Healthy lifestyle and Diet- swapping the bad with the good..

It is hard, at the best of times, to stick to a healthy lifestyle and diet, and there are foods out
there that can completely ruin your chances of this. With the staple ingredients in Malaysian dishes being high in cholesterol such as coconut milk, clarified butter and sugar cane, we think that the Malaysian diet is among the unhealthiest food in the World.

It maybe an Asian gastronomic heaven and the diversity reflects the culture, but the truth is, these sinful delights are not only making it incredibly hard to stick to a healthy diet and lose weight, but that obesity levels, diabetes, strokes and heart disease are all on the increase and Malaysia has the highest rates in South East Asia.

The Nutrition Society of Malaysia says that: “Healthy eating is about meeting your daily nutritional requirements, while avoiding the deficiencies and excesses that contribute to the risk of diet-related diseases.

Lets look at some local and foreign delights that are truly bad for you and suggest delicious substitutes. That way, you'd be able to stick to your diet easier.

1.White Rice
While we know that rice is a staple part of the Malaysian diet and is pretty much served with most traditional dishes, we aren’t saying cut it out completely. While it isn’t a deadly sin, as we know, too much of something is not good.
White rice pretty much just converts to glucose (sugar) in your system and while most of it is used for energy, any excess will be stored as fat. It also probably won’t help you meet your nutritional goals as once it's cooked, the germ, fibrous chaff, and bulk of nutritional value gets stripped away. The result is refined starch that is largely deprived of its original nutrients

Healthy alternative: brown rice
Brown rice, on the other hand, is great, and after eating brown rice for a while, you’ll find white rice to be rather bland. With brown rice, you are going to get more dietary fibre out of it, and it provides 15 essential nutrients. The Nutrition Society of Malaysia emphasises that “whole grain products have a greater amount of iron, phosphorus, B-vitamins (thiamine, niacin & riboflavin) and fibre.”
By metabolising slowly and maintaining stable levels of blood sugar and/or serotonin, brown rice snips away food cravings. Brown rice can substantially reduce the risk of colon cancer, as it is a very good source of selenium, a trace mineral that induces DNA repair and synthesis in damaged cells and inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells.

2.Nasi Lemak
One portion of nasi lemak contains a whopping 279 calories and the estimated amount of those that come from fat is 41.9%. The protein, fats and carbohydrates content in the nasi lemak exceed the recommended nutrient intakes.
Therefore, if it is to remain a daily staple of the Malaysian diet, you need to watch out for the nutrient intake. The highly saturated fat content in the coconut milk can increase atherogenicity (fat deposits in the artery walls) and cause arterial thrombosis (blood clots).
This can increase many lifestyle diseases, such as heart disease, certain cancers, obesity and diabetes. The excess intake of carbohydrates will be stored as body fats which in turn, affect the body weight.

Healthy alternative: Modified nasi lemak
Now, rather than scrap this favourite meal completely, nasi lemak can be modified to make it better for you. Trim coconut milk or soya milk in comparison to raw coconut milk which contains 45% less fat.
The cucumber and egg in nasi lemak is perfectly good for you, but make sure that you don’t have more than one egg a day as they have a high cholesterol content of 212mg and the recommended daily intake is 300mg. A boiled egg is also going to be a lot better for you than a fried egg.

3.Teh Tarik
Recent research has indicated that drinking tea as part of a healthy diet and life style can help maintain a healthy body, including your heart. However, the condensed milk and the amount of sugar contained in teh tarik, Malaysia’s dear national drink, makes it so sweet and therefore so tasty to many. But, it is no surprise that it is bad for you - in one cup, there are 142 calories and of the 3.3g of fat, 10% of that is saturated fat.

Healthy alternative: Teh-O-kosong
Teh-O-kosong, on the other hand, is your healthier alternative as it is plain tea without the sugar (and milk). Tea without milk and sugar has virtually no calories and are full of antioxidants that are beneficial to us. However, the milk and sugar that people add to tea actually suppresses all the goodness that tea can offer. Even Teh-O-kosong is a better option as you won’t be having the added sugar. All you need to do is ask “kurang manis” and we are sure that they will accommodate.

4.Coconut Milk
The essential ingredient in the majority of Malaysian curries is fattening coconut milk and the saturated fat content of this is quite high. This is probably bad news, since saturated fats can raise your cholesterol levels. Even reduced-fat coconut milk contains about 10 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams, compared to about 2.3 grams per 100 ml in reduced-fat cow's milk.

Healthy alternative: Soy Milk
Coconut milk is slowly being shunted aside for nutritious soy milk by those who suffer from high cholesterol or who are trying to avoid saturated fat.
Soy milk only contains vegetable proteins which have the advantage that they cause less loss of calcium through the kidneys. It also contains no hormones or lactose, it reduces cholesterol and contains isoflavones, which is the most important and unique benefit of soy milk.
Isoflavones have many health benefits including reduction of cholesterol, easing of menopause symptoms, prevention of osteoporosis and reduction of risk for certain cancers (prostate cancer and breast cancer).

5.Hamburgers
If you're on the road or in a rush, sometimes you can't avoid finding yourself in a fast food restaurant. Hamburgers are a pretty popular menu item, and since every fast food joint prepares them differently, it's hard to make the healthiest choice. That said, they are loaded with tons of sodium and calories.
The meat is usually of poor quality and is high in fats and cholesterol. Like all red meat, they're linked to a variety of health troubles, including heart disease and cancer.

Healthy alternative: veggie burger or turkey burger
Not all burgers are bad for you and if you choose to have one with turkey meat or a vegetarian burger, it is certainly not as unhealthy.
Veggie burgers which are usually made from a patty of vegetables, grains and soy protein have less sodium and cholesterol and one of the best reasons for choosing a veggie burger is to cut saturated fat. Veggie burgers are known to be very good imitations of regular burgers.
A turkey burger is also better for you as the meat is lean meat. Therefore, it contains less fat and healthier for you if you have high cholesterol.
On the whole, it is also the extra additives that come with the burger that also make it bad for you. However, you do not need to give up beef completely. Instead, opt for leaner cuts of beef or any meat for that matter. Just make sure you don’t order the fried and add lots of mayonnaise!

6.Ice-cream
Traditionally, ice-cream is made with heavy cream loaded with saturated fat. An average half-cup serving of Häagen-Dazs ice cream contains half a day's saturated fat and a third of a day's cholesterol that coats your artery walls and gives you an extra 300 calories.

Healthy alternative: Frozen yoghurt
You can buy frozen yogurt at almost any supermarket or ice-cream parlour, and there are some fantastic varieties on the market. Good news: half a cup of frozen yogurt usually contains 100 kcal and less than 2 grams of saturated fat.

Give the healthy alternative a try...for a better and fitter you. Just my Thot and wish you well!

*Source- Healthy life style MSN & www.dailyplate.com