There’s nothing like a good Bar-be-que with friends and family to celebrate Memorial Day. But with all of the burgers, hotdogs, mayo-laden salads and chips and dips being served, it’s easy to sabotage your healthy eating goals. The good news By following these simple tips for swapping out unhealthy items with good-for-your-body foods, you won’t feel a bit guilty for indulging.
7 Food Swaps To Make At Your Memorial Day BBQ
- Infuse your beverages. Leave the sugar-filled soda behind by making a pitcher of refreshing fruit-infused water. Fill a pitcher with your favorite citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges and limes which make great flavor enhancers without the sugar or calories.
- Skip the chips. Regular potato and tortilla chips are loaded with salt, saturated fat and empty calories. Serve up multigrain and/or gluten free chips of the veggie variety instead. You can find a wide assortment of healthier chip options including beet, sweet potato, kale and spinach chips that have far less salt and fat than their potato chip counterparts. Another benefit of multi-grain or veggie chips is the lower sodium content. Salt makes you thirsty. Feeling thirsty can often be confused with feeling hungry, leading you to want to eat more, when in reality, your body is really telling you to drink more (water, that is).
- Then, skip the dips. It’s easy to consume a day’s worth of calories and saturated fat by mindlessly noshing on chips and dips. If you’re going in for the dip, swap out that favorite high fat taco dip for this delicious, low fat and vegetable heavy taco dip recipe. Swapping out ground beef for black beans and sour cream for avocado are simple tricks for making this favorite dip lower in fat and higher in nutrition.
- Satisfy your sweet tooth with fresh fruit. But, not all fruits are created equal when it comes to sugar levels. Choose low glycemic fruits which are lower in natural sugar. Examples of low glycemic fruits include cherries, peaches, grapefruit, apples and pears. Try to limit higher glycemic fruits such as watermelon, pineapple, papaya, banana and mango which have much higher levels of sugar.
- Skip high fat mayo in side salads. Potato salad, coleslaw and macaroni salads are often staples at BBQs but with all that mayonnaise, these salads pack quite the caloric and fat punch. Try chicken salad made with creamy and delicious avocado instead of the mayo. Or, go vegan and use chickpeas and avocado instead of chicken and mayo for a delicious and nutritious side dish. See our favorite vegan chicken and avocado salad recipe.
- Go lean. Opt for grilled chicken breast in place of burgers or hot dogs. Serve our favorite BBQ sauce recipe for dipping to avoid the extra sugar you get in bottled condiments. Get our BBQ sauce recipe.
- Finally, don’t skip dessert. But make a healthier choice by swapping ice cream for refreshing Italian ice. Or, make Shakthi’s delicious vanilla coconut ice cream recipe. This delicious, non-dairy ice cream is made with all natural, low fat and delicious ingredients that are sure to satisfy any ice cream fan!
Low GI Fruits List
- Cherries
- Grapefruit
- Prunes
- Apricots, dried
- Apple
- Peach
- Pear, fresh
- Plum
- Strawberries
- Orange
- Mango
- 22
- 25
- 29
- 30
- 38
- 38
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 42
- 51
Source: Glycemic Index Food Chart
Start Living A Healthier Life
Visit https://raowellness.com/ to learn more about Shakthi’s integrated medicine practice or call us at 301-703-5067. Shakthi also offers exclusive cooking classes where patients can learn about naturally good foods to fuel the body. Learn more about our Shakthi in the Kitchen series here: https://raowellness.com/eat-heal-be-well/.