Cookbooks have the potential to be a huge health risk

Posted on Oct 31st 2007 10:37AM by Brian White

Cookbooks are a staple of modern kitchens, cooking parents and restaurant mavens the world over. From Betty Crocker to Paula Deen, these books contain some of the most soothing and delicious foods meant for any human mouth. trouble is, many of them contain recipes that are anything but healthy.

Now, that's not to say that cookbooks are bad -- it's what you do with them that counts. Using a cup of sugar in a recipe meant for four servings is pretty easy to judge. That's way too much sugar for anyone to eat in one sitting (let alone refined, which sugar).

Using recipes as ideas to start up a healthy version of what you're reading on that cookbook page is a great idea. Make healthy substitutions and use certain recipes as a guide to healthier meals when possible.

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Tags: cookbooks, fatty foods, FattyFoods, unhealthy foods, UnhealthyFoods

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

KMW 10-31-2007 @ 3:31PM

I think we would all agree, cookbooks are for special occasion cooking or for the beginner, as a starting point to learn. I don't know anyone in 2007 who eats a steady diet of cookbook foods unless it is a diet cookbook and then we go crazy. Let us all stop being paranoid and learn to live a life of balance. Either extreme is unhealthy.

Robyn 10-31-2007 @ 3:45PM

How insanely stuipid. Read the recipie, make it or not!!! Who cares, i am so sick of people trying to tell everyone else how to eat, live, work out, raise their kids... Let's throw out all the books, close down all restuarants, all wear the same clothes, eat the same food, blah, blah, blah.

EL 10-31-2007 @ 3:45PM

I only kept a few classic Cookbooks my Mom (who I never knew as she passed away at 47) had for sentimental reasons. The Original Betty Crocker & a few others are memories. My Hubby & I are on Lower Carb/High Fiber/Sugar Free Lifestyles & have maintained this well over 7 yrs. We read every label & are appalled at all the HFCS & junk that's tossed in stuff. If we see a recipe, we ALTER it. NO Paula Dean or any other fattening book in our collection. Common sense & change are the way to go! Try to shop at Trader Joe's or LEARN how to work your way around Jewel as THAT'S a challange when they want U to buy the garbage. EW!

jessi 10-31-2007 @ 3:49PM

Gee, have a little fun in your life! Not only are alot of cookbooks full of delicous recipes, but they are also good teaching tools for kids! I say make the recipe as stated, you can have everything in moderation. People who are "into" eating ONLY healthy foods are party poopers! Take those parents who insist their kids only have whole, unprocessed foods, do these parents ever think how left out their kids are at parties and school holiday celebrations? I make sure my kids eat fruit, veggies, fish, and all things healthy; but I also let them have "fun" foods to show them that they have to practice moderation! Not one person in my family of 5 is anywhere near being overweight, we are active but we like our food!

jessi 10-31-2007 @ 3:50PM

I must add to my previous comment, my husband and I both have very good cholesteral levels, and if anything, we would do to gain a few pounds! See, you can eat everything, just not all at once!

Susan Beckmen 10-31-2007 @ 4:02PM

Hey E-diet! Why don't you just sponsor a cookbook burning! It appears that you don't have anything better to do!

Molly6 10-31-2007 @ 4:27PM

Cookbooks are GREAT! And a reasonable person will not go overboard with them. My favorite books are the ones that have stories or family stories with the recipe. A cook book won't make you fat, unless you EAT several a day!

Laurel 10-31-2007 @ 4:32PM

Throw out my cookbooks? Okay, that's it! I have had it! I am tired of being told what's good for me what's not. How I should look (insanely thin) EVERYTHING makes us fat and causes cancer these days! Heck with it. I am going to follow in my Great Grandmas Footsteps all of whom passed along their cookbooks to me and, may I add, all lived to be in their mid to late 90's. I am going to cook what I want, eat what i want and I am going to LIVE and be happy! Life is a celebration quit peeing on the parade man!

Princess Poon 10-31-2007 @ 4:41PM

Thanks again for another "that's fit" article to state the obvious. What kind of moron would eat the cakes, desserts, rich dinners and appetizers in cookbooks every day of the week?

Everything in moderation, dahhlings.

Sarah 10-31-2007 @ 4:41PM

what is Trader Joe's or Jewel? are they cookbooks?

MJ Smith 10-31-2007 @ 4:44PM

Was Brian trying to be informative or provacative? He failed at the former and succeeded at the latter. One may purchase cookbooks that have healthy recipes - or unhealthy recipes. Within the cookbook, the cook may choose healthy or unhealthy recipes. When using a recipe you may slavishly follow it or modify it to meet your dietary needs or recognize the recipe as an occasional treat.

What is important is that cookbooks provide a "school" of cooking techniques and compatible tastes and textures so that one can learn to cook without serving a long apprenticeship. And cookbooks provide instruction on how to adjust diets for changing needs - allergies, special diets, living alone, even seasonal variations. Even, I suspect, for the constantly changing view of meeting a "perfect diet's criteria."

