To preserve the nutrients of the food while cooking, follow these ways
Posted on: 05/Jan/2019 11:32:31 AM
Foods have got many nutrients such as vitamin B1, vitamin C, polyphenols etc in them and continuous exposure to the water, light and heat could result in the loss of these nutrients from the foods. Hence proper care must be taken so that the nutrients are not lost while cooking.
By following these it is possible to preserve the nutrients of the food while cooking.
Rule for washing:
Never chop the vegetables first and then wash but first wash the vegetables and then chop them. It is said that by chopping the vegetables first and then washing it under water could remove the nutrition content of the food.
Size of chopping:
This point must be considered seriously. When we chop the vegetables in small pieces then most of the nutrients present in it would get destroyed when they come in contact with air. Hence it is essential that the vegetables must be chopped into larger chunks.
Amount of water:
It is advised to cook the vegetables in small quantities of water as boiling using too much of water could lead to damage to the nutrients. Low flame must be used to cook the vegetables in their own water.
No reheating:
Take care to see that the food is not reheated. By reheating, the chemical structure of the nutrients and vitamins gets destroyed.
Cooking immediately after chopping:
It is important that we must cook the vegetables as soon as we chop them. This is to avoid the loss of minerals and vitamins from the vegetables when they come in contact with air and light.
Do not throw excess water:
After boiling rice or vegetables, please do not throw away the excess water that got drained. This excess water has got many nutrients and it could be used to make gravies or kneading dough etc.
Rules regarding the root:
Many root vegetables like potato, ginger, turnip etc are consumed by us and care should be taken that these veggies must be boiled with skins and the peel must be removed only after boiling. Nutrients migrate to the centre of the vegetables when boiling is done with peels. By this better retention of the nutrients is possible.
Avoid using baking soda:
When cooking the vegetables we must not use baking soda. It is well known that baking soda could help in retention of colour of the vegetables, increases cooking speeds etc. Many of us do not know the fact that baking soda could also destroy the vitamin C content present in the vegetable.
Consume fresh food:
This is also one important way to preserve the nutrients of the food. It is believed that by eating fresh food, the depletion of the nutrients gets slowed down. It is good if we consume food within 4 hours of cooking.
