NHS HIGHLAND: Food that is highly processed may be barely recognisable from the original ingredients
I would not call myself a particularly good cook, although I reckon that I am better than some people think am I at cooking. I do have a few regular dishes that I can cook from basic ingredients including some ingredients that I get from the garden.
I find that cooking is often both therapeutic and relaxing and can relieve some of the strains of the day. Television cookery shows remain popular as well as demonstrations of cookery on social media channels and sometimes in real life. These may show cookery skills that are a bit beyond us - well me anyway - but can also be great ways to learn how to cook.
There has also been a rise in recent years in food at the other end of the spectrum, food that is highly processed and may be barely recognisable from the original ingredients.
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It may be attractive to us because of its high salt and sugar content which appeal to our basic instincts or perhaps simply because this type of food is often both convenient and more affordable.
There is concern about how these types of food affect our health in addition to the effects of salt on our blood pressure and sugar and fat on our hearts and waistline. It is well worth looking at the list of ingredients on products when going shopping and aiming to buy products where we recognise the ingredients as well as those low in salt, fat and sugar. Also, when we look at takeaways, we need to remember that we often have no idea what ingredients are included and even how many calories we are eating.
We can try to deal with both these themes by buying more raw ingredients and cooking with them. It is not that simple though, especially for younger people. Cooking does not come naturally, and we may not learn from family or at school.
However, we can help younger people by showing them or suggesting social media cooking channels. Many young people will be off to college soon and it is a great opportunity to encourage cooking skills. It is better to be able to cook than to need to rely on takeaways or convenience food every day.
There are some messages that work for people of all ages. The broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley, who sadly died recently, was famous for his health messages and for the opportunity to do just one thing to improve our health. Perhaps one thing that we can do, or we can suggest our younger friends and family do as they get ready for college, is to cook from basic ingredients at least once a week.
It is a good habit to develop, a way to relax and it is always good to know exactly what we are eating.
Dr Tim Allison is NHS Highland’s director of public health and policy.
