Eat home more, eat out less

Preparing meals at home makes it easier for you to lose or maintain your weight, and that means it’s better for your overall health. But just because you think you’re cooking healthy doesn’t mean you’re actually eating healthy.

Your healthy cooking may be nutritionally deficient

• Studies show that cookware coated with Teflon and other nonstick coatings can release toxic gases, carcinogens and other pollutants in just 20 seconds after heating.
• Research into acrylamides shows that potatoes and other foods can produce high levels of this suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin based on how foods are cooked and at what temperature.
• Inadequate cooking has its own dangers: when certain foods are heated at low temperatures, Salmonella, E. coli and other foodborne illnesses become a risk.
• Scientists have discovered that the cookware type and cooking method has an effect on the amount of vitamin C retained in vegetables during preparation.
• The Environmental Protection Agency recently asked major cookware companies to eliminate nonstick coatings from cookware due to safety concerns — their deadline to do so is 2015.