Five Ways To Be As Healthy As Possible When Eating Mexican Cuisine

A Mexican meal can be not only delicious, but healthy as well if you know how to make menu selections wisely.

Mexican cuisine offers plenty of highly nutritious meal items that you can take advantage of, but you'll want to avoid the empty calories of some common Mexican cuisine items for the most wholesome meal possible. 

The following are five things you can do the next time you eat Mexican food to ensure that your meal is as healthy as it is tasty:

Choose beans rather than meat where possible.

While many Mexican dishes contain meats like chicken and beef, it's usually an option to substitute beans in place of meat. By choosing beans, you'll not only cut back on fat and calories, but you'll also pack some extra fiber into your meal. 

Avoid indulging in fat-filled dips that go along with nacho chips and other appetizers.

A lot of Mexican dips are very rich and packed with fatty cheeses. If you have a choice, choose guacamole rather than a cheesy dip because guacamole's fat content comes largely from avocados. Avocados offer healthy omega-3 fats that are highly beneficial to the heart and brain. 

Always opt for soft tortillas rather than hard shells when you're selecting your entree.

Hard shell tacos are always fried, so they contain a lot of fat that they absorb from the oil. On the other hand, soft tortillas are baked and are therefore generally much lower in calories and fat content. 

Know which beans are healthiest

In Mexican dishes, refried beans are very common. However, this is not the healthiest type of bean.

Choose black beans or regular pinto beans rather than refried beans when possible because refried beans are typically fried in lard and therefore contain significantly more fat than other bean types. 

Familiarize yourself with the most common Mexican dishes and their respective nutritional and caloric content.

If you're looking to eat healthy Mexican food, you want to stay away from any dishes that contain a lot of fried ingredients. A few examples are chalupas, chile relleno, taquitos, and chimichangas. 

Dishes that are generally lower in fat include grilled chicken dishes, burritos containing beans rather than beef, and fajitas. 

Remember that in many Mexican restaurants it may be possible to lower the fat and increase the nutrient content of any dish by requesting low fat cheese or brown rice instead of white rice. If you want to eat some healthy Mexican food, you can try here.