When it comes to losing weight, people pay much attention to consuming the right food, avoiding snacks, sugar, and carbs. However, while people focus on making the right food choices, they should also pay special attention to preparing the food correctly. We all know that overcooking food, such as over-boiling and frying, can eliminate all nutrients and exempt the food from vitamins and nutrients.
However, not many people are aware that some cooking techniques can add calories to the meals and can dash your diet plan to the ground. For instance, eggplants are rich in fiber and low on calories; however, when they are fried, oil gets absorbed, and the calories dramatically increase, making healthy food unhealthy.
The same goes for potatoes, which, in case you want to make healthy snack choices, you might want to quit on fries and opt for non fortified nutritional yeast instead. Simply put, the different cooking methods can either make meals lose nutrients or preserve them. Here are four cooking techniques that help you preserve the essential food nutrients and aid in weight loss.
Read on to learn more!
Cut Bigger Chunks
If you are on a diet and ready to lose some weight, you cannot avoid including fresh veggies in your diet. However, by cutting bigger chunks of those veggies, you will instantly boost the aesthetic appeal of the dish. Besides, you will also have to deal less with minimum surface oil.
Add Healthy Herbs & Spices
If you want to make your healthy food choices more interesting, you might want to experiment with some herbs and spices. You can make a boring and simple recipe look fresh and interesting by seasoning your food the right way. For instance, by sprinkling some black pepper, basil, and cardamom, you will enjoy each mouthful of your meal while the flavors will burst in your mouth, leading to unexpected freshness.
Avoid Over-Boiling Ramen & Pasta
Like most people, you probably love pasta; however, mushy and texture-less pasta shouldn’t be going inside your tummy. Besides, overcooked pasta causes the molecules inside the pasta to break down, which dissolves the fibers of the noodles.
Subsequently, the healthy pasta transforms into refined carbs leading to unnecessary weight gain. That said, if you want to prevent the pasta from turning into refined carbs, you might want to cook the noodles slightly before they turn “al dente.” By doing so, you will preserve the fiber and nutrients inside the pasta and make you feel fuller, and prevent you from overeating.
Don’t Shed the Skin
Did you know that you can preserve essential food nutrients by leaving the skin on potatoes and apples because the peels of certain veggies and fruits contain more nutrients and fiber than the flesh? Your food turns into a snack instead of a full meal by discarding the skins and makes you feel less satiated. The next time you make baked potatoes or consume apples with peanut butter, leave the skins on the food and see how quickly it makes you fill up.