To think cold food is just as nutritious and filling as hot?

[TropicofCapricorn]

People seem to think that hot food for meals is inherently better than cold?

If I served my daughter cold chicken pesto pasta and some salad for dinner, some people look at me "aren't you giving her a proper meal?". Bit of id given her the pasta hit and with peas or something, they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

You see it on MN too, somehow people think a hot meal is more filling?

Is there any truth in that?

I'm of the opinion a cheese sandwich is the same nutritionally and as filling as a cheese toastie.

The drinks are hotter than the food and the heat isn't list through chewing etc

Cold pasta is foul anyway.
My Singaporean SiL thinks nothing is a ‘proper’ meal if it’s not hot.

I don’t suppose she’s the only one!
At a cheapish restaurant servery, with cold and hot food at lunchtime, I was once next to an elderly couple - he just wanted a sandwich but she kept saying, ‘But you’ve got to have a proper dinner!’

I’ve no idea what this means.

Why is your body so cold that eating a salad would do it harm?

I probably on the whole prefer cold pasta. Love a cold rice salad too!

I'm both extremes- I either like my food hot enough to burn my tongue, or fridge cold, lol.

And yea you're right, cold pasta pesto is no different to some cooked pasta.

Some of it is cultural. I had a Chinese friend who couldn't fathom having a cold sandwich for lunch. But she also ate rice in the morning, which would be culturally weird here!

Anyway, eat what you want, it's not they deep.

Same.

Why is it better though?

If a person gets more enjoyment from eating a hot meal versus a cold meal, that is better in their opinion. It’s just individual perception. Doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong though.

Cold pasta gives me the gip. Hot pasta is lovely. HTH.

The shaming on this thread!

Bloody hell op, of course it's okay

No shaming as far as I can see. The OP states that hot and cold food are nutritionally similar and most ppl agree. However many ppl prefer to eat hot food over cold food. It’s a preference!!

Yes this - you’re making a straw man argument @TropicofCapricorn.

Cold food is very satisfying at times - picnic food in the garden on a summery day as an example.

But there is a satisfaction that comes from the smell and texture of hot food at times as well. Melted cheese in a toastie is infinitely more pleasurable than cold grated cheese in a sandwich. Or it is for me at least.

YANBU. Actually, nutrionally the cold (if raw) food is probably better. But food is more than just nutrition. On a cold day, a warm meal is more inviting and cooked, hot food can have more flavour.

Not sure if it was the same programme (I don’t remember the hike!) but I saw a programme where they gave one team cooked chicken, rice, and a drink of water and another team the same ingredients and quantities but as a soup. The latter was found to be significantly more filling (they ate less) even though the constituents were identical.

Goes to show that even where food is nutritionally the same, there are other factors including psychological.

For me personally, I find stronger flavours and nicer textures with hot food - the same food can be bland or stodgy cold. I’m eating later than the rest of the family due to my working hours at the moment and sometimes I’m finding a good meal is just mediocre when room temp but really tasty when reheated.

Those saying that raw food is healthier - cooking food seems to be what gave humans an evolutionary advantage and boosted the size of brains. Many foods need to be cooked to make the nutrients accessible for our digestive systems.

See, for example, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/121026-human-cooking-evolution-raw-food-health-science

Though of course OP should eat what she prefers, and cooked food eaten cold is the same nutritionally as cooked food eaten hot I’m sure.

Doesn't cooking food make lots of inedible foods, even poisonous food, edible though ? Thereby expanding the range of foods we can eat. I would think the ability to cook has even contributed to human evolution. No other animal does it.

When people say, cold foods for children, I think of things like pork pie, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, cold ham, fridge raiders, cheese, crackers, and some crudités and fruit.

I wouldn’t say these are healthier or as healthy as a typical hot meal like pasta with sauce and veg, or baked fish with new potatoes, or roast chicken w/ roast potatoes and broccoli. But I think a hot meal literally not heated up is fine.

That said, I would prefer the hot meal heated up myself. I don’t like cold food unless it’s the above sort of picnic/ploughman’s type foods, and I wouldn’t eat those regularly. My kids often have raw veg for dinner though, so spaghetti bolognaise with raw carrots, cucumber, tomatoes because they prefer them raw.

I think it's a cultural thing. I've grownup in a south asian household and I just wouldn't give my kids a cold meal for dinner. I do sandwiches and wrap style meals for lunch though. Do whatever works for your family.

Yes, see my post below. Cooking has significantly contributed to human evolution.