Free Low Fat Recipies Search! Enter Your Topic Below:

Chapter 4-How to Be Really Well, the Low-Fat Way

Your Diet Is the Key to Your Health | A Healthy Diet Does Not Mean Starvation or Tasteless Foods | You Do Not Have to Lose Energy – Good Diet Increases Vigor | Almost Everyone Can Benefit from a Low-Fat Diet | The Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Program:
| Foods Permitted | Soaps | Meats | Fish | Poultry | Eggs | Cheeses | Vegetables | Fruits | Salads and Salad Dressings | Cereals | Breads | Desserts | Beverages
| Foods to Avoid | Soaps | Meats | Fish | Poultry | Dairy Products | Eggs | Breads | Desserts | Miscellaneous Foods

Your Diet Is the Key to Your Health

Diet is an important factor in the cause and cure of many ills. The wrong foods can cause allergic reactions ranging from the well-known straw­berry rash to death from allergic asphyxiation. The right foods can help you clear up such allergic reactions. The wrong foods can bring on overweight, sap your energy, rob you of zest and well-being. And in the degenerative diseases of the heart and blood vessels, diet is the key; it is the difference between active good health and dangerous illness.

Not all doctors are agreed as to the exact role of the high-fat diet in the development of those circulatory disorders that account for more than one-half of the total deaths in this nation each year. But a careful and continuing study of the subject for more than 15 years, both in the laboratory and in my private practice, has left no doubt in my mind. It is diet that cocks the trigger of the deadly weapon now aimed at the hearts and brains of millions of Americans. Whether that trigger is ever pulled will depend, admittedly, on a number of other things: heredity, occurrence of other diseases in the victim, certain hormones, stresses, biochemical factors, and so on. But why play Russian roulette with your heart?

By eliminating certain foods from your diet, by including others in the right amounts, and by the use of nutritional sup­plements, you can achieve at least a 50 per cent protection against heart attack. We shall consider dietary supplements in Chapter 5. Now let's see what foods are good for your health and which foods are not.

Unfortunately, as simple as proper dieting is, doctors have found it to be one of the most difficult measures to prescribe for their patients, and one of the most difficult to get them to follow consistently. Proper diet is the easiest and safest thing a physician can prescribe. But because eating habits are so firmly established with most patients, and because dietary therapy takes time, many follow a stop-and-go routine that offers little long-range benefit.

A Healthy Diet Does Not Mean Starvation or Tasteless Foods

Yet a corrective diet does not mean either starvation or the grim necessity of eating unpalatable foods. Moreover, a little experimenting in the kitchen will soon produce meals that, from the standpoint of taste and esthetic appeal, will be equal if not superior to, the high-fat dishes to which you are accustomed.

In the following pages you will find ways and means of satisfying your appetite and of stimulating it in such a way that it can be constantly surprised and pleased. This is done by a little originality on your part plus a break with old cooking and eating habits that have grown into fixed, and often monot­onous, dining patterns. Your palate will be grateful for the change. And you will experience on the low-fat diet a startling increase in vigor and vitality, a new sense of well-being.

You Do Not Have to Lose Energy—Good Diet Increases Vigor

Neither does it mean a loss of energy or a sharp reduction in poundage, unless you are overweight, in which case the excess fat is melted off. In fact, if you adhere to the low-fat, low-cholesterol diet recommended in these pages, you will feel better, have more vigor, and firmer muscles than before. If you have a faulty fat metabolism, the diet may substantially prolong your life. You will find more energy. You will be able to accomplish more and enjoy better what you do accomplish.

The low-fat, low-cholesterol diet is not intended for growing children and young persons under 20. The fatty acids contained in an unrestricted diet are apparently favorable to their growth and development.

At the same time, there is the incontrovertible fact that hun­dreds of millions of children in the Orient and elsewhere de­velop to their normal physical growth and healthy adulthood on a low-fat diet. Apparently the reason for this is that nature has endowed them with the ability to synthesize or produce within the body itself from other foodstuffs eaten, the essential fatty acids found in high-fat diets.

