6 Comforting Food That Is Healthy For You

Comfort food is a part of all of our diets. It helps to increase positive feelings or decrease negative burden. It makes any bad day, a slightly more tolerable bad day. Hence, comfort food is happy food. Even the most fit of people have cheat days when they binge eat on their favourite happy food. Comfort foods generally have high caloric nature and also contain carbohydrates.

Doesn’t a part of you always feel guilty for feeding your body all kinds of unhealthy food? The answer will be yes for most of us.

We all indulge in guilty pleasures, whether its cheap humour or comfort food that isn’t really healthy. But why feel guilty when you can choose healthier options? This article helps you feel a lot less guilty and a lot more happy.

# Spicy Popcorn

Popcorn is indeed the all time favourite comfort food on everyone’s list. It is a satisfying low-cal snack that doesn’t need much alteration to make it healthier. You can give it a fancy upgrade with adding some chilli powder, cumin, pepper, paprika or any other spices that tingle your tastebuds. Choose a low-fat, low-sodium pre packaged variety of popcorn, or pop your own kernels in a small paper bag in the microwave.

# Apple Pie

Apple Pie is a classic dish at any time of the year. There are a few upgrades that help to make the dessert low on sugar and to enrich it with fibre, proteins and vitamins. The first step is to make your crust at home to avoid all the unnecessary added ingredients of a store bought crust. Replace the butter in the crust with sour cream or Greek yogurt. There are various alternatives to the flour as well, like almond flour and quinoa. It is always a sensible decision to cut out added sugar from your dessert, instead opt for fruits (apples) and spices like nutmeg or cinnamon.

# Baked corn

Baked corn can be your perfect midday snack with the right amount of crunch and vegetable content. The preferred seasoning is usually a butter, garlic and parsley mix. The corn cob can be placed in the oven for 30-35 minutes or even cooked on the barbecue. Corn is a good source of antioxidant carotenoids that promote eye health. There are many variations to the baked corn recipe with a large variety of sides to go with it. Try all the variations to know which one is the best for your palate.

# Crepes

The healthy substitute to the classic crepe, is to make your batter with whole wheat instead of flour. And the chocolate or maple syrup can be substituted with dark chocolate syrup. Dark chocolate is said to be a powerful source of antioxidants. Another healthy addition would be to put some ground flax in the batter. Flax seed acts as an antioxidant too and helps to lower blood pressure. There’s always the option to top it off with some fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

# Mac & Cheese

The easy and ready-to-eat ‘Mac & Cheese’ sits in the storage cupboard of every household, but along with it come the extra calories. The fake powdered cheese, butter and milk adds on to the fat content. Instead you can make your own, by using a low fat cottage cheese which gives it the creamy cheese flavour without all the calories. If you do find it a bit dry, try adding some low fat milk. To top it off, you could chop up some broccoli or tomatoes with spinach and peas.

# Sesame Chicken

The Chinese-restaurant guilty pleasure is no longer the cause for your guilt. You can now make this chicken at home by sautéing in a little oil instead of deep frying it. The less-sweet sauce has fewer calories than a standard recipe and nutritionally you can add a side of brown rice to make the perfect healthy meal. Brown rice is said to be more filling than its white counterpart.