Nutrition nuggets

Go green with your grilling too. Vegetables taste better and are healthier for you if you grill them because you are not losing any of the nutrients in the cooking medium (water, oil, steamer). And make sure you don’t “char” them because that char is loaded with carcinogens according to some recent studies. You can see here that I took some corn and just threw it on the grill as is. It comes out great!! Plus, I’m not too concerned about the nutritional value of corn 🙂 I have also found that the thicker you slice the zucchini, the better it comes out and once you grill asparagus, it’s hard to do it any other way!!

Grilling your proteins are also a healthier alternative to “indoor” cooking.

Grilled meats have a reduced fat content. This is because the fat drips off as the food cooks. It results in healthier meals and makes it easier to manage a low fat diet. Grilled foods also have lower calorie content than fried foods. This helps in weight management and keeping fit. Reduced fat intake helps to lower bad cholesterol levels in the blood. Healthy cholesterol levels improve cardiovascular health. Various health conditions such as obesity, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes become a risk with fried foods.

When you grill your food, it helps to reduce the risk of such diseases. It also ensures that you get more value out of your food. This is because of the shorter cooking time involved when you grill. It results in minimal loss of moisture and vitamins from vegetables. This ensures that as much of the nutritional content is retained in the food when cooked. Healthy cooking contributes to good health and overall wellbeing.

To learn more about how to integrate more healthy eating habits into your everyday routine, visit Main Line Integrative Nutrition