One of the best ways to lose weight is to change your diet and incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Stay away from foods that expand your waistline and add healthy foods, like fish, into your diet. Fish is flavorful, low in calories and a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3 acids are essential to your health, but your body can’t make them. They prevent blood clots and reduce your blood cholesterol. Fish is the perfect food for a healthy diet. The low saturated fat is a suitable replacement for high fat pork and beef. Fortunately, it’s simple to include fish into your diet.
Health benefits of fish
Fish is a lean food, but it does contain some healthy oils. The “fish oils” are called omega-3 fatty acids and offer numerous health benefits, including the prevention of heart disease and cancer, arthritis and psoriasis control, and weight loss management.
Fatty fish contains more omega-3 acids than leaner fish. However, even fatty fish like tuna, salmon and sardines contain less fat than chicken or beef.
Selecting and storing fish
Always smell fish before purchasing it fresh. Don’t purchase fish with a foul odor. The fillet, steak, or whole fish must be firm to the touch, and the scales should be clean and shiny. The fillet and steak should be moist if you want fresh fish.
Since fish spoils faster than chicken or beef, it’s best to cook the fish the same day you purchase it. However, you can safely store fish in the refrigerator if you plan to cook it the next day, but you must use an airtight container. Alternatively, you could freeze the fish if you need to keep it for a few days.
Preparing fish
The number one rule for preparing fish is to preserve the moisture. Therefore, you need to avoid direct heat or use moist-heat methods whenever possible.
So steaming and poaching are great methods for cooking lean fish, especially if you’re using it for natural weight loss.
If you’re cooking fatty fish, grilling, baking and broiling are acceptable dry-heat cooking methods as the fish will be able to preserve a lot of its moisture.
Fish cooks within minutes so pay attention if you don’t want overcooked fish. The flesh flakes easily with a fork and looks opaque when it’s cooked.
For every inch of thickness, cook the fish for 6-10 minutes. Citrus juices naturally enhance the flavor of fish. You could also use fresh seasonings like dill, basil, parsley and thyme to add more flavor to your fish dishes. Below, you’ll find a simple, delicious, and low-fat fish recipe you can use to give your weight loss plan a boost.
Baked fish with lemon sauce
For this dish, use firm-fleshed fish, like snapper fillet. You’ll also need salt, butter, freshly ground black pepper, lemon slices, white wine, fresh herbs and extra-virgin olive oil. For the sauce, you’ll need parsley, salt, pepper, chopped chives, capers, dill, lemon juice and dry white wine.
Preparation (fish): Place the fish on a sheet of baking paper and drizzle with olive oil. Then, place the package on a larger sheet of foil.
Season the fish with salt, pepper and lay the fresh herbs on top of the fish. Finally, sprinkle pieces of butter on top.
Fold the foil over to cover the fish but leave enough room at the top to capture steam. Put the fish on a tray and bake for 10 minutes.
Preparation (sauce): While the fish is baking, melt the butter in a pan. Add lemon juice, wine, chive, capers, dill and parsley, and let the mixture simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle the sauce over the cooked fish.
(via My Diet)
