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Fats are a vital energy source for the human body that helps give our body energy and support cell growth. Fat also protects our organs and keeps our bodies warm. They help us absorb minerals and vitamins, build cell membranes, support nerve health, aid muscle movement, make blood clotting possible, and contribute to the process of inflammation to protect the body from contaminants.

Eating foods with fat can be part of a healthy diet, however, it is important to learn which foods to choose that provide good fats and balance the right amount of calories with all the foods you eat and calories you burn. 

What are the main differences between saturated and unsaturated fats?

Saturated fats are fat molecules that are tightly packed with no double bonds between the carbon molecules. Their chemical structures contain many hydrogen atoms, hence they are “saturated” with hydrogen. Unsaturated fats contain less double bonds and fewer hydrogen atoms.

What foods have saturated fats?

Saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature and naturally occur in many foods. The majority come from animal sources including meat and dairy products, and some plant oils. 

Examples  include:

• Fatty beef, pork, poultry with skin 
• lard and cream, butter, cheese, and other dairy products made from whole or reduced-fat milk. 
• Baked goods (pastries, pizza dough, cookies) and fried foods can also have saturated fat
• There are some plant-based oils such as palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil that include saturated fats.

What foods have unsaturated fats?

Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and are considered healthy fats. They contain one or more double bonds. There are two types of unsaturated fats: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fats contain only one double bond in their chemical structure while polyunsaturated fats contain two or more double bonds in their chemical structure.

Examples include:

• Nuts such as almonds
• Plant oils such as canola or vegetable oil
• Avocados
• Olives, olive oil
• Certain fish such as salmon and tuna, which contain omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids

What are the health risks/benefits of each fat?

Both fats can have different effects on cholesterol levels in our body. Saturated fats tend to raise levels of LDL cholesterol in your blood which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.  When eaten in moderation, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats can improve blood cholesterol when used in place of saturated fats as part of a healthy diet. Unsaturated fats help lower a person’s level of LDL, reduce inflammation, and can contribute to building stronger cell membranes in the body. 

Fats are a vital energy source for the human body that helps give our body energy and support cell growth. However, a diet with too much of either fat can increase body weight along which could also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. In terms of calories, both saturated and unsaturated fats contribute nine calories to every gram of fat. They are more energy-dense than carbohydrates and proteins, therefore, consuming high amounts can lead to weight gain or being overweight.  

What are ways to incorporate healthy fat?

For the most part, try choosing foods that provide monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. When possible, swap out saturated and trans fat for unsaturated fats. However, there are situations when you can’t avoid saturated fats completely since many foods have a combination of both.

Other ways you can lower your intake of saturated fats is by:

• Maintaining a diet with a variety of fo fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean dairy products, poultry, fish, and nuts
• Minimize processed foods and fried foods made with unhydrogenated oil

It’s all about practicing intentional choices and balancing the number of calories from all the foods consumed with the number of calories you burn daily. Aim for a diet that emphasizes on including a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods can also help ensure a healthy intake of fat.

Here are some recipes with healthy fats:

• Easy Smoked Salmon With Fruit Recipe
• Parsnip Fries

Heart disease is known as the “silent” killer and people don’t know they are at risk until they experience signs or symptoms of heart failure or heart attacks. Certain habits over time can increase the risk for heart disease and we don’t even know it.

It is well known that foods with high amounts of salt, sugar, saturated fat, and refined carbs raise your risk for heart disease. Intaking high amounts of saturated fat can lead to high levels of cholesterol, consuming too much sodium (the main portion of salt) can increase high blood pressure, and sugar and refined carbs can lead to weight gain and obesity. All these things contribute to a higher risk of heart disease. It is easy to identify what foods to avoid and try to limit them, but here are common habits that most people do that contribute to the risk of heart that can easily be changed and avoided.

Portion Control 

We tend to overload our plates. How much we eat is just as important as what we eat. Overeating can lead to unwanted calories which could lead to weight gain and obesity. Individuals who are obese require more blood to supply oxygen and nutrients which causes an increase in blood pressure to move the blood around. You can avoid overeating by using small plates or a small bowl to help control your portion size. Tracking servings when you eat is also recommended. Use measuring cups or spoons to portion out your food. This will be helpful until you can learn to eyeball the correct portions. 

