When is home cooking worse than fast food?
Sociologists report: fast food is losing popularity. The trend is to cook at home. It arose largely under the influence of Instagram and social networks. But home cooking is not always better than fast food.
The famous French sociologist Claude Fischler coined the term "gastroanemia", which he used to describe the transition from family lunches and dinners to eating alone. In his opinion, such a change in our society will lead to serious consequences: we are transformed from a whole into separate units that have no attachments and love for each other. After all, the process of cooking for, for example, a husband, boyfriend or sister brings us closer to them, makes us "put our soul into it".
In 2013, Tiburon Research conducted a study among more than a thousand people aged 15-30, commissioned by Psychologies magazine. The results were simply astonishing.
87% of women and 78% of men reported that they are against eating out, they enjoy cooking and they try to do it regularly.
88% of all respondents responded that they cook in order to get together with loved ones and be together in a cozy home environment.
From a psychological point of view, this is our defense reaction against the aggression of the outside world, constant rush at work, alienation. This is how we try to make our connection with family and friends stronger.
Poll: What do we cook most often at home?
Reviving the tradition of getting together is a great idea, according to psychologists. But doctors are asking: how healthy is the food we cook at home and how to properly plan a diet for ourselves and our loved ones?
Sociologists from the St. Petersburg State University Resource Center “Center for Sociological and Internet Research” studied what the diet of Russians consists of.
As a result, the average Russian eats 3 times a day. More than half of us, getting ready for work, prepare sandwiches with butter, cheese and sausage for ourselves and our family members. 27% prepare porridge. 17% – a quick omelet or just boil eggs.
According to the results of a study by sociologists, we usually eat two dishes for lunch. The first is soup, which is "whitened" with sour cream. It is eaten every day by 64% Russians. And the second is meat.
70% of us single out meat as the main component of food and are even ready to give it up in favor of something else.
We also prefer it for dinner.
In essence, this is our traditional Russian cuisine. Despite the abundance of recipes on the Internet, we cook and eat exactly these products every day: sandwiches and potatoes with butter, fatty soup, red meat.
The Pitfalls of Home Cooking
According to doctors from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, we mistakenly assume that the food we cook at home is healthier than fast food.
Eating butter and sausage for breakfast means laying the foundation for a heart attack or stroke in your body. These diseases have long since become “young”.
Sausage contains pork and beef fat. And butter – milk fat – is the hardest of all animal fats for the heart. Because of them, cholesterol accumulates in the vessels, which prevents blood from flowing to the heart.
People find it difficult to accept the fact that only protein in milk and meat is beneficial, and fat is a real health hazard.
In Denmark, products containing more than 2,3% saturated fats, were taxed. In Norway, the government encouraged farmers to produce products with reduced amounts of milk and meat fat.
How to cook healthy food?
We believe that a whole piece of pork or beef cooked at home is a healthy alternative to processed foods. Of those who cook at home, only 9% take processed foods. We are not always sure about the quality of minced meat and its freshness.
For heart health, the effect of a supermarket cutlet and the goulash we cook ourselves is the same: it’s a threat.
In terms of heart and vascular health, it is better to cook fish, lean chicken and turkey, rather than red meat. Cereals, such as buckwheat, are more suitable for a side dish; vegetables are rational nutrition. Today, we cook potatoes most often – 33% respondents. Buckwheat is cooked by less than 8% Russians.
We monitor the percentage of fat in dairy products
Doctors note an important fact: since milk fat is the heaviest of all animal fats, it is necessary to monitor its consumption.
The high fat content on dairy product packaging has nothing to do with the health benefits.
This is simply a mark for the consumer about the properties of the product.
To make home cooking truly healthy, RAMS recommends choosing low-fat or fat-free dairy products. In 2010, doctors, in order to draw our attention to the health of the cardiovascular system, published a large study, “All about cholesterol,” where they examined this issue in detail.
Let's take care of our loved ones!
The trend of "cooking at home" is good for us, because it is a great way to please loved ones and feel that you are not alone. Food affects us more than we thought. It can become a tool in building a strong family, bring friends closer. But it is still better to try to cook healthy dishes, because our health and the health of those we treat depends on our culinary efforts.
