Why You Need To Cook Your Own Food? An Eye Opener

Beware If You Are Not Cooking Your Own Food.

Why should we really? It's too cumbersome. It's drudgery! Cooking is only for chefs right? We can buy our meals and have it delivered if we want to. Why bother?

Apparently we should NOT rely on corporations like McDonalds, KFC, Burger King etc. to cook food for us. Watch this eye opening video that exposes food corporations' marketing tactics to brainwash our perception of cooking. Jump to 2:30 if you are in a hurry ;)

What caught my attention is the fact that as the rate of home cooking decline, rates of obesity INCREASES! So the advice to solve health problems is eat anything you want, just cook it yourself.

Renowned activist and author Michael Pollan argues that cooking is one of the simplest and most important step people can take to improve their family's health, build communities, fix our broken food system, and break our growing dependence on corporations. The event was chaired by Tim Lang, professor of Food Policy at City University London.

Eating in is in almost every case healthier (and much more economical)

Most of us would be hard pressed to find a Primal restaurant near us (they do exist), and even in better restaurants with local and organic suppliers, there are the still the question marks lingering on the menu. What kind of oil do they use for cooking? What kind of cookware? While I enjoy going out and have no intention of forgoing that pleasure, there’s a certain peace in knowing every facet of my dinner. Compared to the larger landscape of conventional “dine out” choices, you’re astronomically better off eating in.

The better cooks we are, the richer and more varied our diets can be

The principle worked for our ancestors’ collective health, and it applies to us individually today. Like our ancestors, the right techniques open up new food possibilities for us – like cheaper and otherwise tougher cuts of meat. Additionally, many foods may be wholly uninspiring on their own but become fast favorites when paired with the right sauce or some novel herbs. As we expand our repertoire, we lessen the chance that we’ll get bored with our choices.

A few key cooking techniques and kitchen skills can go a long way in making our Primal dishes healthier and more satisfying. You get a lot of mileage, for example, in terms of both flavor and nutrition when you can make your own batches of bone broth and use them creatively with meat dishes, sautèed vegetables, or basic sauces. Braising opens up a whole new world with certain meats. Roasting can make certain vegetables glorious that you wouldn’t touch steamed. Playing with fats and incorporating them into – well, everything – can give your food levels of flavor that will confound your dinner guests and satisfy you to no culinary end. The end result of all these endeavors just might be you, Primal chef, developing a nuanced palate and kitchen wizardry you couldn’t ever imagine wanting – let alone having. What do you know – you got skills. And a damned good dinner at that.

Reference: marksdailyapple.com

How To Start Cooking? Be Inspired

For some of us who are fortunate to have parents that are great in cooking, this would be easy. But even I had problems learning from them because the only time I learn how to cook was when I moved out from my parents house.

Personally, I started really cooking when I watched a Korean soap opera "Witch Amusement" wherein the guy was an enthusiast cook. He never had a formal culinary training but only from his Dad. His enthusiasm infected me. Cooking is an art in itself, and I'm a bit artistic so I enjoy cooking. So look for your own inspiration. If you can't, get inspired by knowing that you are eating food that is much healthier.

Here's an episode of my inspiration.

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Why McDonalds Fries Should Not Be In Your Stomach

Photo Credit iStock

You might have seen the documentary of a guy who ate only McDonald food, thinking that he ate too much of it so it was obviously unhealthy. We all prefer french fries on every visit to McDonald, no meal is complete without it right?

But check out this time lapse experiment of McDonald's food products and see for yourself what is the worst food they serve that shouldn't be in your stomach.

These French Fries Contain Bad Fats

Frying up your food is sure tasty, but bad fat or saturated fat is what turns a potato into a time bomb for cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Not all fats are bad and more people are learning that fats come in the categories of the bad fats and good ones. While good fats such as vegetable oils including olive oil and sunflower are actually having some protective effects on your health, the bad fats or saturated fats are directly linked to the clogging of your arteries, it is the bad fats that cause far greater damage. Damage done by saturated fat is found in margarines, vegetable shortening and everything that is partially hydrogenated. Bad fats have been shown to raise levels of bad cholesterol or low density lipoprotein. Saturated fats also stay in your body longer and raise circulating blood triglycerides that lower the good cholesterol or high density lipoprotein. When you consume these bad fats they make the platelets in your blood streams. These sticky little platelets then form clots that connect to the walls of arteries which supply vital areas of your body with oxygen and nutrition. These little clots create a wall of plaque which will eventually lead to heart attack or a stroke.

Reference: fitnea.com

They Are Very Toxic

In order to make French fries, they must be cooked at high temperatures which cause the chemical, acrylimide to be released. Acrylimides are a known cancer causing agent that also causes nerve damage.
Potatoes are grown in the ground and have a higher pesticide absorption level than almost any other food product. Fries are cooked in oxidized oil that is re-used for weeks at a time!
Potatoes have a very high glycemic index meaning it turns to sugar very quickly in the body. Eating a baked potato (or equivalent quantity of French fries) is the sugar equivalent of a large piece of chocolate cake!

Reference: healthyyounaturally.com

They Contain SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE?!

