake.
To reduce fat consumption it is important to consider the following advice:
- It is essential to reduce the consumption of fatty meats (red meat) and, above all, of products made from these meats, like sausages and similar preparations, canned meat products. Special attention should be paid to bacon, as it is a highcalorie food. If using meat with fat, it is best to remove it before cooking.
- It is better to use chicken or turkey and, within these, knowing that the breast contains less fat than legs. Chicken must be cooked without skin. It’s better to prepare meat stews with turkey or chicken instead of using red meat.
- Regarding milk and dairy derivatives, it is best to choose the low fat versions. This affects milk, yogurt, custard or ice cream. Skimmed versions are always better. Cream is not a good friend of fat or of individuals who want to lose weight or achieve a healthy weight.
- It is better to use “light” products for spreading on bread/toast (such as low fat content cheese, margarine, mayonnaise). It would be better to buy whole quality bread with different cereals. This should prevent the non recommended practice of spreading oily preparations on bread. If you want to do this, opt for not fried fresh tomato.
- Dressing should be used with caution. It is best to add herbs or spices with a little oil. This will reducie fat consumption, and will improve the taste of food and add medicinal properties. Lemon juice, apple vinegar or tomato sauce prepared at home can be very interesting. No butter should be added to vegetables or fatbased dressings for meat or fish.
- Don’ t eat to many eggs. The weekly limit for eggs is four. You can also choose to eat egg whites instead of yolks from time to time.
- Avoid cakes or baked goods, nonskimmed ice cream, cookies, chocolate and chips. All these foods are high in fat.
- Avoid fried foods. This type of food absorbs too much oil and involves a lot of fat intake. It is better to prepare a meal with other techniques instead: steamed, boiled, grilled, roasted, etc. Note that 100 g of boiled potatoes provide 86 calories while the same amount of fried potatoes provide 156.
- Avoid the regular and excessive use of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol should be taken in moderation because, apart from a possible risk of alcoholism, it is very high in calories. A moderate use of certain alcoholic beverages, like wine, may even have positive effects on health. (More information)
Avoid incorrect dietary habits
Eating quickly is a bad habit because we need to ingest too much food before feeling satiated
- Snacking between meals or after meals. It’s a bad habit to stay at the table after eating and eat cookies, chocolate or sweets. The time after meals can be accompanied with some tea (for example, green tea, chamomile tea or mint tea).
- Avoid eating while watching television. Especially when the program creates a tension that we will try to reduce by having a snack. One solution to avoid temptation is to take some medicinal herb tea or, if we can’t resist, it is best to take some fruit or dried fruits. (The latter should be used sparingly because they contain many calories)
- Avoid eating quickly: The body needs time to satiate hunger after eating. If we eat too fast, we will eat too much food before the body is satiated. A quiet meal allows us to enjoy food more and stop the sensation of hunger cut with less food.
- Avoid adding salt: The salt encourages fluid retention and makes the body bloated.
More information on fats.
This article was endorsed by Elisenda Carballido - Dietitian nutritionist. Postgraduate in Phytotherapy and master in Nutrition and Metabolism.