Unhealthy Snacking

When we are hungry, we might have the tendency to snack on high-calorie foods such as meat and cheese, or sugary snacks. These items are full of saturated fat, high sodium, and added sugar. Instead of eating those snacks, it would be better to get good sources of vegetables and fruits. They are low in calories and rich in dietary fiber which will keep you full longer. They are also full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that can combat chronic inflammation that contributes to heart disease. 

Deli Sandwiches

Many consume sandwiches every day for lunch because it is budget-friendly and convenient. However, most deli meats are high in sodium. The portion size for one meal alone can contribute to most of your daily allowance for sodium in one sitting. Excess sodium increases blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in the body which creates an added burden to the heart. Instead of deli meats, swap it out with shredded rotisserie chicken, a hard-boiled egg salad with avocado. Include a spread of hummus and load up the sandwich with roasted or fresh veggies. 

Fruit Juice

Some people also consume 100 percent fruit juice to replace their soda or other sugary drinks as a healthier option, however, the portion size for many bottled fruit juice may be too large which could double the calories and sugar you need in one sitting. It would be important to read the label to know how many servings are in a bottle. It is also better to consume fruit juices that did not filter the skin because you would be missing out on the fiber that can help with normalizing elevated blood lipids which is a risk factor for heart disease.

Frozen Dinners

Frozen dinners may also be quick and convenient options for busy lifestyles. Even those that are labeled low fat and low carb may appear as if they are a healthier choice. However, these servings may contain high amounts of sodium. We always recommend cooking from scratch and batch cook meals so that you can freeze them and save them for later use.

Condiments

It’s also the little things that add up such as condiments and coffee creamer. Although the serving size for these items may appear small, many of us use them throughout the day in all of our meals. Many of these condiments can pack a large amount of sodium and sugar in a small serving size. 

Unbalanced Meals and Last-Minute Meals

Last but not least, adequate and appropriate nutrition is required for all cells to function optimally and this includes the cells in the immune system which are essential in combating the complications of heart disease. Many stick to foods that they are familiar with and do not get enough variety, let alone enough vegetables and fruit which have essential vitamins and minerals that support the immune system. Incorporating foods with antioxidants can help protect molecules from oxidative stress.

Eating foods with anti-inflammatory properties in your diet helps boost your immunity system and fight disease and help you reduce your risk of illness. Unbalanced meals usually result from last-minute food decisions. Therefore, planning your meals in advance and knowing what you will eat during the week will help ensure that you are incorporating plenty of nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean poultry, and fish. It will also help you limit foods with saturated fats, trans fats, and excess sodium and sugar. 

If you need help planning your meals in advance, Sign up for our Free Trial and get access to weekly meal plans.

You can also try some of our heart-healthy recipes:

• Healthy Roasted Broccolini And Dried Cranberries Side Dish 
• Easy Cauliflower Rice With Colorful Vegetables
• Healthy Sheet Pan Tilapia With Roasted Veggies

Food is important for nutrition, however, staying hydrated is also essential to our health. Water helps transport nutrients throughout the body and also helps flush out toxins out of our system. There is a wide variety of water to choose from, with certain waters being more expensive or providing some nutrients more than others. Here the most common types of water with their pros and cons.

Tap Water 

Water that you can get from the faucet

• Pros: Most tap waters have to meet government guidelines and are generally safe to drink. It is also convenient and almost always free and therefore very inexpensive. It also has less environmental impact than bottled water.

• Con: There is a chance that not all treatments performed aren’t up to par, but you can always purchase a home filtration system for further cleansing as a practical and safe solution. It is also recommended to take more precautions if you have weaker immune systems, pregnant, or are elderly.

Seltzer Water

Water that has been infused with carbon dioxide under high pressure to create the bubbles. 

• Pros: For someone who regularly consumes sodas, drinking seltzer water can be a healthier alternative for the beverage of choice. Plain seltzer water is calorie-free, sugar-free, and chemical-free. However, some flavored enhanced seltzers could cause some health concerns.

• Cons: Some seltzer water brands include flavor enhancers such as sodium, natural and artificial acids, sweeteners, and other additives. These could have hidden calories and extra sodium which both can contribute to weight gain. Therefore, it is important to read the ingredients on the labels and spot check for additives. 

Mineral Water

Water sourced from springs and enriched with vital minerals such as sulfur, magnesium, and calcium

• Pros: These minerals provide health benefits since your body can’t produce these on their own. It has been known to aid in the digestive system, promoting better immune health.

