The kitchen is the door to your health

Did you know which room is the first to receive a makeover when in a newly bought property? It is the kitchen! Close behind, the bathroom is the second most common renovation project for homeowners. Why do these two rooms receive most of the attention when you buy a house? The answer is simple. Because they are heavily involved in your everyday routine. As a result, your kitchen – and your bathroom too – tends to show signs of wear and tear sooner than any other area in your home. When you think about it, every cup of coffee, every spaghetti bolognese dish, every oven-baked cake, every sliced or peeled vegetable adds up. By the end of the day, the kitchen is a place for gathering and togetherness, where the heart of the household beats every morning and every evening as you prepare your meal. Needless to say, your favorite kitchen appliances get used day after day until they need replacing.

But have you ever considered that the signs of wear and tear could go both ways? Indeed, the areas and appliances that need replacing in priority say a lot about you. But similarly, the way your kitchen affects your health says a lot about your household lifestyle too. After all, what happens in the kitchen doesn’t stay in the kitchen. It impacts your health, both physical and mental. But in many ways, organizational mistakes can transform both your approach to the kitchen and your health too. Are you ready to eliminate the signs of wear and tear that your kitchen leaves in your life? It’s time to take responsibilities and make the kitchen the healthiest room at home.

There is no small kitchen, just small solutions

As you begin your climb onto the property ladder, or even as a tenant, you need to be prepared for small rooms. Ultimately, when the kitchen starts to resemble a tightly packed jungle of utensils through which you need to make your way to cook, it can be challenging to make the most of the space available. However, while kitchens can go in various sizes, it is foolish to assume that you need a big kitchen to maintain your healthy lifestyle. On the contrary, small rooms call for space-savvy tips.

For a start, you can’t do anything without decluttering the actual workspace. How many pans do you need? Should you keep your baking gear in a drawer? Do you have too much of this or that? Ultimately, items you don’t use should be discarded. They only accumulate dust and shrink the space. You can then focus your attention on making a small and clutter-free room appear bigger. There are plenty of decorative tricks to create an inviting space in which you will love to cook. Mirrors are a no-brainer as they bring a new dimension to the room. But you can just as well create the illusion of space by pinning the poster of a window to the wall. Simple but oh so effective!

Urgh, it’s probably a bacterial war down there!

You’d love to use your kitchen, but somehow you can’t help but imagine all the nasty and ugly germs living all around the place. First of all, you’re right to be cautious of kitchens; they can accumulate bacterial presence rapidly. However, more often than not, you’ll find bacteria on in the most surprising locations of all. Indeed, your sponge is the perfect petri dish for the invisible life forms in your kitchen. In fact, 75% of household sponges contain more bacteria than the entire room. There’s no way around it; if you want to keep your kitchen clean, you need to change your sponge regularly. A weekly basis is a must! However, most people don’t replace their sponge as often. But they rely instead on manageable and hygienic countertops – such as the ones from WorldStoneGroup.com for instance – to ensure their food doesn’t get in contact with harmful germs. Additionally, making sure to cook potentially dangerous food through – such as eggs or chicken – can prevent most health issues.

I don’t know what’s in the cupboard; I’ll order a takeaway instead

There’s a big difference between decluttering your kitchen and clearing your pantry and cupboards. Indeed, even the cleanest of kitchens can have cabinets filled with food that nobody ever eats. Why does that happen? More often than not, your storage system – or lack of system as it tends to be the case – can make it hard to find ingredients. So, even though you could cook a healthy dinner, you prefer to order a pizza! It seems easier and quicker. Unfortunately, if you want to get off the takeaway habits, you need to learn how to organize your cabinets properly with ContainerStore.com. Start by emptying everything and cleaning out each item. As you do, you can decide on what has to stay and what needs to be stored elsewhere. The primary rule to keep your cabinets user-friendly is to invest in small storage containers and solutions that keep everything accessible. Next time you’re feeling too lazy to cook, it will only take a glance to figure out what quick and easy meal you can prepare – and probably quicker than it would take to receive a takeaway dinner!

Am I thirsty or hungry?

Ah, the eternal dilemma. Should I eat or should I drink? Given the circumstances and the typical kitchen design, most people would rather grab a snack from the pantry than a glass of water. Why so? Because snacks are conveniently available while getting water feels both dull and troublesome. But you can trick yourself into drinking more with homemade flavored water. Indeed, there’s nothing more appealing than an elegant carafe on the kitchen table with fresh fruit and herbs inside. A vitamin-rich recipe for the winter is to prepare a pineapple-orange flavored carafe with a hint of ginger, for instance. There’s a natural sense of freshness and health from a carafe of water; it makes it impossible to resist. If you find yourself wandering into the kitchen, unsure whether you are hungry or thirsty, the sight of your prepared water can tip the balance!

I’d have fruit, but it’s rotting in the bowl

You’ve probably been told to keep your fruit in a bowl on the countertop. It’s the best way to increase your consumption of fresh fruit, according to dietitians. But if you haven’t mastered the art of keeping your fruit in a bowl, you’ll struggle to keep your healthy resolutions. The apples, oranges, and bananas packed on top of each other can look unappetizing after a few days, and by the end of the week, you will need to bin your apples and bananas. Why can’t you keep your fruit looking fresh and tasty? There may be many reasons, but the most common issue is the bowl. You need to select a bowl that is functional and that allows air circulation all around the fruit. Plastic or metal non-mesh bowls are a poor choice. Additionally, you should wash your bowl once a week to reduce the presence of fruit flies.

Feeling blue? Don’t grab for the sugar

What do you do when you need an emotional pick-me-up? If cookies are the first answer that popped to your mind, you need to reconsider your kitchen design. Indeed, sugar is not indicated to boost your mood. On the contrary, after the sugar rush, your energy and euphoria are likely to drop abruptly. Instead, take a close look at aromatic plants that can significantly lift your spirit. Basil, for instance, a kitchen favorite for deliciously fragrant meals, can improve your mood too. If you’re growing lavender in the kitchen, you’ll love the soothing effect it has on your nerves!  

When you put trust in your cookware, you put trust in your dinner

Do you use non-stick cookware? If you’re using pans that don’t come with a non-stick coating, there’s a fair chance that your dishes will be higher in fat than necessary. After all, you need to add plenty of oil or butter to make sure your dinner doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan! Ultimately, this affects your arteries. But don’t be too quick to buy non-stick items. Many non-stick coating solutions are toxic and release a carcinogenic chemical when heated. It’s the last thing you want to have on your plate! Instead, you need to look for non-toxic and non-stick solutions, such as Greenpan, a Belgian brand that uses a material derived from sand.

Food waste… Is your fridge up for a challenge?

Despite our best efforts to follow a healthy diet, we continue to affect the environment. Food waste is at its highest. You can tackle waste by organizing your fridge to keep everything visible. Additionally, you can replace your weekly shopping with frequent trips to your local shop. This will force you to buy less and therefore to go through your ingredients more rapidly.

Does your kitchen decor make you happy?

Last, but not least, you can use stimulating colors to encourage your healthy lifestyle. Orange brings confidence and exuberance to your cooking, for instance, while green evokes freshness and new beginnings.  

In conclusion, there’s only one question left to ask: Are you ready to fulfill your health potential in the kitchen?

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