Fried foods, especially those prepared outside the home or typical of the fast food, are usually dishes of poor nutritional quality and that nutritionists recommend avoiding in the usual diet. Although a good homemade fry may not be so harmful, in my case I have managed to eliminate fried foods from my diet, with very little effort.
Almost no fried food at home during childhood
Habits are built from a very young age and they have undoubtedly marked me to this day, making me almost without realizing it will eliminate the fried ones completely from the usual table.
Although my grandparents’ kitchen could eventually be filled with fried fritters or freshly made potato omelette in its most traditional form; at home my parents very occasionally fried foods.
Perhaps due to the laziness generated by everything that involves frying and its subsequent cleaning in the kitchen; fried foods were not common in our diet during childhood but were limited to outings where if we could taste some fried potatoes or some battered fish.
Except for the exceptions of meals prepared by others or outings where food from restaurants was bought or tasted, at home where a lot was cooked, the fried ones had almost no presence.
On the other hand, I have grown up in a small town away from the big chain stores. fast food and many ultra-processed foods, so my diet consisted mostly of baked, sautéed, boiled, grilled or grilled preparations.
Thus, in my house there were usually no French toast or fried dumplings or croquettes, but eventually a fillet or battered fish, a potato omelette or some fritters made by my maternal grandfather, when he eventually decided to pamper us with his dishes.
Entering the world of nutrition
Already as a teenager, when I left home to start my studies in nutrition, without a doubt this habit of not frying was reinforced, in the attempt to improve the quality of what I ate by moving away from dishes loaded with unnecessary fat and calories, as well as, many times, from refined flours that accompany most of the fried foods.
French fries were never to my liking and my life as a student helped me stay away from these preparations that I didn’t even know how to make with my own hands.
I have always prepared battered fillets in the oven with a moderate or small amount of oil, while I prefer to eat fish grilled.
Croquettes, fritters and French toast are not part of my usual cuisine, since they have never had a leading role on my table since I was a child and therefore, I have never missed them.
Other reasons why fried foods are not to my liking
Beyond the knowledge about nutrition and my habits created since childhood, today there are other reasons why fried foods are not to my liking.
Among them, the main one is I perceive in many fried dishes, the attenuated flavor of its main ingredients. That is to say, the vegetables in a croquette are usually lost, while a battered and later fried fish loses its essence and the flavor of the mild condiments that we can give it when we cook it on the grill.
On the other hand, to me (like my parents) I’m a little lazy to fry using a large amount of oil that later we have to recycle or dispose of properly as well as clean in the pan that we have used.
Likewise, for the diet of children I try not to establish the habit of eating fried preparations and take care of your digestion first, Trying for this reason that fried foods (heavier and indigestible) are not part of their daily table.
But beyond all this, the taste for fried foods has never developed in me, and I prefer preparations with an authentic flavor that preserve their natural essence and that, of course, are always healthier and more satiating.
I intend the same for my children: that taste natural, basic and authentic flavors and that they get the taste of it without the need to fry to incorporate, for example, an unknown vegetable or a new fish.
Well, due to all of the above, today I eat a virtually no-fried diet.without this having represented a great effort, but with many benefits for my health and that of my family.
In Vitónica | Five reasons to reduce fried foods in your diet
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