Polish cooking is so large in scope it is beyond the imagination. Are you thinking ham, kielbasa and pierogi when it comes to Polish fare? Stop. I live in Poland and do not eat a lot of that. I eat something like the new Polish diet. It is based on traditional cuisine and modifications. Pick up any Polish cookbook and it is over 1,000 recipes. From that you can pick and choose what you like and modify, live longer and feel better.
Is the Polish cooking and diet good for your health?
Yes, if and only if you make changes to the ingredients when needed and choose the right food. Do not buy low quality meat (most have msg from the deli), pickles made with a lot of white vinegar (instead of horseradish and garlic and salt), and brand X pierogi are not as good if you make your own with quality flour, even whole grain and intresting filling like blueberries or cabbage (not together of course). Read the label if you are buying packaged food and improvise if you are making it yourself.
If you live in Poland shop at the farmers market and eat the food babcia and twoja matka gives your to take home from the countryside, rather than those cheap Chinese noodels at Tesco.
These are pickle not make with white vinegar but rather salt (natural from ancient Wieliczka seas), garlic and herbs. It is sitting on my kitchen take and ready for Obiad (dinner).
For example, you can also modify any traditional Polish recipe to be healthier. Lets say if you are frying dumplings, instead of using a polyunsaturated fat, use olive oil. If you use your creativity, any dish can be better for you, there are no rule in the kitchen.
Vegetarianism in Poland
Believe it or not this cold dark climate does have people who do not eat meat. I mean when you are freezing in a snow storm, waiting at a Warsaw tram stop, you do not think of eating a grape sandwich are you? Well you might be surpised you can survive in Poland as a vegetarian. The ones I meet do it for ethical reasons, not health but look much younger than their carnerious counterparts.
I know a number of Polish vegetarians. In fact I know this one guy who is a world traveler and owns a couple of Vegetarian restaurants in Krakow (called Vega bar). He travels the world. I asked him does he try different types of vegetarian cooking he goes to such exotic places? He said no. I replied ‘what’? He only eats Polish vegetarian food no matter where he is because he does not want to waste a meal as he knows Polish cooking is the best. I find it hard to argue.
Poland is the land of organic vegetables. You could eat local farm grown cabbage, onions, garlic, carrots until you are healed and skinny. You can eat fresh berries, and fruits from the forests until you pop. There is no way you can convince me that you can not live on a healthy diet in Poland.
One more thing, maybe you want to skip the bar mleczny (milk bar which has traditional but often low quality food). Some are good but some have a lot of bigos that seems to have been around since the start of Solaridarity.
Do Polish people live long and how can you?
I am Polish and American and I think it might surprise you that life expectancies in the two countries are about the same, a difference by only a few months, but for different reasons. American spend a lot on health care but eat too much. Poles eat less, most food is non GMO, spend less on health care but smoke, they are less aware about other health concerns like enviromental toxins(this is changing) and use a lot of cooking with vegetable oils as opposed to more stable monounsaturated fats.
They do not eat too much junk food or go to fast food place, and rarely eat at resturants. Home cooking is the best and yes every Polish woman cooks without a question. Poles also walk everywhere and take a lot more vacations. They use herbal teas and natural healing methods more.
However, when it comes to diet I think Poles have a healthier diet. Not by virtue of what ingredients are found in their Polish recipes but rather they eat less. The less you eat the healthier you are. That is a scientific fact.
So anyone that tells me the Polish diet is unhealthy I think they are misinformed about nutrition.
There are many known cases of people losing weight on any diet. To some extent it does not matter what you eat but how much you eat. What you eat matters only when it comes to health and how you feel.
For example, there was a nutritionist who lost 50 lbs on a junk food diet, or the guy who ate at Subways for a year and lost even more.
How to eat for longevity with Polish food
Therefore, we can conclude that any diet can lead to weight loss but how many taste good and are good for you? That is, where Polish cooking comes in.
- Just eat moderate portions or less is more.
- Focus on the good things like Polish chicken, borsch or barely soup, cabbage salads, leak and carrot type salads, fish from Poland like herring, pickles, yogurt .
- Drink lots of carrot juice that is readily available in every shop in Poland.
- Eat fruit like berries that grow everywhere in Poland. Blackberries and blueberries are the best. Also consider wild rose and black currant are in every market and cookbook. These are rich in anti-oxidants, more than almost any other food. You can heal your body with these alone. Make a smoothie with these every night and you will see a boast in the way you feel.
- Polish flaxseed oil in its raw state is great on salads.
- Snack on things like sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
What is your impression of Polish cooking and how do you cook it? Ask any questions if you want to know how Poles really shop at the grocery store and eat.
1 responses to Is Polish food healthy?
Polish diet is healthy as opposed to the American feeding
People here seem to care about what they eat, which might be the reason why they eat at home so much. You will never really know what’s in it unless you make it yourself. If they buy junk food, they often hesitate, read the ingredients, etc. Most Americans trustfully grab any ready made product that they like without any fear. You often see pregnant women and toddlers eating that stuff too, and no one thinks anything of it. I was a little bit shocked when I first witnessed one of my American friends feeding her 18 month old daughter french fries and dr pepper. Why was I surprised? Because I remember my mom talking about how she gave up chips and coffee and pretty much all her favorite things when she was pregnant. I also remember that my sister and me weren’t allowed to have coke when we were little kids. Most Poles feel like they are bad parents if they stuff their kids with “chemistry”- a common word used for junk food and also low quality cosmetics. Children are vulnerable and deserve special treatment.
Another thing is, as most European nations we are not scared of vegetables. Moreover, we love them. We enjoy simple things just as much as 3-pot dishes that take 2 days to make. And the veggies taste even better if you grow them in your own back yard, because again, you know what’s in it.
Polish cakes contain relatively small amounts of sugar, as too much sugar kill the taste. I remember reading about a woman who owns a cupcake shop in Kraków and had to change her baking habits and cut back on the sweetness to keep Krakovians coming back to her shop.
I personally think it sucks to be a vegetarian and come to Poland without being able to try its pride and joy- the meats and sausages. However, there are plenty of other things that you can replace meat with and still have yummy in your tummy. Try various kinds of meat-free pierogi or potato pancakes with sour cream, salt and pepper. I like them the healthier way, with potatoes mixed 50:50 with zucchini or squash and some parsley added.
I’m not sure if you can really say we eat less than Americans- I know I do and so does my family, but there are a lot of people who eat a three course meal for dinner. There is no way I could eat all that at once, but some people do. I think this one is the biggest sin when it comes to Polish eating habits.
Some Polish dishes contain things that are fattening or somewhat unhealthy- for example vegetable salad (the one everyone makes for Christmas and other big occasions), where everything is good for you except for the mayonnaise. Or yellow fasolka with butter, or chicken and vegetable jelly with vinegar. It’s not likely to make you fat or give you a disease though , unless you don’t overfeed yourself on a daily basis.
Of course we all have weak moments and eat junk too, but it is not a significant amount. I guess you could call it an “od święta” type of thing.
Is Polish food healthy?
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