Most of us are aware that a well-balanced diet brings many benefits to our body. People who are interested in a healthy lifestyle usually know well what should be on their plates. On the other hand, knowledge about the proper preparation of dishes is much less common. It’s a pity because the way we prepare a specific dish can greatly change its nutritional properties. Preparing dishes - what do you need to know about it?
Preparing dishes and preserving nutritional properties
Some dishes are highly recommended to be in our diet plan, and this is because of their amazing health-promoting properties. These include primarily vegetables and fruits, but also lean meat, fish and nuts. Let us remember that these products may lose their valuable properties if we prepare them incorrectly. A situation can occur in which, although seemingly we eat very healthy, our meals do not contain all the beneficial ingredients that they contained in the raw state or when they would be properly prepared.
What is mainly spoiling the healthy properties of many dishes is too high temperature. Vegetables and fruit would be best eaten raw. Then we could enjoy all the vitamins and microelements that they contain. This is not always possible due to the taste of the dish. Some ways preserve the properties of vegetables and fruits despite being subjected to heat treatment. Steam cooking should be the most reliable way here. It lasts much shorter than traditional boiling in water, which means that vegetables retain their colour as well as full flavour. Steam cooking does not rinse vitamins and minerals out the dishes, which in traditional water cooking remain in the water.
Steam cooking is not only recommended for products such as vegetables. We could also steam meat and fishes. This is an excellent alternative to frying, which many nutritionists believe should be avoided at all costs. It is worth knowing that when frying, free radicals are produced, which in large quantities may be carcinogenic. This does not mean that we should completely give up on frying – we just have to maintain moderation. Remember though to avoid frying food to a dark brown colour - it is the most harmful to health.
The same goes for the grilling. Stewing is another interesting way to prepare food. As you know, valuable ingredients from dishes are transferred to water during cooking. When we stew vegetables, we eat them together with a small amount of water, which is rich in valuable substances. This is also a great way to consume vitamins and microelements contained in vegetables.
Healthier preparation of traditional dishes
We often lose valuable nutritional properties of our dishes due to a lack of knowledge. Our health suffers from this. Many people, aware of the fact that it takes little to take advantage of the full nutritional value contained in prepared dishes, would gladly change harmful habits. Potatoes are a frequent addition to dishes. Considered by some to be of little value, in fact, they are a real treasury of vitamins and microelements. However preparing them incorrectly, we flush out most of these valuable substances.
We usually cook peeled potatoes in water. After cooking, we remove the tubers and pour out the water with all the vitamins. This is not the best way to use the healthy potential of potatoes. A much better method of cooking them is steaming or baking in the skin. If we need to eat them warm, it is best to use a steamer for their preparation.
Healthy cooking does not require much effort from us, but the benefits that we can get from it are huge! That's why its worth getting along with those simple rules of healthy cooking.
