How to Stock a Trans Fat Free Kitchen
Committing to a low-fat lifestyle means making your kitchen trans fat free or substituting bad fats with good fats. Trans fats or so-called bad fats have a tendency to raise the level of LDL cholesterol in your blood, hence increasing your risk of suffering from different heart diseases. When your doctor asks you to maintain a low-fat or trans fat free kitchen, that means replacing high-fat foods such as commercially baked foods, regular mayonnaise and oil based dressings, with low fat foods such as herb infused vegetable oils, whole grain breads and cereals etc.
Instructions
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1
Use butter or trans fat free margarine for baking
Baked goods sold at restaurants and other places contain the highest percentage of trans fats. Avoid using commercially prepared baked products and bake your own cakes and pastries using butter or trans fat free margarine. -
2
Avoid edible goods that contain word “partially hydrogenated” on the label
The word hydrogenated on the ingredients list means a significant amount of trans fats is present in the product. Manufacturers are not bound to mention the amount of trans fat in the ingredient list if it is less than ½ gram. But if the trans fats are more than half gram, the manufacturers have to list it. -
3
Purchase frozen vegetables without sauces
Adorned vegetables contain a considerable amount of trans fats. It is recommended you buy frozen vegetables with no sauce or gravy and flavour them with herbs or herb infused olive oil. -
4
Go for plain varieties of beans and pasta
Flavoured beans, rice and pasta contain a significant percentage of trans fats, so it is better to use plain pasta and beans in your recipes. Use trans fat free liquid margarine, infused vegetable oils or herbs to season your pasta dishes. -
5
Avoid using over the counter salad dressings
Hydrogenated oils are added to the commercially prepared salad dressings to stabilize them and to increase their shelf life. If you want your kitchen to be trans fat free, stay away from commercial salad dressings and create your own using heart healthy oils, such as olive oil and soybean oil. -
6
Replace shortening with cooking spray
Shortenings also contain hydrogenated oils, so replace them with cooking sprays when greasing your pans or baking trays. Hydrogenation is a chemical process that turns a liquid fat into a solid fat by setting hydrogen atoms in fatty chains.
