Cooking food at home has so health many benefits compared to eating out. One of the biggest benefits is that you can control what you eat, unlike restaurants where you never the quality and quantity of the ingredients used. So you get to enjoy healthier and cleaner food by cooking at home.

However, home cooked meals are likely to deteriorate in quality due to the lack of adequate information, mainly due to wrong portions of ingredients. In this guide, we have rounded up 10 tips to help you maintain a healthy home cooked meal:

1.   Stock To A Balance Diet

The rule of the thumb when it comes to any food is to eat a balanced meal always. But this is something that some people who love home cooked food fails to achieve. In some cases, most people find themselves cooking snacks when they are late or tired. No matter the situation, you must always ensure you are eating a balanced diet because it is crucial for your health. Make it a habit to include proteins, vitamins, and carbohydrates in your food.

2.   Eat A Lot Of Fruits And Vegetables

Although eating a balanced diet is crucial, it is essential to ensure that you are eating the right portions of each food. Proper eating habits dictate that you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. In fact, more than 50 percent of your meal should always be vegetable and fruits. This is crucial, especially for those watching their weight.

fruit cocktail

Fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants and will also detox your body naturally to help lose weight. Having more than 50% of your diet being veggies and fruits helps to reduce calories intake. That’s another way to lose weight naturally.

3.   Drink Plenty Of Water

You may have been eating the right diet, but if you are not taking enough, then you will never achieve your reach goals. Water is good for a healthy body, and that’s why you need to incorporate it into your diet. But don’t just drink water for the sake of drinking- you must come up with a healthy water drinking schedule. Start with a glass of warm water in the morning. Then keep sipping water throughout the day and more so when you feel hungry. Make sure that you are drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before any meal and before going to bed. That would be a perfect water drinking schedule.

4.   Drink Detox Water

The craze about detox water (also known as infused water) is still causing a buzz here in Australia because of its numerous health benefits. One of the biggest health benefits is losing weight naturally. Most of the popular infused water recipes have been found to work incredibly well for people losing weight. However, there are many other health benefits that come from detox water.

Fruits such as lemon, which is common in most recipes, has vitamin C, which is a natural antioxidant. Other popular fruits and vegetables used are natural detox and antioxidants. So detox water will help you flush oxidants and toxin out your body naturally.

5.   Carry Healthy Snacks

One of the biggest contributors to unhealthy weight gain and lifestyle diseases is unhealthy snacks. People love buying fast food on the street, most of which is nothing but junk food. If you are going to work, it is wise to carry your own snacks from home.

healthy snacks

There are many healthy home cooked snack in Australia, such as egg muffins, Cinnamon apple chips, Tasty turmeric balls, and so on. Such home snacks contain antioxidant and detox components that keep you healthy.

6.   Keep Fats To A Minimum

Food with a lot of fat taste great but what most people don’t know is the unhealthy side of it. So if you love cooking food at home, it is important that you keep fats to a minimum. There are several things that you can do achieve this.

First, you must stick to lean meats and reduce fat dairy products. The second tip is avoiding processed foods because of the hidden fats. The food must have as little fat as possible. Instead, eat nuts, seeds, avocado, soy, fish, and other foods that have healthy fats. When adding fats to cook food, keep the amount at the minimum.

7.   Shop Healthy Foods

Everything starts with the kind of food that you are shopping. So you must start with shopping the right food. There several ways that you can ensure that you are shopping for healthy foods. One of them is reading understanding the nutrition information on food labels.

So you need to understand what the food label is saying. So read the nutrition information panel and ingredient list to understand the kind of food you are buying. That is how to avoid shopping for junk food.

8.   Cut Down On Salt

Salt adds the flavour to the food, but when too much of it used, it becomes a health hazard. Some of the health complications that excess salt is known to cause are heart diseases and high blood pressure. So you need to avoid canned, and picked vegetables become most of them have got high salt content in them.

You should also avoid salt-laden processed foods. What you need is to cut salt and replace it with alternative seasonings such as lemon juice, vinegar, pepper, herbs or mustard amongst others.

9.   Cut Down on Sugar

sugar treats

Sugar is one of the elements in food that have been identified as a major trigger for lifestyle disease. From diabetes, heart diseases to cancers, sugar has been found to be one of the main contributing factors. That’s it is dieticians recommend that you reduce the quantity in all the food, especial when you bake. Instead, try fruit cakes and tea bread since they are healthy and offers the same satisfaction.

10.  Eat A Lot Of Herbs

A huge population of Australians is incorporating more of herbs in their diet. That is because of the numerous health benefits that these herbs offer to the body. To maintain a healthy home cooked meal, you need to add a lot of herbs in your foods.

Some of the popular herbs in Australia include basil, chive, coriander, fennel, and mint amongst others. These herbs have got both detox and antioxidant properties, and thus, they will keep you healthy and fit.