• Cons: The processing of the bottles at the source and distribution is quite expensive, therefore it cost more than tap water. In addition, many minerals are already obtained from a healthy, varied diet.

Spring Water

Water sourced from where the water flows, either a spring or glacier 

• Pros: It is relatively clean and free of toxins, and readily available in stores. The most known brand is Evian.

• Cons: It cost more than tap water due to its sourcing, packaging, and distribution. Some of the lesser-known brands have been known to sell without testing. In addition, it is raw and unfiltered, so it could possibly pose health risks depending on what it contains.

Distilled Water

Water that is boiled and steamed, collected, and condensed back into a liquid 

• Pros: It is one of the safest ways to devoid water of any contaminants and bacteria making it a low risk of contamination.

• Cons: Since it has no vitamins and minerals, non-mineralized water tends to pull minerals where they can from your body. Therefore, drinking too much can result in a mineral deficiency in your body as well as teeth.

Purified Water

Tap or groundwater which has been treated to remove harmful substances like bacteria, fungi, and parasites

• Pros: It is very safe to drink.

• Cons: However, you may miss out on some benefits added to tap water like fluoride to help reduce tooth decay. It is also more costly than tap water.

Alkaline Water

Water that goes through a chemical process called electrolysis that results in a higher pH level than normal tap water

• Pros: Alkaline water supposedly neutralizes acid in the body, to help slow the aging process, or even prevent cancer, however, there is very little scientific evidence that it could offer these benefits.

• Cons: It is generally safe to drink, but it could reduce stomach acidity and lower the ability to kill off harmful bacteria that you consume with your food.  Drinking in excess could lead to metabolic alkalosis and cause nausea and vomiting.

So as you can see, there are some advantages and disadvantages to the different types of water, therefore, it would be difficult to choose just one kind of water to drink. It all depends on your lifestyle, how much you’re willing to go on price point, how you want to utilize water to supplement your current nutrition, and what risks you are wanting to take with the “safety” of each water.

Nowadays, we are all looking for ways to boost our immunity. One of the best ways to stay healthy and enhance your immune system is to maintain a nutritious diet. 

Our immune system is your body’s version of an army ready to defend your health. In general, the immune system consists of organs, cells, tissues, and proteins that work together to fight anything that invades the body, and as a result, they create antibodies to fight infections, disease, or any recovery from injury.

Healthy immune systems rely on regular nourishment. However, not one food or supplement can boost an immune system on its own, so it’s a matter of eating a balanced diet and getting a combination and variety of foods to support those organs, cells, tissue, etc so that it can do its job.

So when it comes to incorporating foods to help support the functions of your immune system, you want to incorporate a combination from several food groups such as protein sources, fruit, and vegetable sources that provide large amounts of nutrients such as vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E. 

Now it may seem overwhelming knowing which foods to eat, however, many foods are readily available in many grocery stores. Keep it simple by building a healthy plate with a variety of colors and ingredients. 

Simple Immune-Boosting Foods to Add to Everyday Meals

Foods With Vitamin C

Vitamin C is known to be the biggest immune system booster. It helps with the growth and repair of cells. 

• Fruit: oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, strawberries-adds tangy, acidic, and citrus flavors 
• Vegetables: bell peppers, spinach, kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts-adds crunch (raw version can add crunchy textures we all love in our meals, and roasted veggies bring savory flavors)

Foods With Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is known to support biochemical reactions such as increasing antibody production.

• Protein: chicken, coldwater fish, such as salmon and tuna, eggs (note fatty fish also have omega 3 which helps enhance immune cells, and also the activity of white blood cells)
• Vegetables: green vegetables, chickpeas

Foods With Vitamin E

• Nuts: almonds, peanuts, hazelnut, 
• Seeds: sunflower seeds, pinenuts
• Vegetables: spinach, red sweet pepper, beet greens
• Fruit: avocado, mango, kiwi, blackberries, pomegranates

Hydration also helps boost the immune system

Staying hydrated helps eliminate toxins and waste that can cause infection. Water helps distribute nutrients throughout the body and helps flush out toxins. Not staying hydrated can also diminish energy levels which can lead to a weakened immune system. Try hydrating foods such as cucumbers, celery, and watermelon.

Spices and herbs also have health benefits

Spices and herbs add flavor to your meals, but they also help contribute to overall immunity.

