London - Home cooking might not be as healthy as we think. For a study found that the longer people spend preparing meals, the worse their health becomes.
The results contradict public health messages that it is better to cook from scratch than rely on convenient ready meals.
Possible reasons include home chefs being extra generous with unhealthy ingredients such as butter, or feeling they have to eat more because of the effort that went into preparation. It is also possible, say the researchers, that convenience foods have become healthier.
Data from more than 2 750 women in their 40s, 50s and 60s was analysed for the study, the Preventive Medicine journal reports. The team from Rush University in Chicago looked at how long they spent cooking and the results of annual health checks over a period of 14 years.
They found that women who spent the longest cooking and clearing up meals were more likely to develop metabolic syndrome – the medical term for when someone has three out of five risk factors linked to heart disease and strokes. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.
However, the odds of health problems decreased if females did less cooking as time went on.
Researcher Dr Brad Appelhans said that we may have to rethink public health policies that make home cooking a “cornerstone” of attempts to improve health.
“Our research shows that greater time spent preparing food is actually linked to increasing odds of having risk factors for [these conditions],” he said.
“While the reasons are still unclear, we think these findings indicate the need to revise public health messaging – including the need to emphasise healthy cooking methods and to consider the potential benefits of healthy convenience meals.”
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said that people shouldn’t use the results as an excuse not to cook. He thinks our dislike of throwing away home cooking leads to people eating more than they need – while ready meals usually come in set portions. - Daily Mail