Eating a Quality Meal has Never Been Easier

Eating a quality meal has never been easier.  There are countless ways to get food delivered or to have our meals planned out.  Companies like Uber Eats and Door Dash continue to gain popularity and so do meal planning companies like Blue Apron who provide kits with everything you need to cook yourself a nice meal.  These companies seem great at first but over using their services can also lead to a poor diet.  Companies who deliver food use a lot of sodium and other preservatives as well as less then fresh ingredients.  Below you will see a number of reasons to still go to the store yourself and prepare meals the old fashion way.

Sodium

Salt is overused in cooking now a days.  It is used as a preservative and as a taste enhancing ingredient and too much salt is not good for you.  If you have kidney problems or heart problems, cutting down on sodium is a must and an easy way to do this is to cook from scratch yourself.  Have you ever looked at how much sodium is in a meal at a local restaurant?   If you do, you will be surprised.  Most people consume twice, if not more, than the daily dose of salt and most of us don’t even know it.  For example, when a restaurant or fast food chain cooks chicken they typically use sodium to preserve the poultry before they cook it.  When it comes time to cook the food they use more in the marinade for flavor.  By going to a store you not only ensure a fresher piece of chicken, or whatever meat you choose, but you have the opportunity to season it  yourself and this drastically cuts down on the amount of salt used.  Most places use salt to make food last longer and this additional use of salt can be avoided by buying your own product from the store and preparing it yourself.

Sugar

It does not matter if you are using natural sugar, corn syrup, or any other sugar based sweetener, odds are you are consuming too much of it. Americans as a group consume way too much sweets and sugary products and once again this can be avoided.  It can be as simple as changing your beverage at meal time. Most people do not realize or think about how much sugar there is in any soft drink product.  Furthermore, if you think sugar free drinks are any better you are mistaken.  Sugar substitutes can be as harmful as natural sugar, it is just harmful in a different way.  Drinking water more often is recommended by almost all health professionals and can even save you money.  If you don’t order a drink at lunch every day that is at least $1 saved a day, most likely more.  In addition, sugar is also over used in many fast food chains and restaurants.  These businesses thrive on a reputation of quality and tasty food, and who doesn’t like the taste of sugar. Ordering take out or delivery often result in a higher sugar intake for the day and can be avoided by cooking yourself. 

Carbohydrates

Anyone who is on a diet usually hates to think about carbohydrates and how difficult cutting down on them can be.  Avoiding bread and grain products seems easier than it actually is.  Most grain products are simple to make and simple to eat and they are relativity inexpensive.  That’s why products like pastas and breads are common for people on a thin budget.  Diets that attempt to cut carbs out completely but that usually is not the answer for success either.  The best way to win with a low carb-based diet is to eat just the right amount.  A simple way to cut down on carbs is to avoid snack food or unnecessary amounts of bread.  Have you ever tried to eat a hamburger with half a bun?  Have you ever tried to change up your typical pasta dish by adding more vegetables?  Cooking at home is a great way to achieve this happy balance.  We do not have to cut our pasta entirely but by mixing in a healthy amount of vegetables and proteins into the meal we eat more healthy stuff and less carbs by default.  Finally, takeout meals tend to go heavy on grain because it makes us think we are getting more for our money.  Restaurant are willing to give you more pasta than vegetables or protein because it is quick, cheap, and easy.  So beware of eating out and remember to be mindful of grain products.

Produce

One of the easiest ways to improve your eating habits is to consume more fruit and vegetables.  In order to do this we must get quality products that taste good and are fresh.  This is a major reason to continue to go to the store and shop for yourself.  When you do grocery delivery or pickup, or even order in you never know how fresh the product is.  You are forgoing your opportunity to pick the best produce available.  This is the real cost of grocery convenience.  A small and local farmers market typically is the best way to get the best product.  The major grocery chains sometimes have decent produce but rarely is it as good.  Look at it this way, people who go to the major chains pick the good stuff for themselves, that means the second tier stuff is usually what is left when it comes time to pick orders for pick up or delivery.  We do live in a busy high paced world but eating is what fuels us and we must remember to spend some time making sure we eat well.  This means going to the better places to get the better product.  So next weekend look up a local farmers market and check it out.  Odds are you will have fun and end up with a better tasting and healthier product.

We all live busy lives and all need more time in the day to get things done.  Although there are many easy ways to feed ourselves it is important that we do not depend too much on these services.  In the long run they are bad for our health and can take away from the quality of foods we eat.  Next time you feel like being lazy remember, people who eat the best put the most work into their meals.  Go shopping yourself and cook from scratch, you won’t regret it.  Finally, if you do not know how to cook, the internet is a great tool to help you learn.