Heartburn Prevention When Cooking
To borrow from an old saying, heartburn prevention begins at home. Just keep in mind some basic guidelines to reduce fat when cooking. Changes in how you prepare food can go a long way toward heartburn prevention. And, as a bonus, following these heartburn prevention tips also may reduce cholesterol.
Reducing Fat from Meat
You don’t have to give up meat to get the heartburn prevention benefits of reducing fat.
- Use low-fat alternatives to ground beef, such as ground turkey, chicken or soy-based substitutes.
- Trim fat and skin from meat before you cook or eat it.
- Drain the fat when browning meat before adding other ingredients.
- Avoid goose and duck, which are extremely high in fat.
- If you are eating processed meat, such as hot dogs and lunchmeat, choose low-fat alternatives.
Reducing Fat from Dairy and Eggs
If you’re careful, your heartburn prevention regimen can include dairy and eggs.
- Wean yourself from whole milk and whole milk cheeses, moving from 2% to 1% and eventually fat-free skim milk.
- Try low-fat, reduced-fat, light or part-skim yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese and hard cheese.
- Avoid cream sauces, using skim, 1% or evaporated skim milk instead.
- Use egg whites in place of whole eggs (one whole egg equals the whites from two eggs).
Other Ways to Reduce Fat
Heartburn prevention tactics also include these additional fat-reducing tips.
- Bake, broil, roast or microwave instead of frying. Even when you fry, use a non-stick, low-fat cooking spray.
- Use wine, broth or fruit juice instead of oil-based marinades and basting sauces.
