Millions of Brits are becoming more adventurous with dieting — thanks to social media cooking

Nearly two-thirds have searched online for recipe videos and recreated at least one dish at home – with baked oats being the most popular

Millions of Brits have become more experimental with their diet thanks to cooking posts on social media.

A study of 2,000 British adults found that 60% searched for recipe videos online and nine out of ten of them cooked more than one dish at home.

Baked oats were the most popular “how-to” recipe, followed by folded tortilla sandwich, feta pasta, salmon rice bowl and cloud bread.

The research was commissioned by wellness platform Able, which matches users with holistic wellness coaches.

It turns out that 42% say social media has made them more adventurous in the kitchen.

But while many users turned to social media recipes for health reasons (47%), there is also widespread confusion about what constitutes healthy eating.

Carolyn Nicholas, Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach Able tosaid: “Our research shows that 38% of people think the salmon rice bowl is healthy — but at 458 calories per serving, we’d advise reducing the amount of rice and using wild-caught salmon and an avocado oil mayo for fats, and forever.” save this for dinner.

“This recipe also contains sriracha, which can be high in sugar.”

It also found that four out of ten respondents thought baked oatmeal was healthy.

But Carolyn added: “It’s the equivalent of dessert for breakfast. Although the recipe doesn’t add any sugar, it may still be high glycemic due to the oatmeal, banana, and chocolate variety used.

“If you’re looking for foods that will help you lose weight permanently, we wouldn’t recommend starting the day with one.

“Now only 20% think feta pasta is good for you, but it has a lot of potential.

“A few healthy tweaks would be reducing your portion of pasta, or better yet, replacing it with healthier alternatives like zucchini or pumpkin noodles.

“Stick to a good oil like olive or avocado oil and experiment with a little more veggies.”

More than half of respondents polled via OnePoll felt confident enough to serve their social media-inspired meals to friends or family.

But foodies are clearly ready to eat healthier – more than half (54%) said they think social media recipe videos should include “calorie counters”.

And a fifth would even go so far as to ask a coach about the calories in the food trends they see on social media if they had access to one.

In response to the findings, Able’s professional wellness coaches reviewed the top 15 most popular social media food trends, as many Brits mistook their nutritional value.

Carolyn added: “The most important outcome of this is to always read the labels and think about what you’re putting into your body or consult your Able Coach before automatically taking what you’re told on social media, because parts are often wrong.

“But there are simple changes you can make to certain recipes to make them healthier. When in doubt, consulting a professional wellness coach is a good place to start.”

TOP 10 MOST POPULAR RECIPE VIDEOS:

1. Baked Oats
2. Folded tortilla sandwich
3. Feta Pasta
4. Salmon Rice Bowl
5. cloud bread
6. pesto eggs
7. Vodka Noodles
8. Dalgona coffee
9. Pepper Sandwich
10. Frozen Honey

TOP 10 VIDEO RECIPES REPRODUCTED BY BRITS AND THEIR CALORIES COUNT:

1. Baked Oats – 466.7 calories per serving (approx. 37 minute walk)
2. Folded Tortilla Sandwich – 528.8 calories per serving (approx. 42 minute walk)
3. Feta Pasta – 380 calories per serving (approx. 30 minute walk)
4. Salmon Rice Bowl – 458 calories per serving (approx. 37 minute walk)
5. Pesto Eggs – 276 calories per serving with scrambled eggs (approx. 22 minute walk)
6. Vodka Pasta – 240 calories per serving (approx. 19 minute walk)
7. Cloud Bread – 36 calories each (approx. 3 minute walk)
8. Pepper Sandwich – 652 calories per serving (approx. 52 minute walk)
9. Donut Granola – 452 calories per serving (approx. 36 minute walk)
10. Dalgona Coffee – 211 calories per cup (approx. 17 minute walk)