However, additional fats above and beyond those actually required and eaten in the diet are metabolized and discarded by children, or are absorbed without being deposited in harmful amounts on the artery walls. But after the period of growth is completed, and nature has exhausted her protective powers against fats, excess amounts are deposited in the artery walls. This tendency increases with each decade after you are 30 years of age.

Almost Everyone Can Benefit from a Low-Fat Diet

There are, of course, some individuals whose blood is so low in cho­lesterol and blood fats that dietary restrictions are not necessary. But these persons are decidedly in the minority; and such a condition can only be determined by a competent physician, who will order a laboratory measurement of serum cholesterol levels in the blood. People who are fortunate enough to possess these low-cholesterol levels (fixed around a 200 milligram value) are able to handle all fats ingested. They are usually characterized by outstanding vitality and are inclined to long lives. They rarely suffer from blood vessel diseases and heart attacks.

I had such a person as a patient of mine in one of my teach­ing wards at the County Hospital. She was a Mexican-Indian woman whose documented age was 110 years. Despite this re­markable fact, and despite her other infirmities (which were not associated with degenerative blood vessel disease), she was quite spry. My research laboratory took samples of her blood and analyzed them with keen interest to see how much cho­lesterol and blood fats it would contain. In repeated tests, we found her cholesterol levels remained consistently within the range of 100 milligrams. Her other blood fats were cor­respondingly low.

Compared with what we regard as "normal" values of blood cholesterol in the United States (150-250 milligrams), this patient's values appeared to be surprisingly low. However, the 100 milligram level discovered in the little old Mexican-Indian lady, who was born in 1840 and brought up on a diet of legumes, fruits, and Indian corn, was probably a more accurate example of what the ideal cholesterol level should be.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from this vivacious cen­tenarian are many individuals who have inherited what we of the medical profession call familial hypercholesterolemia. These words are a term referring to persons who have inherited abnormally high levels of blood cholesterol. These are the unfortunate ones throughout whose families runs the devasta­tion of heart attacks and strokes, usually coming in the prime of life.

Such a condition is often discovered accidentally during a routine checkup by an able physician. He may note such signs as cholesterol deposits in the form of whitish plaques under the eye (called xanthalasma); or as a crescent along the periphery of the pupil in the eye (called an arcus senilis). Such indications may also be observed by the alert physician in various other parts of the body, including the elbows, arms, legs, heels, and hands. Many times the condition may reveal itself in the arteries inside the eyes, when they are checked by a competent eye doctor.

Whether such danger signals exist or not, however, if you are a man over 20 or a woman over 40, a diet comprising not more than 10 to 20 per cent of fat in calories can offer some measure of protection against heart and blood vessel disease. Such a low-fat diet can, in fact, help you to enjoy the kind of over-all good health that makes life worth living. So, for your health's sake, follow the recommendations found in the rest of this chapter and avoid those foods that may destroy your health and your heart.

The Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Program:

FOODS PERMITTED
Soups

Emphasize bouillons and consommes, as they are nutritious, filling, and low in calories and fats. They are ideal for relieving that hungry feeling quickly and picking you up in the process. Soups are great to warm you up instantly in cold weather and, in the jellied form, to cool you off in hot weather. Soups stim­ulate the digestive juices, start the stomach and intestinal muscles churning and "warmed up" for the job ahead, while "flushing out" the stomach and getting it ready to stoke the digestive furnace.

Use fat-free vegetable soups, vegetable broths, and soups prepared with skimmed milk.

It is imperative to remove all visible fat and grease from the soup. Here are some good ways to do this:

1.  Refrigerate or chill the soup first: then carefully remove the fat and grease that has caked on the top with a knife, spoon, or other suitable utensil.

2.  If there is not time for refrigerating or chilling the soup first, use bread slices by direct application to the top layer of the soup, in order to blot up or absorb the grease.

