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How to Make Your Comfort Foods Healthier

How to Make Your Comfort Foods Healthier

We all have our own personal comfort foods, whether it’s that favorite desert or pasta recipe, but can we make them healthier? There are a few simple ways to reduce calories in your comfort foods without sacrificing taste, leaving that home-cooked flavor along with a slim figure. Let’s explore a few.

First on the list is cheese, which adds many calories and saturated fat to your comfort foods. Always use a low or no fat cheese in your recipes to cut back on these additional calories and saturated fats. And unless the cheese is an integral ingredient, like in a grilled cheese comfort sandwich, omit it. Another biggie to omit is excess oil or butter where it is not necessary. When greasing a pan or sautéing veggies, use a light cooking spray instead of butter.

If you’re preparing a comforting stew or casserole, the best way to make these healthier are by adding in lots of extra vegetables. Use fresh or frozen vegetables; dice and chop them, shred them, or add them whole and you’ll get a bigger-volume meal with lots of added nutrients. And for you meat lovers, try substituting lean ground turkey for ground beef in your favorite burgers, tacos, stews or meatloaves. It’s almost impossible to notice the difference in taste or texture, and you’ll be comforting your insides with a great source of protein without the extra saturated fat and cholesterol found in red meat.

Another ingredient to avoid in your comfort food recipes is whole or heavy cream. To avoid high amounts of saturated fat, use a low fat dairy, such as 1% or 2%, a fat-free creamer or plain soymilk with a creamy consistency in your favorite comfort food recipes. And yet another great way to healthier comfort foods is by using whole grains wherever grains are used. Whole grains supply the body with many nutrients, and are more nutritious than white, refined products. Choose brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, and whole-wheat bread

Now that we covered the basics of making comfort foods healthier, are there foods that are naturally comforting? According to SpecialtyFood.com, there are some scientifically proven comfort foods. Natural anxiety reducers include berries, oranges and asparagus. The carbs in berries turn to sugar slowly, preventing blood sugar from plummeting, and they are high in vitamin C, which suppresses the stress hormone cortisol. Oranges are also full of vitamin C and will lower levels of cortisol and blood pressure. Asparagus is good for lowering stress because of its levels of folic acid, a natural mood enhancer. Good snacking foods like guacamole and mixed nuts also do the trick. Avocados are full of the B vitamins, which help your body maintain nerves and brain cells. And to keep the Bs flowing, mixed nuts, especially walnuts, are loaded. You’ll get zinc in Brazil nuts and vitamin E in almonds, which help fight cellular damage linked to chronic stress. Two other foods that will keep you calm are Chai tea and dark chocolate.

Another way to keep comfort foods healthier is by eating the proper portions. Registered dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix talks about “eating memories” when it comes to comfort foods. “We eat them not because they taste so fantastic, but because of what they represent,” she told USA Today. “If they're the kind of comfort foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients, (the calories) could add up quickly,” says Taub-Dix, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. She doesn’t encourage people to avoid foods they love but recommends planning and portion control.

And eating healthier has its economic gains also. As Michael Pollan points out in his book In Defense of Food, Americans spend roughly the same percentage of their income of food and health care as they did twenty years ago. However, they used to spend more on food and less on health care and now they spend less on food and more on health care. It isn’t a coincidence. The money you save when purchasing cheap processed foods will cost you much more than that later to treat the obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease triggered by those foods. Use these tips and you can still enjoy those favorite comfort foods without sacrificing health.