This preservative is the reason McDonald's fries will retain a fresh-looking golden brown color rather than turn black when placed in a jar for two months. Yuck. This same ingredient is often found in commercially prepared cake, pudding, waffle, pancake and muffin mixes, and it is also added to refrigerated dough products, flavored milk, cured meats, potato products and canned fish.

They Also Contain DIMETHYLPOLYSILOXANE

What's an anti-foaming agent doing in your fries? Bizarrely enough, this silicone serves a purpose: McDonald's manufacturers likely add some to the water when boiling the potatoes before frying and freezing them for shipment. This probably helps speed up the process (no foam spilling over) and cuts back on cleanup afterward. There's no proof that ingesting this stuff is harmful, but why would you want to?

Reference: livestrong.com

But Still A Lot Of People Eat These Stuff

hello french fries!!!!!!!! yyyyyummmmmyyy!!!!! haha pic.twitter.com/R5bMir99uL
— kim chiu (@prinsesachinita) September 21, 2014

french fries are a really important part of my life
— Girls Girls (@BecomeBadGirls) September 22, 2014

I don't trust people who honestly dislike french fries. Sure, be healthy and don't eat them...that's one thing. But DISLIKE? Not human.
— DGC (@DGCsays) September 22, 2014

The Verdict

So what do you have to say about these? The picture above is so tempting. I'm drooling already. But personally, though it will be really painful for me to not eat my favorite fries (in Burger King) I won't be eating french fries like I used to! Maybe if I bake one myself, I won't be feeling guilty. Anyway, stay healthy folks!

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10 Tips On How To Study Effectively While Working Full Time

If you are thinking of financing your own education, studying and working a full time job at the SAME time, then you need an effective strategy. It is not easy doing both, so here are effective tips for you to use.

The following tips are from DeskDemon.com a large online resource designed specifically for office professionals in the UK.

Plan Well

Find out what your deadlines well in advance and put them in a place where you can easily see them, either at work, or at home, or both.

One of the reasons why a lot of people find it difficult to balance work, school, and a healthy lifestyle is because they don’t schedule anything and just try to “fit in” gym visits. When you have plenty of free time to work out at your leisure, you might be able to get away with this, but working 40+ hours a week and dedicating around 20 hours a week to school doesn’t give you much leeway in terms of working out and eating right. You need to develop a set schedule of when you’re going to go to the gym and when you’re going to eat meals.

When you create your schedule, make sure that it’s reasonable and something you can stick with. If you know you can’t wake up at 5 Am to hit the gym (I’m not a morning person at all), schedule it for another time because you’ll end up throwing your entire schedule out of whack by making an inconvenient plan that you won’t be able to commit to.

Manage Time

Make good use of any time which might otherwise be wasted time, such as reading on the train. listening to an Open University programme in the evening (which you taped the night before) instead of watching the usual rubbish.

When you are away from work, you often find yourself with free time, ranging from 15 minutes to three or four hours in places like airports, hotels and train stations. How do you best use these moments? Make a list! The main thing is to know what you want to do. People tend to find themselves with 30 minutes and start doing things at random. Have a list of tasks you can and need to work on.

Self Care

Remember to get the balance right. Look after yourself. It is exhausting studying for a professional qualification while you're studying. Eat properly, get exercise, get rest and continue to socialise where you can.

The entire idea of getting fit and improving your life is very fun and exciting, and because of this, it’s easy to just go all in right away and immediately want to hit the gym 5 days a week. Commitment is great, and necessary, but you want to try to pace yourself into it. If you start out by going to the gym 5 days a week on top of your hectic schedule, it’s easy to wear yourself out quickly. Getting fit is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and pacing yourself will really benefit you in the long run.

Consider starting out by going to the gym 2 days a week, and after doing this consistently for a while, add on another day or two.

Provide Heads Up

If you think you're going to have a problem meeting a deadline, or you've had a family or work emergency, let your course tutors know. They are very human, and will understand the pressures of trying to balance work and study at once. Tell people if there's a problem sooner rather than later.

Mind Set

Remind yourself constantly of what doing the study will mean for you. Have a very clear reason to do the course. If your reason to do it is weak, your motivation to sit down and study will suffer.

Tell The Boss

If you can, tell your boss what you're doing. Studying shows you're serious about your personal development and growth as an individual.

Expand Your Network

Remember that there are lots of mature students going back to part time or full time study. See this as an opportunity to expand your network.

Good Environment

Set up a spot where you feel comfortable working. Use anything which will help you focus: timetables, your goals written on a wall, coloured pens, mind maps, flowers at your work space. Think about the time of day you study best. For some people, that may be first thing in the morning, say at 4:00.

Know Your Options

Make good use of the careers service in your organisation. If you're studying long distance, find out what facilities the training or education provider has for you, too. Take advantage of the services they offer while you can.

It's O.K. To Say No

Be prepared to say no to requests you'd normally take on either at home or at work. Remember, you need to look after yourself. Remember, you're worth it. When you're studying, make it clear that you're not to be interrupted unless it's a life and death emergency!

References: deskdemon.com, ft.com, lifehack.org

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