In today’s sedentary way of life, falling sick has become very common around the world. Most of us, undoubtedly, want to lead a healthy life. Do you know that the cure for our bodies can always be found in our kitchens? The kitchen is that part of the house where you not just cook food but also rebuild and strengthen your connections as you bond with family and friends. However, it has been noticed that the time spent cooking in kitchens have significantly lowered all around the world, and especially, in the United States.
How Frequently Do We Cook?
Earlier, the concept of dining outside was not very frequent and was something so luxurious that only some people could afford it. In 1900, only 2 percent meals were had outside people’s homes. But the rising number of cafes and restaurants each year have made dining outside a common activity among all classes of the society today. It has been found that 50 percent of the meals are taken outside our homes today.
How Safe Is Dining Outside?
When we dine outside our homes, we often get tricked by the delicious taste of the food and find momentary pleasure in it. However, our bodies often reject the unhealthy ingredients found in those foods that we force through our digestive system affecting our genes, hormones, and biochemical pathways. Although our tongues can be tricked and our brains addicted to the combinations of sugar, fat, and salt found in the highly processed and refined foods, our bodies cannot handle them all the time. Often, these foods make us overweight, and this is the reason obesity has affected almost 70 percent of the American population.
Statistics have proved that one in every two Americans either have pre-diabetes or diabetes. The rate of pre-diabetes and diabetes in teenagers have risen from 9 to 23 percent in just less than a decade. In fact, it has also been found that 37 percent of the children who weight normal have one or more risk of getting heart diseases as well.
Time To Go Back To Our Kitchens
While it seems impossible to transform the whole food industry to a health-benefiting one, you can easily find the fix in your kitchen. Start buying your own groceries and start cooking your own food rather than depending on the restaurants outside your homes. Start reading labels to make healthy choices while you shop. Make your children acquainted to farm-fresh vegetables, whole foods, and buying groceries at the supermarket. Also, let not cooking be just microwaving, but cook real foods like soups, salad, stir fries, etc.
Is Real Food Really Expensive?
Real food means fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, meat, fish, and eggs, to name a few. When you go out to buy food, choose simple ingredients such as vegetables and whole grains to cook them up from scratch. This will help you save a lot of money. Visit discount club stores, community kitchen gardens, and community supported agriculture associations (CSAs) to buy healthy, fresh, and reasonable food products.
Get Started In 3 Easy Steps
Think of a kitchen makeover and to make that happen, start with three simple steps:
1. Start reorganizing the space in your fridge and stuff it with healthy choices.
2. Buy all the pantry essentials you need to start cooking with ease.
3. Start something revolutionary such as hosting a dinner party at home, conducting cooking classes for your kids, potluck competitions at work, or rotational dinner at your apartment.
You can spice up the kitchen space with themed dishes, such as healthy food, healthy and tasty dishes, low-carb meals, fat-free dishes, leafy greens for lunch, etc. Once you find joy in eating healthy, you will easily love cooking.
