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People who mostly eat home-cooked food take pride in the fact that they do not eat unhealthy junk food from “here” and “there”. However, are all the ingredients found in your kitchen and home-cooked foods totally healthy and risk free? Maybe not.
There are many items which we always keep a stock of and deem necessary for cooking all kinds of foods. This is another reason to think twice about them, especially if you are using them excessively. Check out the list below:
1. Sugar
A jar full of white, crystals of sugar is found in almost every kitchen. This sweet sugar sneaks in spoonfuls into tea, coffee, milkshakes, and other recipes. However, consuming too much added sugar can lead to higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Further, all of these conditions increase your risk of stroke and heart disease.
2. Refined flour
Refined flour can be present in your kitchen in its powdery form, along with being present in the cookies, cakes, cereal, bread, and pasta in your kitchen. Excessive refined flour consumption can be linked to weight gain, metabolic problems, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. What’s more, the refining process also leads to a substantial loss of dietary fibre, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and vitamin E.
3. Salt
Too much salt increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. According to the World Health Organisation, most people consume too much salt on average 9–12 grammes per day, or around twice the recommended maximum level of intake. Decreasing sodium intake could prevent many deaths.
4. Oil
Is your cooking pan full of oil always or every other day on your gas stove? Do people in your house love eating pakoras, fried onion rings, French fries, frozen foods etc.? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you and your family are increasing their risks of heart attack, stroke, breast/ovarian cancer, diabetes, hypertension, unhealthy weight gain, and joint pain, among others.
The point is not to stop eating oil or salt or any other food item. Instead, the key is to focus on healthier alternatives and consume these foods only in limited amounts. For example, replace refined flour with other kinds of healthier and fiber-rich flours like finger millet or whole wheat. Instead of sugar, opt for jaggery. These little changes can go a long way in improving your health as well as the health of your family members.
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