3.  Place some lettuce leaves on top of the heated soup. When you see the fat absorbed onto the leaf or leaves, remove them. The lettuce leaf may also impart a slight flavor to the soup, helping to lend a little zest.

4.  Blot up the top layer of grease by floating one or more paper towels on the surface of the soup. When it is fat-saturated, discard the towel; it is a greasy reminder of escape from unhealthy calories.

Dry soup mixes are quite low in fat and are very enjoyable. Some soup manufacturers prepare canned soups that have about a half-teaspoonful of fat per serving of soup when diluted equally with water. Vegetable and vegetable-beef canned soups, however, are very low in fat content and are thus highly desirable for the low-fat diet.

Meats

Beef, veal, and lamb are naturally high in both visible and "invisible" fat and cholesterol. However, since their protein con­tent is most desirable for energy and palatability, and because of custom, they are basic ingredients in the low-fat diet. Much of the dietary fat allowance is contained in meat, which has its greatest amount of calories predominantly in fat. It must be kept in mind that the butcher will at all times allow a max­imum of fat to remain on every cut of meat for reasons of added price and the presumption of "quality." This visible fat must be carefully cut away and trimmed while raw, before cooking. During the cooking, baking, or broiling of the meat, the fat should be drained off by keeping the meat or roast on racks. One ideal way of removing most of the fat content of meat and making it almost fat free is to partially cook it on the day before it is to be eaten. Refrigerate the meat and the broth. On the following day it is now easy to remove the layer of grease that has floated to the top and hardened.

Buy and eat lean meats. If you are having ground meat, specify to the butcher that it is to be made from trimmed, lean meat. Bear in mind that the highest fat content is present in the prime and choice grades of beef, lamb, and veal (which are more expensive too), since they originate from fattened animals. Less fat and good quality is contained in meats that bear the stamp "U.S. Good."

Do not fry meats. Pan-cook or brown without fat or grease, if desired, by using a dry skillet; heat and salt it first before the meat is placed in it, while turning the meat repeatedly. After it is as brown as desired, cook slowly until well done or rare, whichever you wish.

A preparation called "Pantastic" (manufactured by G. N. Coughlan Company, West Orange, New Jersey) is one method of cooking with pans and reducing fat to a minimum. It pre­vents meats and other foods from sticking to the pan so that grease and fat-free cooking is possible.

Remember that among meats pork, bacon, and ham are highest in fat and cholesterol content. They should not be eaten on the low-fat diet other than occasionally, if permitted by your doctor or by the virtual absence of other fat-containing foods in your menus for the day. The same is generally true of sausages, and organ foods like brains, sweatbreads, and kidneys. Liver is an exception, however, as we will see later.

If gravy is desired for the flavoring of meats, it must be prepared free of its usual very high fat content. The regular brown drippings found at the bottom of the pan after meat is cooked must have the meat juices separated from the excep­tionally high melted fats. Separate the fat in this gravy by chilling or refrigeration. Remove the thick layer of caked grease as described above by spoon and by blotting with bread or ab­sorbent paper. Fat-free gravies can also be made by consulting various low-fat cookbooks.

Instead of gravies, meats can be flavored and made to look appetizing by the following garnishes: watercress, parsley, cel­ery, carrots, radishes, pimento, pickles, paprika, green peppers, cucumbers, mushrooms, and onions in various shapes and com­binations. Also helpful are spiced peaches, pears, prunes, apricots, cinnamon apples, spiced watermelon rind, applesauce, cinnamon pears, pineapple pieces, broiled bananas, seasoned tomatoes, herbs, and the various relishes such as mint jellies and sauces, chili, catsup, cranberry jellies, chutney, and many others.

Also appealing are some of the following seasonings: garlic cloves, thyme, marjoram, basil, oregano, bay, and peppermint.

Fish

As a rule, fish are often excellent low-fat food sources. Un­like meats, very little fats will be cooked out of the fish, so attempting to drain off fish fats in cooking is unnecessary.

