Ways to Improve Your Health with the Air Fryer

A large portion of how healthy you are is directly connected to the types of foods with which you’re nourishing your body. Although the air fryer can certainly be used to swap some of the more calorically rich fare for healthier air-fried choices prepared at home, it can also be used in a multitude of other ways to improve your overall health.

In this article, we offer ten (or so) tips to ensure you’re keeping your body in the best shape you can!

Soak Starchy Vegetables in Water

Soaking starchy foods — like potatoes, beets, and apples — in water for 30 minutes prior to air frying them can help decrease the levels of the compound acrylamide formed during cooking.

Research has linked higher intakes of acrylamide to certain cancers, and although there is room for more research, there’s also a great opportunity to play it safe and soak your starchy foods. Soaking foods doesn’t eliminate all the acrylamide, but it will significantly reduce it.

Use Salt Sparingly

Every individual has a different pallet and sensitivity to salt. Although salt is a necessary ingredient in recipes to help bring out the flavor of the food, it can also be used to excess. The standard American diet is too high in sodium, especially for those who eat a lot of fried foods and fast foods.

To help monitor the salt in your recipes, use just the right amount to deliver a very mild flavor. Tailor the recipes to your own pallet and, when needed, use additional salt sparingly.

Add One Vegetable to Every Meal

Vegetables pack a lot of bang for their nutritional buck. Increasing your intake of vegetables can provide an array of anti-inflammatory benefits that help prevent disease. Plus, vegetables are a great way to increase your fiber intake, too!

Season with Herbs and Spices

Don't rely on the help of canned or jarred sauces. Instead, season foods with fresh or dried herbs and spices. Doing so keeps you in control of what ingredients are going in your foods. (Many shelf-stable sauces are high in added sugar and sodium and devoid of the flavor we long for you to achieve with the recipes.)

Switch to Whole-Grain Breadcrumbs

We love crunchy, air-fried foods as much as the next person! But to increase the nutritional value a bit further, we love using whole-grain breadcrumbs. You can find them at most supermarkets, or make your own using whole-grain bread. The difference between whole-grain breadcrumbs and traditional breadcrumbs is extra fiber (as well as B vitamins).

Amp Up the Fiber

Another alternative, especially if you’re following a gluten-free diet, is to use a flaxseed meal or nut-based coating for recipes with a breading. Both flaxseed and nuts, like walnuts, offer a wide variety of nutritional benefits, such as heart-healthy omega-3s and more fiber. They provide a slightly different flavor, though.

Experiment with Plant-Based Proteins

We aren’t talking about the faux red-meat burgers here! Plant-based proteins range from lentils to soybeans to quinoa, and you can use the air fryer to create a delicious variety of meal choices that the entire family will love.

Not only is incorporating more plant-forward proteins good for your health (you’ll be increasing your fiber intake as well as lowering your intake of saturated fat from animal proteins), but you’ll also be helping the environment. A win-win for health on all accounts!

Eat Consistently

So often we hear clients say that they skip meals to stay healthy. We hate to break it to you, but this is not the best way to improve your health. Your body is like a car: It needs fuel to performs its daily activities. When you allow it to run on empty, it won’t get you where you need to be.

Change your mind-set and nourish your body consistently with a well-balanced diet.

Enjoy a Sweet Treat

Did you know that most diets that eliminate specific foods tend to fail? Plus, they cause dieters to gain back weight when they return to eating the foods they crave. Why go through the headache of all of that?

Instead, have your cake and eat it too — in moderation! Check out these recipes, which show you how to create homemade desserts using your air fryer. We know how sweet Westernized desserts truly are, so we tested and retested multiple times to bring you the same sweet treat with lower added sugar. You’re welcome!