• Garlic-it can act as antiseptic and antifungal to fight infections
• Ginger, turmeric, and paprika can act as antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties

Our immune system is highly dependent on the nutrients in our bodies. Incorporating a variety of foods is the key to proper nutrition. Keep in mind that you can’t just eat one strawberry and expect a quick burst of Vitamin C to prevent a cold. Eating just one of these ingredients won’t be enough to help fight off infections. There are also many other vitamins and minerals that can contribute to a healthy system, however, these are simple ingredients that you can start incorporating today.

Building a healthy immune system depends on a balanced healthy diet over time. However, many of these food items can not only enhance the flavor of your meals, but when used in combination and variety, and consumed consistently, it could definitely help boost the immune system over time. 

Here are some ways you can incorporate these foods into your meals:

• Easy Smoked Salmon With Fruit Recipe
• How To Make Shrimp Cocktail Salad
• How To Make Beef Taco Salad At Home
• Healthy Steak And Watermelon Salad

When it comes to eating healthy, convenience and budget are always something to consider. Nowadays, more and more people are looking to incorporate home cooked meals to help achieve their health goals. As with any new change in lifestyle, most people naturally will try to find ways that will be feasible for them.

Here at PrepYoSelf, we often create recipes utilizing air fryers and instant pots because of their ability to provide cooking methods that are more stress-free and hands-off in the kitchen.

Some people may forget to do their prep before cooking. For example, they forget to defrost their protein. Or they don’t want to deal with large pieces of equipment. Therefore, both of these kitchen tools solve those problems. Both are manageable sizes for a piece of equipment and both will allow you to cook frozen items directly and skip the whole defrost/thaw stage which could take hours. In essence, people save time.

What is an air fryer?

The air fryer essentially is like an amped-up oven. The difference is that it has a fan and it utilizes a more compact space to facilitate fast cooking. The fan circulates the air around making food items crisp which is similar to what you could get from deep frying, minus the extra added fat. With normal baking ovens, there is a lot of humidity, so it’s difficult for an outer crisp to occur. 

Why are air fryers worth buying?

Air fryers come with preset settings so it takes out the guesswork for someone who is not familiar with different internal cooking times for different proteins. Also, you do not need to pre-heat the air fryer like you would a normal oven, therefore, saving more time.

What are some creative ways to use an air fryer?

The Air Fryer is great for meal prep. It is the perfect size for roasting veggies and cooks large portions of protein. Therefore, you can batch cook multiple food items without having to pre-heat the oven and waste all that oven space. You can make all sorts of items in the air fryer from veggie chips to fruit chips and even bake muffins and mini cakes. You can also use it as a toaster to toast bread or even boil eggs.

What are the benefits of having an Instant Pot?

Instant pots have similar benefits to air fryers in the sense that you can take food from a frozen state to a cooked state and skip out on the thawing process. It also has settings and eliminates some of the guesswork on how long to cook a food item. 

What are the advantages of an Instant Pot?

Instant Pots are great for cooking the “cheaper” tougher cuts of meat and cooking them using the pressure cooker setting. This breaks down the connective tissues and leaves you with really tender meat. Add herbs, onions, garlic, and spices to the broth, and you have delicious infused meat. They also can cook rice, or you can use the saute option and utilize it like a skillet. Therefore, it is a versatile “stovetop” kitchen tool.

What are the common mistakes that people make with Instant Pots?

The biggest mistake people make with Instant Pots is not reading the manual. The Instant Pot has specific presets for power. The manual specifies how long it would cook certain pieces of meat. It also specifies how much liquid when using the pressure cooker. Adding too much may make your dish too soggy and overcook it. It is a very powerful piece of equipment that cooks fast. 

How can people avoid overcooking foods?

When it comes to overcooking foods, it is best to cut down cooking times by half with a pressure cooker because it gets to such a high temperature that even if you remove it from the pot, it will continue to cook due to the residual heat. If it is still not as tender as you desire, then you could always cook it longer for a few minutes under the warming setting. 

You also want to consider how your meat or food items are cut. If it’s a larger whole piece of meat, it is less likely to overcook versus sliced or cubed beef. So in general, the smaller the size of the food item, whether it’s meat or beans, the less time you want to cook it in the instant pot.

Overall both these items are great for a  “set it and forget it” way of cooking food without taking up too much counter space. We recommend investing in these two kitchen tools because there are so many ways to utilize these tools to help save time in the kitchen and still produce tasty food. Considering how much you would save on electricity, save time, and eliminate food waste, you would have a quick return on your investment. 

Try out some of our air fryer and instant pot recipes: