Article contributed by Ambriale Davis
75% of maintaining a healthful lifestyle is attributed to maintaining a healthy diet. 1 The primary way to create a better diet is by cooking meals at home over eating out. However, the vast majority of Americans spend more money eating out ($52.3 billion) than on groceries to prepare meals at home ($49.7 billion). 2 Those who eat at least two home cooked meals a week on average consume fewer calories, less grams of fat, and less grams of sugar in an average day than those who do not. 3 In addition to better nutritional intake, home cooking lowers your risk for obesity in turn lowering your risk for obesity related chronic diseases like type II diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. 2 For those considering to introduce more home cooked
meals into their diet, the American Heart Association 4 suggests a ways to prepare foods in healthful ways:
- Prepare food with minimal salt. Use herbs, spices, vinegars, peppers, garlic, and salt-free seasoning blends.
- Use liquid vegetable oils like canola, safflower, olive, soybean etc. over solid fats like butter. Lard. Or shortening.
- Drain/rinse canned meats and vegetables to remove excess salt or oil.
- Don’t overcook vegetable and minimize water use. This depletes important nutrients.
- Increase fiber and whole grains.
- Try meatless meals that substitute with vegetables and beans.
- Stay away from frying and pan-frying meats. Opt for broiling, baking, roasting or other alternative methods.
- Use lower dairy fats like skim milk and low-fat cheeses.
Not only does eating more home cooked meals and incorporating these food preparation tips into your recipes provide immediate nutritional benefits, but they also provide a natural means to improve you and your family’s long term health.
1. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/exercise-vs-diet-for-weight-
loss_n_5207271.html
2. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-experts-discuss-trend-home.html
3. https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-
future/news-room/News-Releases/2014/Study-Suggests-Home-Cooking-Main-Ingredient-in-
Healthier-Diet.html
4.http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/PreventionTreatmentofHighCholes
terol/Cooking-To-Lower-Cholesterol_UCM_305630_Article.jsp#.WwhIXdPwZPM