Is your heart torn between raclette and fondue? If both provide pleasure, one dish emerges as the most nutritionally interesting option.
Raclette or fondue: what to choose?
Before deciding, let’s analyze the structure of these dishes. Raclette combines cheese and potatoes with various accompaniments (cold meats, pickled onions, pickles, etc.), while Savoyard fondue is almost exclusively based on melted cheese eaten with white bread.
“However, if the potatoes in the raclette provide complex carbohydrates, a little fiber and potassium, conversely, the white bread in the fondue is poorer in fiber and micronutrients,” says Julie Boët, dietitian-nutritionist.
As a result, digestion will take place more difficult and the feeling of post-meal hunger will appear more quickly.
“With an equivalent quantity of cheese, raclette therefore offers a better balance of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins.“, admits the expert.
In both cases, cheese remains the main source of lipids – particularly saturated fatty acids. These fats are mainly found in dairy products such as cheese, but also in butter, cream and cold meats. And while these saturated fatty acids are not harmful in themselves, “their excessive and regular consumption is associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk. The problem is therefore not so much consuming raclette or fondue from time to time, but their repetition in a food routine already rich in fatty and processed products. underlines the specialist.
Raclette may also become less interesting compared to fondue.if it is very rich in cold meats, further increasing the intake of saturated fats and salt”, Julie Boët further explains.
Both dishes lack fiber
A weak point common to these two dishes remains the (glaring) lack of fiber and vegetables. Cheese, bread (often white here) and cold meats contain very little – leading to various discomforts at the end of the meal (heaviness, swollen stomach, bloating, etc.).
However, as a reminder, fiber plays an essential role in digestion, transit, regulation of blood sugar and the good balance of the microbiota.
“To improve the balance of the meal, I recommend adding vegetables. A green salad, raw vegetables, endives, steamed vegetables or even lacto-fermented vegetables provide the famous missing fibers, but also water and micronutrients. recommends the dietician.
Be careful of alcohol and salt
If in both dishes the excess fat is responsible for slowed digestion, fondue, which is very concentrated in cheese and alcohol (usually white wine), can be more difficult to digest for some people.
“Taking the time to eat, chewing well and respecting your feelings of satiety fortunately allows you to limit these discomforts, whatever the dish chosen,” underlines the nutritionist.
Also be careful of the large quantity of salt present in raclette (especially through cold cuts).
“This salt can accentuate the feeling of thirst and water retention, hence the importance of hydrating well. Alcohol, often associated with these meals, can increase digestive fatigue and reduce the perception of satiety. Here again, moderation remains a key factor!” recalls the expert.
In summary, if you really have to decide, raclette remains a better choice for your health, provided you include vegetables and limit the cold meats consumed.
“But whatever your choice, we are talking about a “pleasure” meal here. If these dishes are not eaten regularly, they therefore pose no problem!”, concludes Julie Boët.