No food should be banned in general, as long as you eat a balanced diet. However, a diet that is too high in fat can worsen your diabetes and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Here are a few easy tips for eating less fat:
Read the labels
Before buying a product, systematically read its label: look for the percentage of “lipids”, it corresponds to fat! Avoid high fat percentages.
For example, for prepared meals, choose dishes with more protein than fat.
For many products, you can find low-fat versions. You can use them to reduce your fat intake, but be careful: don’t eat twice as much as non-light products and make sure they are not too high in sugar.
For meats, favor lean meats, generally with less than 10% fat: veal, chicken and poultry (without the skin), rabbit.
Favour less fatty cooking methods
Cooking in foil, steaming or in a pressure cooker does not require any fat and also enhances the taste of the food and preserves the vitamins and minerals it contains.
When cooking in a pan, use one with a non-stick coating. There is no need to use oil or butter for cooking!
To oil a dish, you can use a piece of soaked paper towel or an oil sprayer to use as little as possible. Also, choose vegetable oils, which are better for your health than animal fats (butter, cream, etc.).
Instead of buttering pie and cake pans, consider using parchment paper: it will prevent the preparation from sticking during baking.
Prepare low-fat dressings and sauces
For your salad dressings, replace half the oil with cold, fat-free chicken broth. Your vinaigrette will be lighter and more flavorful!
Avoid ready-made sauces and prepared dishes, which are often fatty and sweet! You can make your own sauces from low-fat cottage cheese, tomato paste or mustard. And be careful with oil-rich mayonnaise!
Think about milk, yogurt and semi-skimmed dairy products
When making quiches or cakes, replace the cream with semi-skimmed milk or yogurt. It will be less fatty and richer in calcium.
Choose semi-skimmed dairy products: they provide the same benefits as full-fat dairy products (calcium, protein), with fewer calories!
Change your aperitif habits!
Offer homemade products! Instead of peanuts, cakes and salted snacks that are too rich in fat, here are some ideas for healthy and tasty appetizers:
- Raw vegetable sticks with a yogurt sauce.
- Ham rolls with cream cheese.
- Homemade tuna rillettes with cottage cheese.
- Toast with vegetable purées on rye bread.
- Baked puff pastries made with brick pastry (e.g. with tomato and ham).
Agathe V., dietitian-nutritionist