If you are thinking of making some changes in 2019, here is best place to start: cook more at home. That's one simple resolution to help improve your diet and your health.
Over the last 50 years, food practices have changed dramatically in the United States. The practice of cooking and eating at home had been on a slow decline for many years with the introduction of more convenience foods and fast food restaurants. The late 1980s began the most significant increase in the percentage of food sourced away from the home. Consuming more foods prepared outside of the home often means eating less fruits and vegetables and a worse overall diet quality.
Luckily, more recent data has shown an uptick in home food preparation and this means good things for our health. Why?
Cooking meals at home leads to better diet quality.
Yes, it’s true! People who prepare and consume more meals from home generally eat smaller portions, less saturated & trans-fat, sodium, sugar, cholesterol, and calories. They consume more fruits and vegetables and eat less fast-food and soda. Individuals who cook more often have diets that are more nutrient dense, including fiber, iron, calcium, folate, vitamin B6, B12, C, and E in comparison with those who eat restaurant-sourced food more frequently. Food choices, preparation techniques, and portion sizes can be easily controlled leading to a healthier overall diet.
A recent study showed that folks who cook at home more often are also more likely to have a BMI in the normal range. As if that weren’t enough, a link has been found between frequent food preparation at home and a lower incidence of chronic disease. Why, you ask? Better diet quality.
All these great reasons to cook more… so what’s stopping you? Most common answer is time. Time is a key barrier to preparing meals in the home. It is understandable that for busy individuals and families, time to cook can be difficult to find. But if our health in the short and long-term is important, shouldn’t we make the time? I’ll let you answer that for yourself.
I often hear that cooking is labor-intensive and takes too much time. Cooking is like a sport and requires practice. My #1 recommendation to cut down prep time is to take a Knife Skills class at The Chopping Block and practice, practice, practice to get faster. As your knife skills get better, all that chopping gets faster and cuts precious time off the process of preparing a meal.
Since I know that I’ve convinced you to take the step cook more in the new year, now you need to find healthy things to cook! Below are some of my favorite nutritious recipe resources:
1. CookingLight - Unfortunately, the monthly print magazine will be going away at the end of this year, but from what I understand, all of the recipes will be available online. The recipes are well-written and tested. There is something for everyone here. There is a section of the website dedicated to eating smart.
2. Healthyish - A division of Bon Appetit, Healthyish has healthy(ish) recipes that will impress your friends. It’s a good blend of taste and nutrition. If you are someone who thinks that healthy food always tastes awful, start here. Plus, I dig the website.
3. Thug Kitchen - I’m a true believer in if you make it fun, more people will want to do it. The creators of Thug Kitchen definitely did that. My favorite recipes include the Pumpkin Chili and the Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes (which are in the cookbook). All the recipes are vegan and quite tasty.
4. Abbey’s Kitchen - The Toronto-based Registered Dietitian, Abbey Sharp, creates colorful recipes packed with nutrition and taste. The website includes a lot of other great information and is helpful resource for the latest in nutrition news. Abbey presents food and nutrition in a quirky kind of way on her website and YouTube channel.
5. Healthy Aperture - The best way to describe this site is a compilation of the best healthy recipes in the blogosphere. Moderated by Registered Dietitians who know what’s healthy means, use the search tools on the home page to filter by categories to find the most delicious dishes.
Now go get cooking! After all, it’s for your health.
For more healthy recipes, download The Chopping Block's guides to clean eating.