We eat to live or "live to eat" in today's time & for the food to become edible, it needs to be cooked.Cooking is done on every household on a daily basis but the way we cook has an impact on the nutritive value of vegetables.
Cooking in the right manner can preserve lots of nutrients to keep us healthy.
SOME COMMON PRACTICES THAT CAUSES LOSS OF NUTRIENTS-
Peeling-The vitamins under the skin are lost on peeling.So certain fruits & vegetables like apple,cucumber,radish,pears,carrots can be eaten with the peel.
The outer leaves of cabbage are much more greener than the inner leaves as they contain more carotene
(vit A).So throwing the outer leaves results in carotene loss.
Baking soda is added to veggies to improve their colour but this creates an alkaline medium which causes loss of many vitamins like folic acid, vitamin c, thiamine.
Heating & reheating the food destroys many nutrients.Therefore it is better to cook when it's time to eat or re-heat only the amount of food required.
About 50 percent of riboflavin is lost when the milk is exposed to sunlight.So always keep the milk covered.
THE 3R's OF COOKING TO PRESERVE NUTRIENTS ARE-
Cooking in the right manner can preserve lots of nutrients to keep us healthy.
SOME COMMON PRACTICES THAT CAUSES LOSS OF NUTRIENTS-
The outer leaves of cabbage are much more greener than the inner leaves as they contain more carotene
(vit A).So throwing the outer leaves results in carotene loss.
Baking soda is added to veggies to improve their colour but this creates an alkaline medium which causes loss of many vitamins like folic acid, vitamin c, thiamine.
Heating & reheating the food destroys many nutrients.Therefore it is better to cook when it's time to eat or re-heat only the amount of food required.
About 50 percent of riboflavin is lost when the milk is exposed to sunlight.So always keep the milk covered.
THE 3R's OF COOKING TO PRESERVE NUTRIENTS ARE-
REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED-
Many water soluble vitamins are lost during cooking.To reduce this-
~Soaking and washing time of the veggies should be reduced.
~Wash the vegetables with skin & then peel & cut.
~Use only the required amount of water while cooking so that no extra water is left which has to be drained.
~Steaming & pressure cooking are good options to preserve nutrients while cooking.
REDUCE THE LENGTH OF COOKING PERIOD-
The more time you take to cook,more the water soluble vitamins (vit B&C) are lost.So cook for a short time.Cooking time can be reduced by pressure cooking or covering the vessel with a lid while cooking.Microwaving is another good option.
Soaking pulses for some time before cooking hastens the process of cooking.It also reduces phytic acid which can cause flatulence.
REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SURFACE AREA EXPOSED-
Cut the veggies into bigger pieces so that less of vitamins are leeched into water.More of vitamin C is preserved when carrots are cut lengthwise rather than crosswise.
Cook the vegetables with skin so that leeching of vitamins into water is less.
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