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Old Recipes Better For Health

28 February 2009

Too Much 'Joy' In Cook Books Of Today

Large serving sizes encourage overeating - a fact well proven by Professor Brian Wansink, Cornell University, over the years and often discussed in my Nutrition Blog. So it's concerning to learn that many recipe books published in the last few years recommend serving sizes containing 40% more calories than equivalent recipes from decades past.

Recipes in various cookbooks published in the last 70 years were reviewed by research authors Professor Brian Wansink, Cornell University, and Collin Payne, New Mexico State University. Particular focus was placed on the classic American cookbook The Joy Of Cooking, with editions dating from 1936 through to 2006 reviewed by Wansink and Payne.

A total of 18 recipes appeared consistently in The Joy Of Cooking throughout those editions and of those 18 recipes a whopping 17 had increased the calorie content per serving - adding a further 77 calories to each serving. Interestingly, the increase was not always due to high-fat or high-sugar ingredient changes, it was simply due to the food writer increasing the recommended serving size and reducing the number of servings per batch for the recipe in later years.

Practical Advice - What Does This Mean In Real Life?

We need to think twice about the recommended serving sizes in any recipe books we use. Clearly, there is a trend in recent times for food writers to produce serving size recommendations that are not conducive to good health. That's not to say all food writers are trying to fatten us up; but in the interests of good health it would be wise to stop and think carefully when using cookbooks. Try these tips:

Increase the number of servings produced by the recipe by reducing the serving size. For example, the recipe says the chocolate brownie recipe produces 15 brownies, you cut up the brownie to produce 20 smalled brownie servings instead;
Reduce the serving size and add healthy sides. For example, a beef casserole recipe says it produces 4 servings, instead you divide it up into 6 smaller (but probably normal-sized) servings and add extra servings of steamed vegetables to go with it.

Learn More About Mindless Eating

Wansink is the author of the best-selling book Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think found in Thinking Nutrition's Book Shop. Purchase a copy now to learn more about the psychology of eating and get Wansink's great practical advice for healthy eating.

You can also read a well-written and thorough article about Wansink and Payne's recipe book research in the NZ Herald:

Read the NZ Herald article on Wansink's study

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References:

Wansink, B & Payne CR. 2009. The Joy of Cooking Too Much: 70 Years of Calorie Increases in Classic Recipes. Annals of Internal Medicine, vol 150:291.