Home cooking: Mastering basic techniques helps older men improve diet, health

People tend to cook less as they age, which can leave older men, who may have never learned to cook in the first place, overly dependent on prepared and processed food—and at increased risk of weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes, according to David Eisenberg, adjunct associate professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He spoke to Harvard Men’s Health Watch, in an article published online February 17, 2017, about the skills men should learn in order to cook a variety of recipes, from filleting fish to making whole grain dishes such as brown rice to swap for less-healthy starches like potatoes.

Cooking more meals at home is a boon for health—adults who cook dinner nearly every night consume about 150 less calories per day than those who cook less—and it provides side benefits such as the chance to bond with a partner and tap into creativity, Eisenberg said.

People who become comfortable in the kitchen find that cooking no longer becomes a chore, but something that gives them great pleasure, he said. “After a while you may ask yourself, ‘Why haven’t I been doing this my whole life?'”

Read Harvard Men’s Health Watch article: Get cooking at home

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