may 4 2014151 intro if youre trying to eat healthy or watching your weight you dont have to ditch your cinco de mayo festivities there are plenty of healthy food swaps you can make to stick to your diet without sacrificing your favorite mexican fare these 9 simple swaps incorporate fresh vegetables lean protein and fiberrich beans lowering the fat and sodium content of your favorite mexican meals quicklist 1category food swaps for a healthier cinco de mayotitle use shredded cabbage instead of lettuceurltext cabbage is a more nutritious taco topping than lettuce a lowcalorie vegetable just 22 calories per cup cabbage is filled with antioxidants and is an excellent source of vitamin c providing roughly onethird of your recommended daily intake in just one cup a cup of iceberg lettuce by contrast provides only about 3 percent of your daily dose as an added bonus cabbage packs a crunchy bite and comes in a variety of colors ranging from bright purple to green that look great on your plate 25 ways to cut 500 calories a day quicklist 2category food swaps for a healthier cinco de mayotitle use fish instead of ground beefurltext fish is a leaner protein option thats full of hearthealthy omega3 fatty acids and is lower in calories than ground beef swapping beef for fish also cuts down on dietary cholesterol using lean fishsuch as tilapia or mahimahiin taco recipes keeps the calorie count low without skimping on flavor or forgoing a meaty texture quicklist 3category food swaps for a healthier cinco de mayotitle use lowfat cheese instead of regular cheese urltext shredded cheeseand especially monterey jackis a musthave when it comes to texmex fare luckily cheese is actually quite nutritious fueling your body with protein vitamin a vitamin d zinc and phosphorus but you need to choose reducedfat varieties to avoid unwanted calories and saturated fat tillamooks reduced fat monterey jack for example contains 30 fewer calories 3 fewer grams of fat and 10 fewer milligrams of cholesterol per serving than the brands regular monterey jack 43 lowfat cheese recipes quicklist 4category food swaps for a healthier cinco de mayotitle use raw jalapeno peppers instead of pickled jalapenosurltext massproduced pickled vegetables are soaked in preservatives such as sodium benzoate and often contain added sugars and sodium raw jalapenos on the other hand are sodiumfree and have just 4 calories per peppernot to mention a fresher spicier flavor plus research has shown that raw peppers have a higher concentration of antioxidants including capsaicin a compound that gives peppers their heat and makes your body temperature rise helping you burn fat and calories faster quicklist 5category food swaps for a healthier cinco de mayotitle use homemade guacamole instead of storebought guacamoleurltext yes making guacamole in your own kitchen takes time but storebought varieties are often loaded with preservatives and firming agents like sodium benzoate and calcium chloride some massproduced guacamoles also are surprisingly high in sodium for example trader joes reduced guilt chunky guacamole contains no