Home-cooked food - is it healthy?

Our meals on a normal day will usually be home-cooked food. There will be exceptions to this and a preference to outside food due to several reasons. However, still the number of people who consume home-cooked food regularly is significantly higher than those who dine out or order food to be delivered or just prefer a take away combined.

Even in the COVID-19 lock-down, the restaurant & catering industry was badly affected but FMCG is still strong. In short, all those businesses involved in getting all the ingredients to make a home-cooked meal became essential services. Home-cooked food has been a saviour of sorts during this pandemic outbreak.

This made me think and I wanted to research to find out how old is the concept of restaurant. The answer is pretty interesting and this concept of eating at an eatery spread to different countries at different times. The earliest restaurant can be traced to China in 1100 AC in its highly populous trading cities. The next country to have it was Japan in 15th century. Modern concept of restaurant originated in France in the form of Bouillon shops in the 18th century and India opened restaurants in the 19th century.

Though these places offer a range of services & experiences, there is something about home-cooked food which makes it healthier. Food tech start-ups have made it easier to order from anywhere, but it sure isn’t a healthy habit to indulge in outside food so regularly.

That brings us to the question, what makes home-cooked meals healthier?

Ingredients

There is a choice to use only healthy ingredients in making a meal at home where as in a restaurant we will only choose the dish and not the ingredients.

Maintaining hygiene at the kitchen

We might have had food at several restaurants in our lifetime, but we never get a chance to see the kitchen or the chef in action preparing our dish. Though restaurants strive to maintain the prescribed standards, nothing can beat the mother’s care to ensure the food comes from a very clean kitchen.

Quantity

Portion sizes are predetermined at eateries and there are almost no choices with regards to the portion sizes of our dishes when we eat outside food. However, it is quite the opposite at home. Whether you want more or less, you are the decision maker.

Food waste

Food waste is managed well at home. Family members pitch in to complete leftovers at times or the food is properly stored for next day’s consumption.

Discipline

When you eat with your family, there is a discipline. Some one is always watching and there will be a word when you do not eat your greens or eat more junk food.

Water

Clean drinking water at our homes is something we are used to and when we stick on to it, we do not fall ill.

Storage

Storage at our homes is determined by our space. House wives and stay-at-home dads ensure groceries are stored properly and they take extra care in choosing the brands & stores too.

Healthier choices

Finally, healthier choices can be made when meals are made at home. Ingredients and the cuisine will be chosen keeping the health of all the family members in mind.

So, without a doubt, when we do stick on to home-cooked food, we are bound to be healthy!

If you feel we have missed any points regarding the healthiness of home-cooked food, please let us know in the comments section.

#HomecookedFood #StayHealthy