Yes, there are a lot of crummy cookbooks out there - unhealthy, uninviting, horrid tastes ... generally offensive to my culinary tastes. But I don't throw out all novels because some are poorly written, tasteless, perhaps even violent or pornographic. And I won't throw out my cookbooks just because I could have purchased a bad one.

Joni 10-31-2007 @ 4:44PM

I love my cookbooks though I rarely use them. I have a small collection of cookbooks with different types of foods and recipe ideas listed in them. A few of them are specifically for my children (healthy snacks & desserts are just two different ones) while the others I look through at various times throughout the year. I don't always use them or any of them but they are there just in case I need them or want to try something different.

lele 10-31-2007 @ 4:45PM

I agree with Robyn! All this is insane! I don't need anyone to tell me how to eat, dress, vote, or think, etc...
Yes, suggestions are nice but, that is just what they are suggestions! Our poor children are starving themselves to death and all our society can do is root them on by preaching all this "dieting"! Yes, obesity is bad but, so is being emaciated! And that is what is being portrayed today! A healthy balance is nice! Cookbooks are nice also!
For goodness sake, let's get on with living and stop the mind control!!!!

Christine 10-31-2007 @ 4:47PM

This is truly the most ridiculous, alarmist nonsense masquerading as "healthy living advice" I've ever read - and on a site known for its overabundance of ridiculous, alarmist nonsense masquerading as "healthy living advice", that's really saying something. Book burners of the world, unite! Information - knowing how to make a recipe that doesn't fit this week's version of "healthy eating - is a dangerous thing that must be stamped out for the greater good!

NZ 10-31-2007 @ 4:53PM

How ridiculous. There are plenty of cookbooks with healthy recipes these days. I use cookbooks just about every day with recipes that are quite healthy. There are plenty out there that don't use butter, oil, cream, sugar, etc.

stephen 11-01-2007 @ 2:26PM

the whole problem with the US is food is our obsession with it! You cant be a healthy eater and be obsessed with portions. GET A LIFE!! Get into work, get into your kids, get busy! Food should be a secondary thing, you eat when your hungry or you eat at set times. But dont make it a big deal, start to eat less and eat healthier YOU know what it takes to lose weight. if you dont want to be healthy just eat less. If you eat at Mcdonalds just buy ONE burger and a diet soda.. or at MOST a small fry and dont eat anything after till dinner. Just focus on other things, its hard at first but gets so much easier a month or two into it.

nealjonesdesign 11-01-2007 @ 9:17AM

I would have to agree with the comments about this article being completely alarmist! But I also would like to point out the fact that this article is a nightmare for anyone who has any grasp of the English language. Does AOL not require any sort of editorial process? I can understand blogs not being perfect, but to list this on the first page of AOL.COM as a MUST READ! I think they should have higher standards.

For example:
"..these books contain some of the most soothing and delicious foods meant for any human mouth. [sic] trouble is, many of them contain recipes that are anything but healthy.

Now, that's not to say that cookbooks are bad -- it's what you do with them that counts. Using a cup of sugar in a recipe meant for four servings is pretty easy to judge [sic]. That's way too much sugar for anyone to eat in one sitting (let alone refined, which sugar [sic])."

When you cannot even figure out where to put the [sic]'s to show that you understand that the quote is incorrect, then you know that you have a really horribly written article. AOL should NOT be advertising such poor commands of the English language.

Zzythyr 10-31-2007 @ 5:10PM

I would NEVER throw away 2 of my old cookbooks. The one I got from my mom in 1959 had some really TASTY recipes. Whether they're healthy or not, who cares. Another one was my grandmothers cookbook..also by today's standards, not too healthy. Now when my gram made a pie crust (for rhubarb pie ~my favorite) she put lard in the pie crust. MMMM mmmm. Hey, so I die.... everybody's gonna die sometime. But every once in awhile I'm gonna eat that food and die with a smile on my face. Burrrrrp

david 10-31-2007 @ 5:19PM

How about proof-reading your articles or at least disabling your spellchecker. I assume you meant 'white' sugar when you wrote "(let alone refined, which sugar)." At least 'witch' sugar might have gotten a laugh being topical and all. I don't use cookbooks anymore as more likely than not they always have some arcane or seldom used spice or ingrediant that i'll never use again. so I just check what's on hand, figure what might go with what and make 'surprises'. usually works out fine...although every now and then...lol.

Theresa 10-31-2007 @ 5:26PM

Give me a break. My cookbook collection spans generations back 150 years. Generations who mostly lived beyond age 70. What exactly is the point of extending your life if you are still counting calories and passing on the chocolate cake when you are at the end? I've seen some pretty stupid advice in my day, but this one ranks near the top, along with women over 50 should never wear sleeveless blouses. You guys need to get out more and spend some time in a nursing home. If you need to borrow a good cookbook to make that chocolate cake, just give me a hollor.

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