What Are The Health Benefits Of Grilling Your Food?

Grilling is a much healthier option than other methods of cooking. Long gone are the days when you have to save grilling for the weekend or a special occasion.

Whether you are cooking for a crowd or just for yourself, grilling is a way to cook healthier options.

Our guide below will help you discover the top health benefits of grilling your food.

Keep reading to see why becoming a master griller should be a goal in your life.

Preserve Vitamins and Minerals

One major benefit of grilling is that you can preserve more of the vitamins and minerals found in the food.

Go to your local market and buy vegetables you can throw on the grill. This is a lot healthier than frozen and canned veggies.

Once your smoker is on, you simply have to throw your clean veggies on the grill and you’re good to go.

Your offset smokers will do the rest of the work while keeping most of the minerals and vitamins in the veggies, it’s cooking. You can also opt to put certain fruits such as pineapples on the grill.

Grilling will always outweigh frying and boiling your food because these other methods will take out most of the nutrients and minerals found in the food you are cooking.

Even when you’re grilling meat, you will preserve more nutrients like riboflavin and thiamine. These nutrients are essential for our health and even better when you can preserve them in the foods you cook.

Weight Loss

Most people would not mind losing a few pounds of weight, and grilling is a perfect way to do so. Unlike other ways of cooking such as frying, you are not adding extra oil to your food.

The complete opposite happens when you grill – the fats melt and they run off the grill.

The end result is food with less fat which is a lot healthier and better for your body.

Consistently eating less fat equates to naturally losing more weight in the long run.

Keep in mind that grilling doesn’t completely get rid of all the fat, but it dramatically reduces your fat intake.

Reduced Health Risks

You will help reduce certain health risks like strokes, obesity, heart disease, cancers, and high blood pressure when you grill your food.

There are a lot fewer calories and excess fat is also lower when you grill your fruits, veggies, and meats.

When you grill your food, you are cooking the meat in its own fat vs adding other oils that make your food saturated with more fat.

You don’t have to add more condiments, sauces, or oils which results in reduced fat and fewer calories.

Also, there is no need to add butter to what you’re cooking because all the juices from the veggies and meats will ooze out and make your meal tastier.

Spend More Time Outdoors

Another less obvious benefit of grilling is that it forces you to spend some time outside.

Just getting outside can help improve your mood naturally and it will also help you get some Vitamin D from the sun.

If you’re grilling for your family, it will also encourage everyone else to gather around the grill.

Most families will do other activities while they’re grilling outside which leads to additional healthy activity while eating healthier food.

Tips For Healthy Grilling

Along with plenty of benefits to grilling, there are also ways to grill more healthily. One way to make your next meal even healthier is to buy lean meats to grill.

Although most people think of burgers and hot dogs when grilling and they tend to be a barbecue staple, it’s best to grill lean meats like fish and chicken.

If you really want a burger on the grill, then we recommend buying the leanest beef you can find. The best is the beef labeled 93/7 because this means that only 7% of it is fat.

Another tip to grill more healthily is to marinate your meats.

Marinating won’t only make your food taste better it might also improve your health when you marinate with healthy options such as honey, garlic, lemons, etc.

Marinating might also help eliminate the cancer-causing chemicals that seep into the meat when it is cooked at high temperatures.

You can also opt for healthier alternatives to grills. If you love pizza why not try your own spin on a healthy pizza?

Grab some whole wheat dough, roll it out, add some sauce and veggies of your choice, and see what tasty veggie pizza alternative you can come up with.

Make sure to separate meat from veggies if you are grilling both. This will help prevent bacterial cross-contamination.

You never want to use the same cutting board for raw meat and vegetables or fruits. Make sure you wash every cutting board with boiling water along with the utensils you used to handle the food.

If you are not ready to grill your meat right after cutting and prepping it, store it in the refrigerator and make sure you cover it. After you’re done grilling, store any leftover meat in the fridge within two hours.

Last but not least, pay attention to internal temperature. If you don’t have a food thermometer, we recommend investing in one. A good rule of thumb for temperature includes:

• Hamburgers – 160 F
• Whole turkey or chicken – 165 F
• Ground turkey or chicken – 165 F
• Fish – 145 F
• Pork chops or roasts – 145 F
• Steaks or beef roasts – 170 F (well done), 160 F (medium), 145 F (rare)
• Hot dogs – 165 F

Make sure you insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of benefits when it comes to grilling your food. Now it is time to pick up the best smoker or grill for you and reap the rewards of cooking outside.

Keep in mind that these are only a few of the boundless benefits of grilling your food.