3 questions about French healthy eating habits

1. How should you eat "French"?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It should be satisfying: it's a habit to learn. Think over the menu the night before before going to bed.

At breakfast, drink a cup of hot chocolate with milk or 500 ml of green tea, thyme and rosemary infusion with a teaspoon of sugar or honey. Eat two slices of whole grain bread or two loaves of buckwheat or quinoa. Add one seasonal fruit.

If lunch is scheduled no earlier than 13:30, you can eat a handful of dried fruits with almonds between 9:30 and 11:00. Also eat fresh fruit.

Lunch should consist of:

Snacks - fresh vegetables, legumes, eggs, low-fat cheese, or vegetable soup;
main course - cereals + cooked vegetables + fish or root vegetables + dairy products + green vegetables or lean meat (chicken, rabbit, turkey) + vegetables;
dessert - fresh fruit and cheese;
two slices of whole grain bread.

Dinner is a light meal: one or two fruits, a green salad dressed with olive oil, a couple of slices of toasted bread, some almonds.

Tips from the professor

Cow's milk cheeses are not recommended to be consumed more than once a day.
Do not get carried away with fruit curds and yoghurts: they often contain too much sugar.
Cut back on sugar, and settle for what is found in fresh fruits and honey.
Bake the meat in the oven, sprinkling with broth or wine instead of oil.
Cook stew, meat broth, dishes with sauces the day before use. Fat freezes in the refrigerator and is easy to remove.

2. Which is better: boil, bake or fry?

Unwanted cooking methods

Grilled - the soot on the burnt crust contains carcinogenic benzpyrenes. You can minimize the risk by using lean meat or grilling the product for a short time.
On a spit - to avoid the formation of harmful substances, keep the food as far away from the heating source as possible.
Deep-fried - this produces carcinogenic hydrocarbons and other substances. Change the cooking oil often.
Boiling in water - vitamins and mineral salts go into the water. An exception is if you are cooking broth or soup.
The same goes for stewing and cooking in a pressure cooker. If the temperature exceeds 100 ° C (and in a pressure cooker it rises to 105 ° C), vitamins are destroyed.

The ideal way to cook is soft steam at 95 ° C. It is suitable for all dishes. The products retain their natural taste and are better absorbed.

True, in this case you have to give up the appetizing crispy crust.

The same method is suitable for cooking rice and other cereals. Use a sieve for this.

3. What is the Mediterranean type of food?

An example of a typical Mediterranean diet:

vegetables - at every meal;
one type of cereals (rice, bulgur and others), bread - every day;
fresh fruit - at least 4 times a day;
cheese, dairy products - 1-2 times a day;
fish - 3 times a week;
legumes - 1-2 times a week;
eggs - no more than 5 pieces per week.

This type of diet is distinguished by the fact that the diet is low in saturated fat, high in complex carbohydrates (fruits and vegetables), vegetable protein predominates (cereals and legumes grown in the Mediterranean), many products that are grown or produced in this region (fish, olive oil, wine).

The Mediterranean diet is considered a good prevention of cardiovascular disease and various types of cancer. Anti-cancer ingredients are found in broccoli, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, blackberries, apples, kiwi, green tea, and garlic powder.