Get the Trans Fat Out by Suzanne Havala Hobbs

Author:Suzanne Havala Hobbs [Havala Hobbs, Suzanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-49566-2
Publisher: Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony
Published: 2006-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Get the Trans Fat Out of Entrees and Side Dishes

Dietary advice in general—and detailed advice about how to avoid trans fat—often leaves people feeling depressed about their food choices. No fries. No biscuits. No margarine. No fun.

An e-mail I received from a reader of my weekly newspaper column, in which I discussed the need for many of us to cut back on cheese (because of its saturated fat content), says it well: “When I saw Thursday’s screed against cheese, I thought, ‘What’s next?’ Is my diet to be reduced to steamed rutabagas and tofu? It seems that each week a different (and yummy) food hits the ‘limited,’ ‘very limited,’ or ‘no-no’ list. The end result is I no longer listen.”

While there are rarely absolute yes and no foods, it is fair to say that some foods—especially in the amounts typically eaten by most Americans—are clearly better for you than others. Orange juice is better than a soft drink. Bananas are better than a candy bar. Olive oil is better than butter or margarine. And cheese, like any foods that contain trans fat and saturated fat, is something most of us need to limit in order to preserve our health.

But discussions about how to eat well should focus not only on foods you should limit but also the flip side: foods to eat in greater quantities. The trouble is, all that many people hear is the negative message: what not to eat. They have a harder time envisioning what they can eat. One of the hurdles of understanding dietary advice is integrating the dos as well as the don’ts into a mental vision of the total diet. In this chapter, therefore, I’ll try to help you do just that.

By paying attention to the two primary goals I’ve been focusing on all along in this book—eating fewer unhealthy foods and more healthy foods—we can accomplish our goals of getting the trans fat out of entrees and side dishes. Because they’re linked, my recommendations will also encourage you to eat less saturated fat in these big items that you eat every day.

In the case of entrees and sides, following my advice may require you to rethink your vision of what a meal looks like. That’s because, in a good diet that supports health, the foods most of us think of as side dishes trade places with the foods we tend to think of as the focal point of the meal. For instance, I’ll encourage you to double and triple your servings of salad, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and rice, and shrink the amount of meat and cheese you eat—to use them as condiments or even push them off your plate entirely. This does leave plenty to eat—far more than rutabagas and tofu! But it might also require you to adopt a new mindset about food.

A few years back I interviewed health guru Jack LaLanne, still mentally and physically fit and active at nearly ninety years of age. His approach to eating stuck with me: “Figure out what’s good for you, then create a liking for it,” he said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.