With each passing day as the demand of work, school and other outside activity increases, it’s almost impossible to encompass in our daily schedule healthy and balanced meals in our diets. Unfortunately, due to the nutritional content of processed foods or ready to cook foods this usually means higher amounts of saturated fat. Saturated fats have the ability to accelerate blood cholesterol, which can lead to a number of health risks, which includes coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Therefore, it is necessary to include low-saturated-fat foods into your diet without including much of food that is very high in saturated fats.
Low Saturated Fat Diet Plan
This sample diet plan includes all the essential nutrients to keep your battery recharged through the day without causing blocks in your heart.
Breakfast:
- 1 Cup Oatmeal
- Walnuts – 4
- Orange Juice – 1 Glass
Lunch:
- 1 small sized Steak
- 1 Cup Vegetable Clear Soup
- Mixed Fruit Salad – 1 Cup
- Low fat Cheesecake – 1 small serving
Snack
- Mixed Nuts – 1 small Cup
- Apple – 1 Medium Sized Fruit
- 1 Cup Coffee – With low fat milk
Dinner
- Chicken Noodle Broth – 1 Cup
- Aglio Olio Vegetable Wheat Pasta – 1 Serving
- Greek Salad – 1 Serving
- Glass of Ice Wine
Low Saturated Fat Recipes
If you are bored of trying out the same meal plan, these recipes can tingle your taste buds and help you indulge in a guilt-free meal:
Whole Wheat Pasta With Aubergine and Sundried Tomatoes:
This is one meal that you eat at any time of the day. Not only is it quick to make, but also is healthy and delicious. Nothing can help you unwind a hard day better than this dish.
Ingredients:
- Whole Wheat Pasta – 1 Cup
- Aubergine – ½ Portion
- Sun dried Tomatoes – ½ Cup
- Garlic – 2tbsp
- Olive Oil – ¼ Cup
- Red Chilli Flakes – 1 tbsp
- Salt and Pepper – To Taste
- Parmesan Cheese – For Garnish
Procedure:
- Boiled the pasta in 4 cups of water with a little salt and a few drops of oil
- Strain the pasta and keep it aside
- Roast Aubergine coated with olive oil on the stove
- Peel it and roughly chop it
- In a large pan, add olive oil and saute garlic
- Add roughly chopped sun dried tomatoes, roasted Aubergine and toss
- Add the boiled pasta and give it a good toss
- Sprinkle red chilli flakes and season it with salt and pepper
- Lastly, garnish it with some Parmesan shavings
Tasty Egg Muffin Cups:
Feeling hungry at an odd time of the day and looking for something quick and tasty? Egg Muffin Cups are a savory version of your regular muffins, but easy and quicker to make.
Ingredients:
- Eggs – 6
- Tomatoes – Finely Diced
- Onions – ½ cup Finely Diced
- Baby Spinach – ½ Cup Finely chopped
- Mushrooms – ½ Cup Finely chopped
- Goat Cheese – Crumbled
- Basil – 2tbsp Finely Chopped
- Salt and Pepper To Taste
Procedure:
- Beat the eggs and mix all the ingredients in it
- Take a muffin tray and grease it with oil or butter
- Slowly fill the muffin trays with the egg mixture
- In a preheated oven, bake them at 350 F
- Serve Hot
Low Saturated Fat Food List
1. Fruits and Vegetables:
Almost all fruits and vegetables pride to have very low amounts of saturated fat. Instead, they are full of antioxidants, fiber and nutrients. Fruits and vegetables are very low-saturated fat choices, whether its canned or frozen. But in an ideal situation fresh fruits are the clear winner as compared to canned fruits as they are packed in syrup which should be avoided if possible. One must very much careful that the vegetables should not be cooked in excessive butter or sauce, as it is pretty high in saturated fats.
2. Dairy Products:
Dairy products have been proven to be very low in saturated fats worldwide. If one have milk products under 1 percent fat or skim milk. This means that one has to avoid whole milk and 2 percent fat milk. Even hard cheese or American and Swiss cheese contains very high saturated fats. So kindly avoid such cheese. Try and consume only skim cheese products. Even yogurt contains low saturated fats, but ice cream and whipped cream is said to be very high in saturated contents.
3. Grains:
All varieties of bread, cereal, pasta, rice and beans fall under grains. One must concentrate on the intake of whole wheat or multi-grain sources as these are low in saturated fats. Oatmeal or oats as it’s popularly known as, sweet potatoes and dried beans are also included in the low saturated fats bracket. However if ,someone wants to cut down their intake of saturated fats by Limiting their consumption of granola cereals and most store-bought muffins, pancakes and biscuits.
4. Walnuts:
Walnuts have a superior antioxidant content which means that walnuts are useful in the fight against cancer. They are well known sources of monounsaturated fats and they are also known to help in lowering of the bad cholesterol formation in the body. Start consuming walnuts from today.
5. Chickpeas:
Chickpeas contain very Low saturated fats and level of cholesterol and sodium in chickpeas is also remarkably low. It’s interesting that chickpeas are also highly rich in folate and manganese.
See More: Brown Rice Healthy Recipes
6. Hazelnuts:
Hazelnuts contain as low as 4gm of saturated fats in every 100gm however, they are very much rich in vitamin E, that helps in the prevention of oxidized polyunsaturated fats. Hazelnuts have pretty high contents of oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fatty acid that helps to lower the cholesterol level. One should Choose hazelnuts if they are concerned about high levels of saturated fats and cholesterol.
7. Lean meats:
Meat products are usually very high in saturated fats. While buying the meat products from the market make sure to check the amount of fat content it contains. Try and avoid the processed meat as it is very high in saturated fats. Try consuming lean cut meats.
See More: Healthy Low Calorie Breakfast Recipes
8. Figs:
Figs are rich in fibre, which help the body in ways more than one! Figs are associated with numerous health benefits. The high fibre diet is very much low in saturated fats. Eating figs on a regular basis not only controls your cholesterol level, but also reduces the chance of getting an attack.
9. Honey and cinnamon :
Honey and cinnamon both have zero saturated fats. One should consume honey and cinnamon on a regular basis as it really helps in preventing a person from any kind of heart problems. Honey and cinnamon both is considered to the best form of anti bacterial solutions. It helps in the treatment of bladder infections and bacterial cystitis. It is also well known for its healing properties.
See More: Low Calorie Lunch Indian Recipes
10. Low Saturated Fat Oils:
While most oils are high on fat and are not recommended, certain oils provide good cholesterol to the body and are also low in saturated fats. Canola oil contains the least amount of saturated fats among oils. Next to that is olive oil, which has just 2 gms of saturated fat. These mono saturated fats are very beneficial for a healthy heart and skin. They also aid in good production of insulin in the body.
Fat doesn’t always mean unhealthy. Our body needs required amounts of fat to fuel it. However, its very important to separate good fat from the bad fat. Good fat drives energy in the body, where as bad fat add bulk to it. We hope this article helped you understand about Low Saturated Fats.
