Take out or home cooked? The decades long debate that everyone has had with themselves or their family at some point, but which one is actually better? Today we explore the differences between the two and which one is actually better for you.
Home cooked meals have both pros and cons that vary across many different factors. Health-wise, research has found that home cooked meals tend to be healthier than eating out. People who cook at home more often have shown to have diets with less calories, sugar, fat, and sodium. This is believed to occur because people have control over what goes into their food and how much they make, meaning they are not eating excessively. Economically, cooking at home is cheaper in the long run in comparison to regularly eating out. When cooking at home, you are only paying for the ingredients themselves, not the service, location, or any other costs a restaurant might have. The problem that often arrises for people when trying to cook at home is time restraint. With hectic schedules, many people don’t have 30 minutes to spare in order to cook a meal, making take out the convenient and fast choice.
Eating out, similarly to home cooking, also has many pros and cons. One of the most convenient parts of take out is the fact that you don’t have to spend time cooking yourself. This can allow you to spend your time on other things and get more things done throughout the day. Going out to eat can often be a way more rewarding experience than eating at home since you are usually accompanied by friends and are sitting at a nice place. By doing this, you are also supporting businesses in your community and contributing to the local economy. The downside to these experiences is the depleted health benefits and the extra cost of the food.
Overall, both eating out and eating in can be very rewarding experiences and can both provide great benefits to you. A healthy diet should consist of a healthy balance between the two!