Some fish are especially low in fat, such as perch, haddock, flounder, sturgeon, smelts, scallops. Others like brook trout, porgy, cod, and croakers are somewhat higher in fat content, but are still quite low in fat content when compared with meats.

Shell-fish are outstandingly low in fat and cholesterol con­tent. Lobster, shrimps, and crabs are ideal examples. Clams are next in line; oysters are a bit higher in fat content, but are still low in comparison with beef, lamb, or veal. For the con­noisseurs, frogs-legs are also low in fat content.

Tuna is now packed in dietetic form called "Chicken-of-the-Sea Brand" and is particularly low in fat. Many canned fish when not packed in oil are very low in fat.

Poultry

Chicken and turkey are excellent sources of animal proteins for low-fat, low-cholesterol content, provided lean poultry is used. The dark meat of poultry is higher in fat content than white meat. Skin should be discarded. Giblets are very high in fat content.

Guinea hen and squab are also comparatively low in fat content. However, duck and goose are extremely high in fat and should not be included unless the fat is drained off and removed by the methods recommended in the section under meats. As a matter of fact, the fat from chicken and turkey, even though much less quantitatively than that in meat, is best drained off and removed in the same manner as in the prepara­tion and cooking of all meats.

Eggs

Egg whites, which are proteins, may be eaten and used for cooking as much as desired. The yellow portion of the egg, or the yolk, contains one of the most concentrated forms of fat available—namely cholesterol—and therefore should be avoided.

Milk and Milk Products

One pint or more daily of non-fat or skim milk should be taken. Use fortified milk with added amounts of vitamin A and D, as now commonly in use. Buttermilk is also a refreshing source of milk with an exceedingly low-fat content.

As an added source of fat-free or low-fat protein, skim or fat-free milk can be fortified by adding to each glass of milk one or more tablespoonsful of dried, skim milk. This "fortified" milk also has a thick creamy taste and can be flavored to suit the individual taste with various flavoring agents. Yogurt made from non-fat milk can also be used for nutritious variety.

Cheeses

The majority of cheeses are very high in butterfat content and so cannot be used in the low-fat diet. There are several important exceptions, however. First is cottage cheese made from dry curd and non-fat milk, as specified by federal law. Cottage cheese must contain a minimum amount of butterfat to meet legal requirements.

One of the most frequent pitfalls in the use of cottage cheese is the user's failure to notice that often she is using or buying creamed cottage cheese, which of course does contain fat. Res­taurants in particular use creamed cottage cheese in their menus, and this should be borne in mind when eating out. This creamed cottage cheese can be corrected by washing it out with cold water through a strainer. Various brands of cottage cheese that taste like creamed cottage cheese are available, such as "Slim Cheez" or Ricotta Cheese made from milk whey and a favorite of Italian cooks. There are also other foreign brands of cheeses low or negligible in fat content, which are processed from non-fat milk or whey, such as the Geska type of Sapsago cheese (Swiss green cheese), certain Scandinavian cheeses, and in the United States brands of jack cheese made from skim milk or whey. Cheese spreads or dips made from non-fat or cottage cheeses are also widely used for low-fat menus.

Vegetables

Vegetables are virtually fat free and contain no cholesterol.

Certainly the acid test or taste (!) of the good cook is in the preparation of vegetables. To prepare vegetables without butter or fat means that a little originality is required by the cook, such as by the use of herbs or seasoning. Since many of the vital vitamins and minerals in vegetables may be destroyed by cooking, the ideal use of raw vegetables is the most desirable for any menu, and especially for the low-fat menus. However, because many vegetables are cooked, it is best not to soak them, and to save and use in other dishes the water used for the cooking, to avoid using soda and to avoid overcooking or re­heating of the vegetables.

The addition of bouillon cubes as a substitute for butter in the cooking of vegetables is very helpful and palatable. The sub­sequent addition of herbs before serving the vegetables adds further to the natural flavor.

