How to make sandwiches healthier

Making something delicious is easy, but making something delicious and healthy? Now that's a challenge. For those who are always on-the-go, for kids bored of the regular home cooked food, for those evening soirées, for the many times you couldn't think of what to eat, a sandwich came to your rescue. You could literally whip up anything edible in your kitchen and make a jumbo combo out of it. But does that mean it was always healthy?A few realize that the use of unhealthy ingredients to pile your sandwiches can raise blood cholesterol and also increase the risk of a heart attack. Therefore, experts suggest the use of ingredients like low saturated fat dairy spreads and whole-grain bread to make it healthier."By making small changes you can really make a difference to your heart health. So why not start with your sandwich filler? I would encourage everyone to think about the changes they can make to help turn their sandwich into a much healthier alternative," femalefirst.co.uk quoted dietitian Azmina Govindji saying.Azmina also makes a few suggestions that can help you make a healthier sandwich.* Opt for lower saturated fat dairy spreads or use only a scraping of butter. Also try and avoid creamy dressings.Recipe recommendation: Vegetable sandwich


* Choose sandwich fillings that are lower in saturated fats. Poultry, lower saturated fat cheese or dressing alternatives, fish or roasted vegetables.Recipe recommendation: Tomato, paneer and mint chutney sandwich

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* Choosing foods that provide over 1.5 grams of plant sterols daily can actively reduce blood cholesterol by 7 to 10 percent within two to three weeks.

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Recipe recommendation: Chicken and ham sandwich

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* Choose whole-grain bread over white bread and always add salad to your filling.* Try and eat fish twice a week and lace one of them with oil. Oily fish contains essential omega 3's fatty acids. This nutrient is an absolute pinnacle for good health. It helps reduce high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, lowers the chances of a heart attack, eases joint pains, fights skin ailments and also works as a mood elevator.

* Avoid eating too much salt. The more salt you eat, the higher is your blood pressure. So try and pick lower salt fillings.
With inputs from IANS