An estimated 54 percent of adults report that they made more home-cooked meals last year, according to Hunter. The increased need for self-reliance has pushed people to become more hands-on with their nutrition, and it is showing in today’s cooking trends. Thanks to the internet, people are learning how to tweak every aspect of the cooking process, from which aromas are more appetizing to which unhealthy ingredients have healthier substitutes.
Flexitarian Diet Regimens
The idea of religiously sticking with a strict diet plan has slowly lost its savor over the past few years. Vegetarianism is one regimen that has fallen out of popularity. However, people still see the merit in increasing their vegetable consumption. And so, the Flexitarian diet was born. In a flexitarian diet, the meat becomes more of a special dish rather than part of every meal. Some people interpret this by eating meat only during lunch or on the weekends. Some only prepare meat dishes occasionally, such as at family barbecues. It is essentially vegetarianism without extra commitment. The advantage to this is that you can have all the benefits of going vegetarian, while not being restricted to the diet and still be able to enjoy the occasional steak.
Freedom From Carbs And Dessert Guilt
Despite our compulsion to indulge, we have always been guilty about consuming desserts and carbs. Now, people are finding ways to have your cake and eat it too. For example, cauliflower is now replacing flour in the pizza crust. Bean flour on the other hand is starting to be adopted in place of all-purpose flour. These alternatives are designed to be as good as regular flour. This makes them applicable to all the recipes you know that make use of utensils such as springform pans. Recipes with carb and sugar substitutes let us satisfy our cravings without the guilt. At the same time, fruits and other plant-based ingredients are taking the place of the usual confections that garnish desserts. This presents the challenge of creating something that’s better than traditionally made or store-bought desserts with healthy ingredients. Though a tad difficult, it is the perfect opportunity to unleash one’s culinary creativity.
Recipes That Enrich Mental Health
Nutrition plays a vital role in mental health. Now that more people are aware of this, recipes are being devised to maximize the amount of mental health benefit given by food. Deficiencies in certain nutrients, such as iron and lean proteins, can dampen one’s mood and lead to chronic mental illnesses such as depression. Refined sugars, simple carbs, and saturated fat serve to exacerbate the problem.
As home cooking becomes more commonplace, so too will trends such as these. People are beginning to take more control over what they eat. Now that they have more opportunities to hone their skills, they are better equipped to make their food healthier and tastier at the same time.
