Written By: Upneet Pansare | Updated : September 10, 2018 10:22 AM IST
Are you making any of these cooking mistakes? © Shutterstock
Have you decided to start cooking at home to a avoid eating outside? That's a great first step to healthy eating. For those looking to do weight loss, cooking at home is highly recommended. After all, eating restaurant food frequently can cause massive health problems like infections, diabetes, cancer, weight gain and others because of the cooking ingredients and methods used. When you cook at home, you are more in control of your diet because you know for sure what you use and you are also more hygienic. But what exactly you are cooking and how you are cooking can make a huge impact on the nutritional value of food and its calorific content. These are some of the most common mistakes you could be making while making food at home:
1) You reuse cooking oil: All of us have been guilty of reusing cooking oil because we don't want chuck away the oil immediately after frying. This could lead to several health issues because reusing oil for frying can create free radicals that could be carcinogenic and also lead to increase in bad cholesterol levels blocking the arteries. Do not reuse oil. Throw away or better still bake or shallow fry when possible.
2) You eat while you cook: All of us taste food while cooking to check for seasoning, consistency, texture and spiciness. Some of us can't help but nibble while cooking because we can get hungry while cooking! All of this can lead you to pile on extra calories. Keeping your tasting to a minimum and make it a point not to keep any snacks around while you are cooking.
3) You think of getting "healthier" alternatives for ghee and butter and cook with vanaspati and margarine instead: These are not any lesser in calories. Did you know that one tbsp butter contains 103.5 cal, one tbsp ghee contains 85.6 cals, one tbsp Vanaspati ghee contains 122.4 cals and one tbsp margarine contains 108 calories.
4) You replace white bread with brown bread in all your recipes and think that that is healthy: Instead of brown bread look for the label '100 per cent wholegrain' bread. This bread is full of fibre, vitamins and is devoid of maida. This bread will keep you full for longer. You must know how to read food labels correctly.
