by Ruth Belena

Created on: September 28, 2008   Last Updated: March 07, 2009

There are plenty of healthy solutions to cutting out butter, fats and oils, and these will help to maintain a good low fat diet. Some natural oils and essential fats are essential for good health, but finding healthier alternatives to butter, fats and oils, will provide more tasty food, and a better balance of nutriments in the diet .

[1] Dairy-free Options to Bread and Butter

Instead of smearing butter onto bread, toast, crackers and crispbreads, try some healthier options, such as mashed banana, or a thin layer of honey. Alternatively, you could spread on some maple syrup, and sprinkle on a few chopped nuts and seeds.

Mix honey with tahini, a paste made purely from crushed sesame seeds, for a delicious and nutritious non-dairy spread.

Try fruit jams, conserves or jellies made purely with fruit and juice. If they are made with sugar, choose varieties with at least fifty percent fruit. You can enjoy them without needing any sort of butter.

[2] Fat-free Recipes

Replace fats and oils in your cooking, with herbs, spices and different varieties of vinegar. A little cider vinegar, raspberry vinegar, white wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar, replaces a knob of butter on steamed fish or cooked vegetables. Add chopped, fresh herbs to your potatoes, in place of butter. Spices added to soups and casseroles are better for health than oil or butter, and make food much tastier.

[3] Healthful Oils

Hemp seed oil, grape seed oil, and flax seed oil, help block cholesterol, and provide omega-3 essential fatty acids. Pumpkin seed oil is very rich in potassium.

Use cold pressed varieties, and remember seed oils loose their nutritional value when heated, so they are best used as a salad dressing, or drizzled onto food that has cooled.

Virgin olive oil has mono saturated fat that protects the heart. It can be used in starters and main course recipes, including salads.

Soybean oil can be used for frying or grilling. Sesame oil and walnut oil are excellent for stir-frying, grilling and salad dressings.

Avoid anything labelled simply as vegetable oil, and check any oils made from rape seed oil and sunflower seeds, to ensure they are pure and natural.

[4] Non-Dairy Spreads

Check the ingredients when buying vegetable-based spreads, to ensure they use no milk or cream products, and avoid those with unspecified vegetable oils.

Choose brands made from pure olive oil, or which use plant oils and natural ingredients.

Most dairy-free spreads are suitable for replacing butter in baking, and cooking. You can replace butter and cream in some recipes with tofu or soy cream.

[5] Nut Butters

Peanuts are not really nuts, they are legumes, related to peas and beans, and they are high in calcium. Peanut butter, used sparingly, can be good in a dairy-free diet. Choose the healthier types of peanut butter, with no salt, no sugar, and no added oil. You can sprinkle on a little sea salt or low sodium salt if it suits your taste and, if you prefer peanut butter to be sweet, add a little honey, or mix in some pure fruit juice.

Hazelnut butter and almond butter also provide calcium, and make good alternatives to peanuts.

Make your own "cream" from ground unsalted cashews, blended with natural apple juice and a little water, and keep refrigerated in a screw top jar.

Be creative with your healthy, dairy-free, low fat diet, and you can enjoy a greater variety of tasty nutritious food.

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