Tips To Avoid Unhealthy Food & Healthy Options

People generally experience the impulse to have junk food because it is easy to find, easy to prepare, and tastes incredible.

Sometimes consuming junk food becomes a habit unintentionally because these foods may trigger a temporary feeling of stress relief or emotional response. 

Nothing can lessen the fact that fast food is extremely harmful and cannot substitute for the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables. Avoiding unhealthy foods will make you feel more energised, happier, and motivated.

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Unhealthy Food 

2. Healthy Alternatives of Unhealthy Food

3. Tips to Avoid Unhealthy Food 

4. FAQ

Overview of Unhealthy Food

Junk food can quickly turn into an addiction. It floods the brain's pleasure centre with dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Unhealthy foods such as chips, pasta, and soft drinks are high in energy but low in nutrients. They are highly processed and contain a lot of carbs, saturated fat, and salt.

The most common ingredients in fast foods are refined grains, added sugar, and high-fat meat, which are likely to develop heart disease and obesity.

Healthy Alternatives In Foods

Giving up your comfort food is easier said than done. But the happy news is that there are ways to transform the guilty food into a healthier version. Low-nutrient food can be transformed into wholesome food by altering portions, ingredients, and cooking techniques. 

1. Whole Wheat Buns for Burgers

Instead of going to a restaurant to binge on unhealthy burgers, you can easily make your own vegetarian or non-vegetarian burger at home. All you need are some whole wheat buns and a few healthy ingredients. 

Tips: 

Use whole-wheat buns, lean meat, and low-fat condiments like pesto made with fresh basil leaves, olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese.

Add mustard and tahini sauce prepared with sesame seeds.

Prepare the patty for a vegetarian burger with cottage cheese, carrots, beets, mushrooms, broken wheat (Dalia), and low-fat toppings.

2. Sauteed Chicken For Salads

While making your chicken salad, swap your crispy fried chicken for sauteed chicken. Choose sauteed boneless chicken breast, which is far healthier than deep-fried.

Tip: 

• Use skinless, boneless chicken breast sautéed in olive oil and low-fat condiments for salad dressing.

3. Whole-wheat tortillas 

Tacos from fast food restaurants are high in calories and fat. You can, however, make your tacos at home with whole wheat tortillas and fresh, nutritious ingredients. 

Tips:

• Create whole-grain tortillas and top them with guacamole (avocado dip), some shredded cheese, lean meat, and loads of fresh fruits and veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and avocado.

4. Fresh Fruit Smoothies

Fruit smoothies are an excellent substitute for soda-based drinks, which have no nutritional value. Added sugar is dangerous to your health. Instead, make your fruit smoothie at home using fresh fruits, plain yoghurt, and low-fat milk.

Tips: 

Use fresh fruits of your choice, such as bananas, mangoes, strawberries, grapes, or blueberries. Replace flavoured yoghurt with plain yoghurt.

5. Baked potato wedges 

French fries, a typical fast-food item, can pose significant health risks. Instead of French fries or fried potatoes, opt for roasted or boiled potatoes.

 Tips: 

• Toss a few sliced potatoes in olive oil and season with salt and pepper before baking. You can chop some fresh herbs and sprinkle them to make them healthier.

Tips To Avoid Unhealthy Food

1. Plan your snack

You won't grab something unhealthy on the go if you have some fruit, yoghurt, nuts, crackers and cheese in your bag or refrigerator.

2. Replace Salt With Herbs and Spices

Reducing salt intake from unhealthy foods is essential for lowering blood pressure and heart disease. Adding herbs like garlic, oregano, and cinnamon with almost no calories or sodium reduces the cholesterol and saturated fat content associated with butter and high-fat sauces.

 3. Think Before You Drink

Sip on water flavoured with lemon and mint rather than sugary beverages like soft drinks, fruit juice, sports drinks, or energy drinks.

 4. Base Meals Around Protein

Eating more legumes(chickpeas, kidney beans, baked beans, lentils) along with almonds, tofu, lean meat, poultry, eggs, fish, cheese, yoghurt, and milk, will control your appetite. 

 5. Make Healthier Swaps

Try other healthy eating alternatives that are both equally delicious and nutritious, like:-

• Swap a chocolate bar with a nut bar or a handful of nuts.
• Bag of chips with a pack of unbuttered popcorn.
• Swap Biscuits with natural fruit, oats, and less sugar.
• Swap Lollies with frozen blueberries or a handful of grapes.
• Savoury snacks with wholegrain crackers.

6. Bake Meats and Remove Poultry Skin

The American Heart Association advises removing the skin from poultry before cooking. Bake meats and poultry to avoid unhealthy fat and calories from fried foods. For further advantages, select lean meat cuts like extra-lean beef and chicken breasts.     

7. Incorporate Whole Grains

By enhancing satiety after meals, whole grains assist in maintaining a healthy weight. A lean hamburger on whole-wheat bread is preferable to unhealthy eating. You can swap out white rice for brown rice, low-fibre cereals for steel-cut oats, and potato chips for air-popped popcorn when purchasing products.

8. Add Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables offer easy ways to enhance flavour and nutritional content. Add fresh or frozen peas, fresh or canned tomatoes, and spinach to pasta. Low-fibre cereals and desserts like ice cream and shakes can also be topped with berries and raisins.

 9. Choose Healthy Oils

Olive oil and canola oil are excellent substitutes for processed oils. To reduce calories and fat, shallow-fry instead of deep-frying and bake with healthy oil.

FAQ

Q. Are carbs healthy?

Ans. Processed carbohydrates can impact your health. When trying to lose weight, restricting carbs may be helpful, but carbs are essential for the body and should be consumed sensibly.

Q. How can I maintain a healthy diet?

Ans. A healthy diet can be maintained by avoiding using unhealthy alternatives and modifying the method of preparation. 

Q. How to increase fibre in diet?

Ans. Adding fruits & vegetables, whole cereal, and pulse will increase fibre in the diet.

Q. Which meat should I prefer? White or red?

A. White meat is good for health as it contains less fat than red meat.

About ToneOp

ToneOp is a platform dedicated to improving and maintaining your good health through a comprehensive range of goal-oriented diet plans and recipes. It also intends to provide value-added content to our consumers.