Reduce, Replace, Recover!

The thought of ‘eating healthy’ usually brings to mind feelings of deprivation, biting hunger from crash diets, and other unpleasant things that can overshadow all the many pros – more energy, slimmer waistlines, better skin, etc. You’ve all heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’, and it makes sense, really – you only get out of something what you put into it, and it’s the same with your body!

At Eat Water, we’re more in favour of moderation and eating smart. Diets involving high amounts of deprivation never get kept, and usually end in the mother of all binges! So don’t deprive yourself – just be smart about what you consume and how much. One of our favourite tricks to this end is to simply substitute a bunch of, shall we say, ‘nutritionally challenged’ ingredients in our kitchen with healthy alternatives. Here are a few.

Whole wheat flour instead of white flour

You can use this for nearly any baked item, and it works just as well while giving you a fibre boost! So you’ve got brownies with a deliciously different texture that actually aid digestion and so on. Just substitute ⅞ cup whole wheat flour for every cup of white flour.

Organic or natural instead of ‘reduced-fat’ and ‘low-calorie’ condiments

‘Reduced fat’ versions may actually have more sugar and other agents that make you put on weight! To maintain their levels of flavour, they’re packed with artificial additives and flavouring agents like HFCS that can give you an overdose of sugar, even if the product doesn’t seem to taste sweet.

Evaporated skimmed milk instead of cream

This has exactly the same consistency – without the fat! What could be better? Just swap a cup of cream for a cup of evaporated milk!

Mashed turnip instead of mashed potatoes

Mashed turnip has less than a third of the calories of mashed potatoes, and doesn’t need loads of butter and milk – it has a naturally creamy consistency. Season as usual, and enjoy a portion of significantly calorie-cut mash!

Avoid white rice and regular pasta and noodles

Substitute your white rice with brown rice, or with grated steamed cauliflower, and get rid of your white pasta in favour of whole wheat pasta or innovative vegetarian substitutes like zucchini ribbons or spaghetti squash. Or just cut out the calories altogether for a few meals and use konjac substitutes like Slim Rice, Noodles and Pasta. Just stay away from that bleached white flour – it’s got very little nutritional value and is mostly just empty calories!

So there you go! Let us know some of your favourite ingredient substitutes!