Lifestyle
Grill Lean!
By
Aug 10, 2008 - 12:08:51 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - We've discussed the law in NY that requires chain restaurants to provide a calorie count on menus, and we've also discussed hidden calories, which fat and alcohol provide. This week, let's take a look at one tool that not only reduces hidden calories, but helps us to protect our health too! I call it "Grill Lean". There's plenty of summer left for us to enjoy our outdoor grills so, if we choose to grill lean we can significantly reduce our fat intake (the biggest source of hidden calories) and we reduce our risk for disease too, particularly cancer. Most of us have heard that grilling carries health risks, but are we aware we can reduce the risk by reducing fat?

The American Institute of Cancer Research states, "diets high in red meat (beef, pork and lamb) and especially processed meats (such as hot dogs) are now a convincing cause of colorectal cancer". When we cook high fat meat at high temperatures, it creates compounds called " Hetercyclic amines" (HCAs) and "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons"(PAHs) .

Now I'm not suggesting that we give up all our favorite high calorie foods, after all fat makes our food tasty. But we can "Grill Lean" without a lot of pain if we give ourselves and our taste buds a chance to adjust (with a few less hot dogs on the side). So here goes (I know we've heard these before, but here's a reminder).

Let's:
Start with grilled shrimp, lobster, Gazpacho soup, and a large salad. Shellfish is low in fat and calories, and if we add a nutrient dense- low calorie soup with a large salad on the side (dressing on the side of course), we can tame our appetite. Choose lobster if high cholesterol is a concern, it's lower than shrimp.

Prepare our food with a non fat marinate. When we use a non fat marinate, we save calories and we reduce those harmful compounds that are formed during grilling.

Grill up lots of veggies for side dishes. Peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onions, tomatoes and my favorite, corn on the cob are all healthy tasty choices when we grill them using a non fat butter spray. These dangerous cancer causing compounds do not form when we grill vegetables or fruits. Veggies also have those wonderful cancer fighting phytochemicals. We can also bulk up our pasta dishes with grilled veggies including lightly grilled tomatoes!

Grill fish! Even a high fat fish is healthier because it contains less saturated and total fat than red meat, saving calories and reducing the harmful chemicals at the same time.
Grill lean cuts of meat. We can choose leaner cuts such as top round, tenderloin, flank steak, and white breast chicken cutlets. We can marinate them in advance using fruits such as limes, and kiwi to tenderize (I just love grilled fajitas) so they take less time to cook.

Let's grill up fruit . Grilled fruit can be just one healthy sweet choice for dessert when we serve it with a low fat frozen yogurt or ice-cream.

To "Grill Lean" may sound simple, but it's not. It means we need to stop and think before we go shopping; we may need to be a great guest and bring some of our own dishes to the barbeque, and we may need to make a special request here and there when we eat out. We can apply these tools to our restaurant eating by ordering grilled fish, and ordering lots of grilled veggies on the side. Essentially, it means we need to make some new habits, which can be hard. But then we can become choosy about the other less healthy foods that we do eat. We can still eat some of our favorite high calorie foods, just less of them while we become leaner and healthier in the process. And isn't it worth it?

Here's to Our Health!

June M Lay M.S.
www.junefit.com
Source for more info on grilling: American Institute for Cancer Research.

Posted now at www.junefit.com/tips_weightlosshp.htm is my tip "Lose Fat the Safe and Permanent Way". Also check out my " Go Mediterranean Foods" posted under my food page! Still posted for the last week is my Grilled Fruitkebab recipe.

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June is Lifestyle Columnist at www.healthnewsdigest.com/

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