5 Cooking Mistakes That Prevent You From Eating Healthy

We already know that cooking at home is healthier than going out to eat. But sometimes the food we cook, no matter how healthy it may seem, can quickly become unhealthy without us even realizing it. Once you start to identify some of these often unconscious habits, you’ll be able to avoid making them in the future and be healthier for it!

1. Too Much Salt

Source: British Heart Foundation/YouTube

A whopping 90 percent of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet. Eating less sodium can be challenging because there’s simply a lot of salt in our food. However, it’s important to monitor salt intake to prevent heart disease and obesity down the road. If you like to add salt to food, try replacing the salt shaker with spices. Replacing bad foods or choices with better ones that give a similar taste and feel is a great way to stop eating unhealthy foods. Try using pepper and lemon on steamed veggies instead of salt. Or use paprika or some pepper spice to give your food a kick without salt.

2. Using Oils With a Low Smoke Point

Source: Live Lean TV/YouTube

Cooking with a heat-sensitive oil can also cause rancidity and oxidation, changing the nature of the fats in oil completely. This makes it important to know what oils to choose to cook with, so you can get the great flavor you’re looking for without any harmful side effects. Avocado oil is one of the best to cook with because it has a high smoke point. Olive oil can be used to cook vegetables, but try not to bake with it at temps higher than 400 degrees Fahrenheit since it’s a bit more sensitive than some other options. Coconut oil is one many people prefer to cook with today because of its saturated fatty acid profile that enhances its stability to heat.

You can learn more about the best oils to cook with here.

3. Overcooking Your Vegetables

When you cook vegetables, be aware of their cooking times. Some vegetables, like carrots and potatoes, take a lot longer to cook than other veggies, such as peas or greens. If you are making a medley of veggies, start cooking the ones that take longer first, and don’t add the quick-cooking ones until the end. No matter what cooking method you use, only cook veggies until they are crisp-tender and bright. That’s when they will look and taste the best. When you boil veggies, the water-soluble nutrients leech out of the veggies and into the cooking water. Boiling can also lead to overcooking the veggies, which will make them soft, gray, and mushy.

4. Too Much Dressing

When prepared healthfully, they can also be a great way to take care of your heart, digestive system, and weight. However, when it comes to dressing, it’s easy to make a healthy meal into an unhealthy one. While some options like olive oil and flax oil may be healthier than commercial salad dressings, oil-free and dairy-free options can provide just as much flavor without all the refined sources of fats and dense calories from oil that don’t come with fiber and as many vitamins and minerals as their whole food counterparts.

Check out these oil-Free and dairy-free salad dressing recipes here.

5. Relying On Processed Foods

Source: Brut America/YouTube

Ultra-processed and pre-packaged foods are notoriously high in added sugar, fat, hydrogenated oils, and salt while low in protein and fiber. They have also been linked to an increased risk of a variety of health conditions and issues, including diabetes, metabolic disorders, heart disease, and even cancer. Although swapping out unhealthy, processed food items for whole plant foods may take some extra time and preparation, your body will thank you in the long run.

It’s always better to make your own food! Check out How to Cut Down on Processed Foods This Summer and Why and How to Choose Plant-Based Whole Foods Over Processed Foods!

Make sure you are not unconsciously making these mistakes while cooking if you are on a healthy eating journey.

Related Content:

• Why the American Diet Needs a Break from Meat and Dairy – For the Planet’s Sake
• This Is The Most Harmful Animal Product in the American Diet
• Many Americans’ Diets Aren’t Helping Them Prevent Cancer
• If Americans Switched From Meat-Heavy to a Plant-Based Diet, It Would Be Equivalent to Taking 660 Million Cars Off the Road
• New Documentary Explores Americans’ Diets and Health
• New Survey Finds More Americans Are Restricting Their Daily Diets. Find Out What They’re Cutting Out!

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take the initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that are raising awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
• Support Independent Media: Being publicly funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your own food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!