Home cookin’ can rock your eating habits

Country singer-songwriter Rockin’ Robin Miller knows what he wants and doesn’t want:

“Don’t want no high-class restaurant bill. Don’t want no fast-food drive-thru girl. Now, I know what rocks my world: Home cooking.”

There are many studies that point to the benefits of home cookin’ compared with restaurant/fast-food dining. But the most recent, released at the annual American Heart Association meeting, examines data from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study and concludes folks are eating at home less frequently than ever. Along with this increase in restaurant dining, there’s been a sharp increase in obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

That’s no coincidence. First, when you eat at a restaurant, it’s easy to make unhealthy choices: fries with that extra-large soda; ice cream and chocolate sauce on that slice of pie — choices you wouldn’t or couldn’t make at home. Second, if you opt for inexpensive, cheap food, chances are you’re not getting the bestquality ingredients; fat and sugar are used to bolster flavours; meats are often from animals raised with antibiotics or growth hormones; preservatives, emulsifiers, texturizers and more. all are added to keep food looking appetizing (even if it isn’t good for you).

So if you and your kids want to get healthier, have more energy, spend less money and have more quality time together, get everyone involved in home cookin’. Take a healthful cooking class together. You’ll find out who’s the rockin’ chef in your house.