• Healthy cooking provides a variety of benefits.cooking image by Mats Tooming from Fotolia.com
  
  Healthy cooking is part of a healthy lifestyle that involves making many choices and learning about nutritional requirements for different types of individuals. No matter what lifestyle or circumstance, healthy cooking can be done by anyone with a little planning and preparation, and the benefits of this process can last for a lifetime.
  
  

Better Nutrition

• Cooking techniques, such as steaming, preserve the nutritional value of foods like vegetables better than other techniques, such as frying or boiling. Healthy cooking encourages the use of new and varied ingredients and seasonings, which can increase the variety of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in the diet. Recipes for healthy cooking often include alternative ingredients, such as lentils or beans in place of animal-based proteins; beans and lentils are rich in fiber and make a complete protein when paired with a grain, such as brown rice. When parents cook healthy meals and include children in the planning and preparation of these meals, children become educated about nutrition and how to make healthy choices about eating.
  
  

Weight Management

• Healthy cooking techniques, such as baking, poaching, steaming and grilling, result in foods that contain less fat than if they were prepared with oil or butter, and consumption of less fat and fewer calories can lead to weight loss. Grilling meats allows fats to drip off and drain away, so that less fat is consumed per serving of food. Substituting healthier ingredients for less healthy ones, such as fat-free dairy for whole fat, can decrease the amount of calories in a meal and promotes weight management. Taking an old favorite recipe that uses a less healthy ingredient, such as ground beef, and substituting a healthier lean protein, such as ground turkey, maintains the feel and flavor of the dish with fewer calories and less saturated fat. Trying new combinations of foods, such as serving grilled fish with steamed vegetables and baked sweet potato "fries" rather than the traditional fried fish and chips cuts down on calories can create a new favorite as well as help with weight management.
  
  

Lower Cost

• Many healthy foods and cooking techniques are lower in cost than more traditional ingredients and cooking methods. As a group, beans are less expensive per pound than meats, and fruits and vegetables are lower in cost per pound than prepared snack foods such as cookies or chips. For example, as of February 2010, Meijer sells apples for $1.50 for a 3 lb. bag, while Hostess snack cakes are $3 for a 12-oz. package. Steaming or broiling food does not require expensive oils or specialty kitchen appliances like a deep fryer. Having healthy ingredients on hand for cooking healthy meals can reduce spending on carry-out and restaurant meals. In addition, shopping with a list for healthy ingredients and sticking to the list might actually cut the weekly grocery bill.