Eating the “right” kind of calories will make you feel full and stave off hunger, according to a doctor that appeared on our television screens on Thursday evening in the BBC documentary, The Real Truth About Calories. It’s learning how to eat certain foods and not just counting the calories that’s important.
Take a juicy steak for example – eating a steak that is cooked “rare” is better than eating one that is “well done”. Yet when we measure the calories on a steak, we don’t necessarily see much difference between the rare meat and the well done steak, but the difference is eating rare steak is harder to digest than well cooked meat. This makes our digestive system burn calories as it seeks to break down the rare-cooked steak. Calories are actually being burned as we rest after our meal.
The program was presented by Dr Chris van Tulleken who also told us that soup is a perfect lunch meal as it actually makes us feel full. The science behind eating soup is behind the salty water of soup that tends to stick to the lining of the gut, giving us the feeling of fullness even though we have not eaten anything with substance like a rice or bread meal.
One of Britain’s favourite dishes at mealtime is sausage, mash and peas (although many actually prefer baked beans). The creamy mash is often high in calories – particularly when butter is used to make the mash taste creamy. But there is a secret way of reducing the calories in this nation’s favourite dish while still maintaining the great taste. The obvious solution is not just to use low-fat sausages, but creamy mash made from crème fraîche instead of butter and substituting half of the mashed potato with a vegetable such as mashed cauliflower and crushed garlic, giving us the perfect tasty substitute.
