Good Fridge, Bad Fridge
Does your icebox need a makeover? 

Steve Pitt

Whenever you open your refrigerator, do you hear voices?

Hey! You look starved. Quick, grab a high-calorie convenience snack and wash it down with a sugary cola. How about a hot dog loaded with saturated fat, nitrites and sodium?

Oh, no you don’t! You need fresh stuff with vitamins, minerals—and antioxidants. Make a salad.

Bah! You don’t have time for that hippie stuff. And don’t even bother checking the crisper. Whatever was in there, it sure ain’t crispy anymore. Take the frozen popover and run.

But what about your waistline? You promised!

Whoa! Time to call the refrigerator exorcists. It’s not hard to purge your fridge of these schizoid voices, says Susie Langley, a Toronto registered dietitian and Canadian Health’s nutrition adviser. “Lower-fat and reduced-sodium alternatives to most meat and dairy products are now available,” she says. Avoid stocking your shelves with excessive amounts of processed foods that contain saturated or trans fats and a lot of chemical preservatives. Opt instead for leaner cuts of meat and soft, non-hydrogenated margarines. Buy lower-fat dairy foods. Pass on regular wieners, sausages and side bacon, all high in artery-clogging saturated fats, blood pressure–raising sodium and cancer-linked nitrites. Reduce your intake of sugary fruit drinks, pop and colas (colas can have quite substantial caffeine levels as well).

Easy-to-grab fruit, pre-chopped vegetables and convenient lower-fat milk products, such as yogurt cups, are great defences against bad snacking. “Put them upfront where you can see them, so you reach for them automatically whenever you feel hungry,” Langley says.

Besides providing much-needed fibre and antioxidants, fresh fruits and vegetables are jam-packed with vitamins A, C and E. 

For Joane Routhier, a registered dietitian at McGill University in Montreal, the key to making your refrigerator heart- and waistline-friendly is to plan ahead. “Take 15 minutes and decide on your meals for the whole week,” she says. Then stock your fridge with fresh, healthy foods to make them. Cook up double batches and freeze them.   

If you’re really busy, Routhier says there’s room for buying some processed foods—but the right kind. “Mixed salad greens and pre-peeled and chopped vegetables are ready to be thrown into a bowl,” she says. Put together a light vinaigrette made with a high-quality vegetable oil, such as canola or olive, or dash on a reduced-fat commercial dressing, and you have a salubrious salad in seconds. Langley notes that brands such as Michelina and Lean Cuisine now offer alternatives to high-fat fish and chips and standard pizzas.

And remember, says Langley, “if your fridge is stocked with a balanced variety of foods, go ahead and enjoy a slice of chocolate cheese cake once in a while.”

Vice On ice

Virtue at 37°

The madeover refrigerator saves most of its space for fresh and fresh-frozen unprocessed foods. These may be less convenient, but they’re more nutritious and much better for your health.

FREEZER

Fresh-frozen seafood, frozen yogurt, fresh-frozen veggies and berries, whole-grain breads and lean unprocessed meats

MAIN AREA + DOOR

Lower-fat milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, 100% vegetable and fruit juices, mineral water, omega-3 eggs, cooked whole grains

MEAT COMPARTMENT Lean cold cuts such as turkey and reduced-fat ham, tofu, veggie wieners, skinless chicken, flank steak and pork tenderloin CRISPER Fresh herbs and fruit, and lots of bright red, orange and dark green vegetables

Photo: Bernard Clark