How to Turn something Unhealthy into a Healthy Meal

Let's face this! We're human and we do get lazy sometimes, especially when it comes to time-consuming in cooking that we tend to go for the fastest and most convenient option. With my tight schedule, I know that I do not have tons of time to prepare a nice cozy lunch. This is me... I generally skip breakfast, eat a big lunch, and then a small portion of dinner. I want something filling, not too fattening and still healthy, but at the same time quick and easy!

Ramen is my top choice! Now, I know that every dietician would probably disagree with me on this point. But, eating healthy or not sometimes isn't about "what" you eat, rather it's about "how" you eat it! It depends on how well you can balance yourself, the portion and what you chose to eat. For instance, you're craving for that velvety super delicious slice of cheesecake and you want to eat it every week; but at the same time, you don't wanna gain weight. Well then, it depends on how well you can "control" yourself. Yes... You can have that slice of cheesecake, every week! But, you have to make sure that throughout the week you're gonna intake a lot of carbs, trans fats, and cholesterol. And, you have to make sure that you'd only eat one - two slice per week, again depends on how well you can balance other diet to satisfy your crave.



For me, I eat instant noodles on a daily basis - for lunch! Not only because it is convenient for me, but it's because I'm almost to "obsessed" with it. I just love the taste of noodles in general. I generally dislike rice over anything noodles-ish (pho, vermicelli, pasta, spaghetti, udon, etc.) So, to me if I was to eat instant noodles everyday, I'd rather making it healthier and I'm gonna show you some tips in how to turn an unhealthy meal into a healthy and most tasty meal that you're gonna love.

  1)   When you pick out instant noodles, make sure that the noodles are not deep-fried. You can tell by looking that the strands of the noodles from the brand. If they're super yellow almost has a honey tint to it, that means it's gone under A LOT deep-fried process. The whiter the strands the less deep-fried they are.

Undergone a lot deep-fried

Usually you can tell by the brands too. Thai and Vietnamese instant noodles are mostly deep-fried and use A LOT MSG in their ingredients. Japanese and Korean instant noodles undergone less deep-fried process and they generally have no MSG in their ingredients (depends on the brands).

 Less deep-fried

  2)   Look at their ingredients and make sure that they contain no monosodium glutamate (msg). A little bit of Msg once in a while won't hurt if your body isn't sensitive, but if you eat instant noodles on a regular basis like me... Please look at the ingredient!

  3)   Add lots of Veggies.
Tomatoes are loaded with Vitamin C as well as antioxidant properties. According to Dr. Jessica Wu, M.D, author of Feed Your Face, the antioxidants in cooked tomatoes are actually absorbed better by the body than raw tomatoes. Here's what I've found:

Tomato sample were heated to 88 degree Celsius for two minutes, 15 minutes, and 30 minutes. Consistent with previous studies, vitamin C content decreased by 10, 15, and 29% respectively when compared to raw, uncooked tomatoes. However, the research revealed that the beneficial trans-lycopene content of the cooked tomatoes increased by 54, 171 and 164% respectively.

Lycopene is a property of antioxidant and trans-lycopene is a straight-chain compound that presents in red tomatoes. (For more info on Cooked Tomatoes, visit the link in the source below). 1 Tomato everyday should be good.

Green Lettuce are also enriched with 2 types of antioxidants, beta-carotene and lutein, which could reduce risk of cancer and hip fractures in women. The darker the green and red leaf the better in providing antioxidants. Fill up your bowl with lots of lettuce. Don't worry, as you pour the hot soup on the top, they will shrink down to 1/4 of the bowl.

 - This is what my everyday lunch is like -

 (Written by Tina from BeautyToast)

Source: 

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Cooking-tomatoes-boosts-health-benefits