Fruits

Fruits also contain virtually no fat and are entirely free of any cholesterol. Two notable exceptions, however, are the avocado and the coconut, which are both very high in fat content and thus should be avoided. Otherwise there is no restriction on the use of fruits, which are also certainly ideal for desserts.

Salads and Salad Dressings

Use raw vegetables almost exclusively, since the vitamin value is at peak this way, and the crispness of the vegetables is most appetizing. No fat or cholesterol is concerned unless specifically added. Fruit salads are in the same category and are par­ticularly refreshing and nutritious. Various combinations can be used with vegetables, cottage cheese, or gelatin recipes. When fresh fruits are not in season, use dried, canned, or frozen fruits. Gelatin salads are special favorites to many, especially when made with fruit juices instead of water. Aspic salads are ex­cellent when prepared with vegetables or vegetable juices. If cottage cheese is added to gelatin and aspic salads, more protein and "body" results.

Salad dressings low in fat content are readily available from various manufacturers under such trade names as Mar-se Diet Rite (Lo-Calorie Mayonnaise Substitute), Diamel Diet Whip, and others. These do contain a relatively small degree of fat, however, so it is best to prepare your own fat-free dressings whenever possible, such as the one described in the recipe, page 77. Small amounts of mineral oil are preferred by some for salads, but if used more than occasionally this is not desirable, since mineral oil tends to interfere with absorption of vitamin A in the food. If allowance is made for the caloric content of the vegetable oils described in Chapter 5, soya-oil, cornseed oil, and cottonseed oil are valuable for use in salad dressings. As explained in Chapter 5, these vegetable oils are excep­tions to other fatty foods in that they contain large amounts of unsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids are very effective in reducing the fats and the cholesterol present in the blood stream. They are thus "protective" against the harmful effects upon the arteries of other fats, such as contained in butter, milk, eggs, and cream.

Don't forget eye-appeal in preparing an appetizing salad.

The following garnishes are particularly nutritious and appealing: watercress, croutons, garlic, chives, pimiento, lemon, lime, orange or tangerine and other fruits, mint, carrots, beets, green onions, celery, radishes, cottage cheese, parsley, pickles and peppers, ketchup, vinegar, non-fat yogurt, herbs, and spices.

Cereals

These are nutritious, energy producing, and virtually fat free. Therefore, all cooked or dry cereals are excellent carbohydrate foods, if served with non-fat milk. The taste is enormously en­hanced by the addition of stewed or fresh fruits such as bananas, prunes, peaches, pears, apricots, berries, dates and figs, raisins, or baked apple.

Whole wheat and whole grain cereals are also an important source of vitamin B complex and protein in the low-fat diet. Their cooking can be done with skim milk if it is not boiled or burned. The addition of one-to-four tablespoonsful of wheat germ to the cereal is a most desirable nutritional supplement and is an ideal daily food when added to the cereal.

For those who work and feel best beginning the day with a substantial breakfast, the inclusion of the above cereal, skim milk, fruit, and wheat germ "combo" is excellent for energy, proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

Breads

Both white and whole wheat breads contain only a negligible amount of fat (approximately 5 per cent by weight) a minority quantity of protein (about 20 per cent); the rest is carbohydrate.

Whole wheat bread is the healthiest, most nutritious form of the "staff of life." Bakeries customarily incorporate some lard, butter, or egg yolk in most yeast loaf bread, sweet rolls, rolls, muffins, buns, and coffee cake. Various enriched breads now on the market are also nutritious as far as vitamin B complex is concerned, and often may match 100 per cent whole wheat, rye, or pumpernickel breads in this regard.

Desserts

Fat-free sweets are great energy producers as well as com­forting for that "sweet-tooth." Excellent, but high in calories because of sugar content, are jams, jellies, marmalade, honey, molasses, maple syrup, and sugar; hard candies and candies without nuts, creams, or chocolate are also fat-free.

Beverages

A wide choice of fat-free drinks is available to all, such as tea, coffee, coffee substitutes, skim, fat-free milk, non-fat milk cocoa, skim milk powder shakes, and egg white eggnogs. Where desired for additional nutriments, flavoring can be added to these flavored skim milk drinks in between meals or at bedtime.

Fruit and vegetable juices are also appealing and nutritious, as is fat-free yogurt. Carbonated drinks such as ginger ale, Coca-Cola, 7-Up, and others are also fat-free and popular.

FOODS TO AVOID
Soups

All creamed soups are high in fat content. The commercially prepared ones are particularly fat-heavy, and since the fat can­not be readily removed from them, they should not be used. It is always a good idea to read the label carefully on any packaged product from which soup is being made. The law pertaining to the labelling of foods requires a description of any fat con­tained in the product, so undesirable sources of fat can be avoided.

Meats

Glandular organs such as sweetbreads, brains, kidneys, caviar, fish roe, and giblets are high in cholesterol and fat content, so should be avoided. Pork and pork products, bacon, and ham are also high in fat and cholesterol and should not be eaten, except at an occasional meal.

As already mentioned, liver is an exception to the list of glandular organs to be avoided. It is quite desirable as a valuable nutritional source of essential vitamins and minerals, and because of the "protective" content of phospholipids that counteract the action of fat and cholesterol, it is not harmful.

Fish

Certain fish are high in fat content and are best avoided. These are: bass, bluefish, butterfish, deviled crab, eel, herring, mackerel, scalloped or fried oysters, pompano, salmon, sardines, shad, and trout.

Poultry

Both duck and goose are very high in fat and cholesterol con­tent and so should be avoided unless prepared in the fat-free way described under the section of "Meats Permitted," page 58.

Dairy Products

Whole milk, cream, butter, and cheeses such as American cheddar, Swiss, cream, creamed cottage, cheese spreads, Gruy-ere, Edam, Limberger, Liederkranz, Parmesan, Roquefort, and Yogurt made from whole milk are all high in fats and should be eliminated from your diet.

Eggs

Egg yolks are exceptionally high in cholesterol and fat con­tent. They are often used by medical investigators and re­searchers to produce atherosclerosis and "hardening of the arteries" in experimental animals.

Breads

Hot breads, pancakes, waffles, coffee cakes, muffins, buns, doughnuts, Danish pastry, sweet rolls—all contain some appreciable amount of lard, butter, or egg yolk. Those especially interested in home baking can find recipes for these fat-free breads and pastries in low-fat cook books, if desired.

Desserts

All those made with butter, egg-yolks, or cream, such as pies, cakes, pastries, cookies, custards, eclairs, gingerbread, shortcake, and puddings. Notoriously high in fat and cholesterol are ice-cream, parfaits, and frozen creams.

Miscellaneous Foods

Avocados, coconuts, nuts, cholocate, cocoa, fat contained in the usual salad dressings, gravies, and sauces are all very fatty. Animal fats, including lard and suet, should particularly be avoided in cooking.

Frying should be completely eliminated in the preparation of foods, not only because of its high fat production, but also because of its unhealthy way of interfering with the normal digestion of foods and essential nutriments and vitamins, the irritating character and effect on the digestive tract of the fried fats, and the destruction of vitamins and essential foodstuffs in the food that is fried. Even vegetable fats are best not used. An exception can be made for vegetable oils such as soya oil, cornseed oil, and cottonseed oils as described on page 72.

Alcohol has no fat content, so there are no restrictions on its use other than by the dictates of common sense and self-control. Don't forget that the calories in liquors can easily mount up!

The low-fat, low-cholesterol menus found in this book, if followed conscientiously, will provide you with a nutritious, natural diet, one that will help protect you against heart and blood vessel disease. At the same time, it is a diet that will greatly improve your general state of health and increase your vitality.

As you will discover in Chapter 7, you can lengthen your lifespan by a definite number of years by keeping your weight down on this diet. Check the tables on pages 133 and 134 to see how many years you may expect to add to your life just by main­taining the proper weight, irrespective of heart disease.

Then ask yourself, "Isn't it worth a change in my eating habits?"

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here….