Archives for September 2020

Non-Stick Cooking and Your Health

I love to cook and don’t shy away from complex and time-consuming recipes; in fact, I take pride in the artistry and technique that I employ. But over the years, I have become increasingly aware, and therefore, concerned about the health implications of the foods, cooking techniques, and even cookware that I have been using.

One of the challenges of cooking, in general, and especially stove-top, but also in baking, is how to avoid sticking. While I have been mostly concerned about this from the perspective of producing a beautiful end-product, the clean-up can be an issue as well.

This article talks about non-stick cooking and the health-related factors that I think you might also find to be important enough to influence how you cook. My last article was “Health Implications of Cooking with Oils,” and this topic serves as a nice complement.

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We are constantly hearing about the health benefits of various types of oils that are used in preparing our foods. There has been much attention paid to such factors as caloric intake, the content of trans fatty acids, inflammatory triggers, levels of Omega-3 and 6, mono and polyunsaturated fats, and the implication to your overall health in general including obesity and cardiovascular health. What you don’t hear about so often is what happens to these oils when used in cooking, and particular, as their smoke point is reached. This article will provide a lot of information about all the oils we typically used in cooking one way or another with a particular emphasis placed on the implications of cooking with these oils.

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It Never Tasted So Sweet?

Who doesn’t like a little something sweet now and then? And why has there recently been such a dramatic increase in the number of processed foods that have some sort of sweetener added, more often than not, it is high fructose corn syrup?

This article serves to provide an extensive inventory and inform you about the spectrum of sugars, sweeteners, and sugar substitutes. There is a natural dichotomy inherent to a conversation about sugars; as we know that all sweeteners have some mix of both pros and cons (typically more of these). When you get down to it, all sweeteners are an attempt to fulfill our craving for sugar (raw energy). But like the saying, ‘Ain’t no sunshine without rain’, the pleasures of consuming sugars or sweeteners come with some sort of cost, sometimes more significant than you might imagine.

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had extended its deadline to August 25, 2017 for submitting comments on GMO labeling of food products.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) — also known as GM foods and bioengineered foods — appear in our food supply in various forms, affecting both plants and animals as well as oils, seasonings, and food additives.

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Baking Without Faking

People tend to have a lot of questions about gluten-free baking and using gluten-free flours in recipes in the areas of what flours substitutes to use, and how to compensate for the function that the gluten would have performed, and ultimately, how to produce a result the is not a poor facsimile of the all-purpose flour version.

This is the first in a two-part series including Baking Without Faking and The Mystery of Gluten-Free

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Non-Stick Cooking and Your Health

Health Implications of Cooking with Oils

Sugars and Sweeteners

It Never Tasted So Sweet?

USDA GMO Labeling Law is a Failure

Gluten-Free Baking

Baking Without Faking