Making Healthy Choices

By Beth Ginsberg, Chef and PCF Consultant

What to eat or what not to eat:  that is the question.

So many choices and so many excuses.  While dining out, traveling, grocery shopping, cooking…how does one choose the healthier options - and what indeed are they?

The media bombards us with what is on the culinary out list this week: high fats, saturated fats, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, high glycemic foods, sugars, aspartame, sodium, pesticides, simple carbs, gluten, mercury...Then it simultaneously fills our heads with what is on the cure-all list: gogi berries, pomegranates, noni, acai, flax seeds, cia seeds, green tea, white tea, complex carbs, low glycemic foods, agave, super foods.

Yikes.  Where do you get these new food gems?  Are they at the airport or at any restaurant? More importantly, how do you get these foods in your body while trying to multitask with very full lives and obligations?  It just might seem so overwhelming, giving up sounds easier, and what the heck: how bad can a cheeseburger, a Reuben, a cheese burrito, a diet soda, or a large cookie really be?

Relax. Once again, it's all about choices. There are questions and there are simple solutions.

When dining out, these are my recommendations

Breakfast

Egg whites rather than whole eggs
Whole wheat toast or muffin rather than white bread
Dry toast, ask for jam and hold the butter
No sugar on oatmeal, ask for raisins fresh fruit maple syrup
Turkey bacon or turkey sausage
Look for whole grain cereal, pancakes, waffles
No cheese in the omelet
Embellish your breakfast with an array of fresh fruit
Tomatoes rather than potatoes

Lunch and Dinner

Ask your waiter these questions:

Is it fried?  Can you simply sauté it in a little olive or canola oil
Do you use butter or olive oil?
Is there butter on the vegetables, fish, chicken...?
Is there cream in your soup, veggies or sauce?

Make choices:

Ask for salsa rather than butter or sauce on eggs, fish, and crustaceans
Ask for white meat chicken rather than dark
Ask for dishes to be sautéed lightly in a little olive oil rather than deep fried
Ask for a fat free or light dressing -  or better yet make your own dressing (ask for a lemon, some dijon and balsamic vinegar)
Order a cheeseless pizza with lots of vegetables
Berries are a great alternative to a high fat dessert
A glass of red wine or water rather than a diet soda
Mustard is a great condiment,  try it on a baked potato or veggies rather than butter
Lemon is great on fish or chicken