- READ MORE: The vegan UPFs dietary guidelines recommend foods you SHOULD include ... and those you should steer clear of.
It’s not unexpected that takeaway foods such as fish and chips, pizzas, and burgers can lead to weight gain.
However, preparing the same dish at home might help you cut hundreds of calories.
Preparing your own fish and chips might reduce your calorie intake by over 500 calories, while crafting your own kebabs could slash more than 700 calories. Additionally, cooking burgers at home can lead to cutting approximately 380 calories.
Given that the suggested daily intake for an average woman to stay at a healthy weight is around 2,000 calories, and one-third less than the 2,500 typically recommended for men, these savings could indeed have a significant impact.
In this article, MailOnline compares the calorie content of 'fakeaway' recipes found online with those from actual restaurants and takeaway places.
Almost all the 20 recipes this website compared showed making your own version of takeaway food at home is far less calorific, with some takeaways double the calories of a 'fakeaway'.
A recipe on the Tesco website for an Breaded ale-fish and thick-cut fries totalling 778 calories per portion.
The white fish coated in cornflour and amber ale is deep-fried in sunflower oil and comes with baked fries along with a house-made tartar sauce.
Compared to that, consuming the genuine article itself does Wetherspoons That amounts to 1,303 calories, which exceeds over half of an adult's daily recommended caloric allowance.
Another recipe for an easy chicken korma , which still includes double cream and mango chutney, contains only 454 calories per serving.
However, at Wetherspoons, a comparable meal like Chicken Tikka Masala contains nearly twice the calorie count at 830 calories.
A recipe for smash burgers On the Tesco's website, a serving consisting of two patties, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and a homemade burger sauce contains 749 calories.
However, at Five Guys, a cheeseburger topped with mayo, lettuce, pickles, and mustard clocks in at an impressive 1,130 calories.
To provide some context, that's equivalent to over two McDonald's Big Mac hamburgers, each containing 493 calories.
Choosing to prepare your own pepperoni pizza might help you cut down nearly 500 calories.
A Waitrose recipe for a spicy skillet pizza , prepared using a jar of tomato and basil sauce, contains 710 calories per serving, whereas a small pepperoni passion pizza from Domino’s has 1,205 calories.
Making your own chicken enchiladas This will also help you cut down on several hundred calories, based on a recipe from Tesco's website that contains 577 calories per serving.
This dish is packed with fiber as it includes fresh bell peppers along with a can of black beans.
Getting chicken enchiladas from Las Iguanas might lead to weight gain since a single serving contains approximately 1,036 calories.
However, one of the most striking differences lies in comparing a homemade kebab filled with freshly fibrous vegetables to indulging in an oily takeout kebab.
A BBC Good Food recipe for Turkish kebabs With tomato chili sauce paired alongside flatbread, vegetables, and salad, each serving comes in at only 276 calories. This dish includes ripe tomatoes, peppers, Greek yogurt, and freshly chopped cilantro.
However, at German Donner Kebab, their original chicken kebab, which comes with three varieties of sauce, clocks in at 1,026 calories — a staggering 750 calories more than usual.
Yet, it's more than just the reduction in calorie intake when you decide to prepare your evening meal at home.
When cooking from scratch, you have the option to choose ingredients with reduced fat, sugar, and salt levels, along with higher fiber content, similar to what you'd find in numerous 'fakeaway' recipe ideas.
Government recommendations suggest that adults should consume 30 grams of fiber daily as part of a nutritious and well-balanced diet.
This is due to the fact that consuming ample fiber is linked to a reduced chance of developing heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. diabetes and bowel cancer , the NHS says.
Incorporating additional veggies into your dishes, snacking on fruits, and opting for wholemeal bread can significantly boost the fiber content in your daily nutrition.
Rob Hobson, a registered dietitian and the author of "Unprocessed: Your Life," emphasizes that "it depends on your decisions." However, he points out that preparing meals at home provides greater control over what goes into your food.
He told Mailonline: "Both options can be equally healthy or unhealthy depending on your choice of dishes."
'Cooking at home gives you control over the ingredients and portion sizes, which is crucial since takeaways often come in large portions, encouraging overeating.'
'Frequently, takeaway meals are rich in saturated fats, sugars, and salts, all of which may have adverse effects on your well-being,' he mentioned additionally.
When you cook at home, you can also steer clear of consuming excessive amounts of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which have long been criticized due to their associations with various health problems such as cancer and diabetes.
A simple indication that a food might be a UPF is if it includes components you typically wouldn’t have in your pantry, like unfamiliar colorants, sweeteners, and preservatives.
An additional hint lies in the levels of fat, salt, and sugar concealed within every package, as UPFs generally have elevated quantities.
Mr. Hobson stated, "Preparing meals at home enables you to concentrate on using fresh, unaltered components that are rich in nutrients and brimming with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and various phytochemicals known for their protective effects against diseases."
WHAT DOES A WELL-BALANCED DIET ENTAIL?
• Consume a minimum of 5 servings of various fruits and vegetables daily. This includes all types of fresh, frozen, dried, and canned produce.
• Build meals around potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole grain.
• Aim for 30 grams of fiber daily: This can be achieved by consuming the equivalent of these items: five servings of fruits and vegetables, two whole-grain breakfast biscuits, two hefty slices of whole wheat bread, and one big baked potato including the skin.
• Include some dairy products or their plant-based equivalents (like soy milk), opting for versions with reduced fat and less sugar.
• Consume beans, lentils, seafood, eggs, meats, and other protein sources (aim for two servings of fish weekly, with at least one being an oil-rich variety).
• Select unsaturated oils and spreads and consume them in limited quantities
• Consume 6 to 8 glasses/cups of water daily
• Individuals over 18 years old should consume fewer than 6 grams of salt per day and no more than 20 grams of saturated fats for women or 30 grams for men daily.
Source: NHS Eatwell Guide
0 Comments