The golden brown color of French fries is very desirable and they taste warm, salty and comforting. There is the more-ish taste of fat, salt and starch, and they are finger food that brings back warm childhood memories.
Potatoes are carbohydrates and the food industry promotes carbohydrates as they cause the blood sugar to rise quickly and then plummet, leaving you hungry once more. Contrarily, eating fibrous fruit and vegetables bulks out the stomach and cleans your bowel and gut. Fries are very addictive, and telling yourself that you will only eat one is putting your will power to a huge test.
Know your fries
Healthiest of all are oven chips. Home-made fries come next, but always make sure that the oil is really hot so that the potatoes fry quickly. If the oil is not hot enough, the potatoes soak up the fat. The worst fries are the very thin French fries, as they contain the most fat.
It’s time to downsize
If you must have French fries as a treat, always have a small size and eat them slowly, one at a time. Twenty years ago people would eat 65 grams of fries but today a regular portion is nearer 200 grams, which is over three times the calories.
If you feel you are addicted to fries make them a once a week treat. If you feel you deserve a treat, chose something nice and healthy that won’t make you fat.
Recipe of the week
Barbecue grilled chicken kebabs Serves 6
Ingredients
90 ml water
45 ml soy sauce
45 ml lemon juice
1 _ tbsp honey
_ tsp. garlic powder
_ tsp. ground ginger
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves cut into 4 cm pieces
skewers
1 _ green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 4 cm pieces
1 _ onions, quartered
12 large mushroom caps
Method
Combine first 6 ingredients in a glass baking dish. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and marinate at least 2 hours in refrigerator. Prepare grill. Remove chicken from marinade and boil marinade 10 minutes in a saucepan. Alternate chicken and vegetables on skewers. Grill 15 cm from medium-hot coals 15-20 minutes, or until done, turning and basting often with marinade.
Weight watch
Make breakfast your priority
When you skip breakfast, the biggest danger is that it will lead to high-fat snacking and overeating later in the day. One more reason to eat breakfast is that you can get at least 25 percent of the vitamins and minerals we require daily from most breakfast cereals. And some give you 100 percent of many nutrients. Keep one fact in mind, however. The process of fortifying cereals involves “spraying” the nutrients onto the cereal, which means many vitamins and minerals end up in the milk you pour on your cereal. So forget about etiquette. Pick up that bowl and drink up the last drop of milk, for your health’s sake!
Ask Alva
Q: I work in an office for 9 hours at a stretch. I drink only two glasses of water in 24 hours. I am a 23 year old girl, weigh 57 kilos and my height is 157 centimeters. According to me I am over weight and want to lose weight. — Nazia
A: Well the good news is that you are not overweight! But if you work in an office 9 hours a day I guess you do need to try to incorporate a bit of exercises into your life. There are so many ways you can add exercise into your daily routine without noticing it. One thing to do is get a cordless phone or else use your mobile for this. Whenever you use the phone, walk around the room, or even around your garden. You’ll be amazed at just how far you can walk during a 20 minute conversation; at a normal walking pace, that’s 1.5 kilometers! Eating right, exercising, and participating in sports can be a lot of fun. I think people often forget it’s OK to enjoy yourself in the process of staying fit and healthy. You need to find something you like to do so you’ll keep it up.
