2023-11-10 17:50:34
Optimizing Nutrient Intake: Tips for Preparing and Cooking Food
By: Laura Knops
As of: November 10, 2023, 4:50 p.m
When cooking, valuable nutrients in food can be lost. In order for the body to receive as many vitamins and minerals as possible, food must be prepared optimally.
Many people thaw frozen vegetables before cooking. However, when thawing, vitamins that are sensitive to light, oxygen, and heat are lost. It is better to cook the vegetables while they are still frozen and not to cook them for too long, as Stiftung Warentest recommends. Spinach from the freezer, for example, is very healthy. The frozen vegetables contain only slightly less vitamin C than fresh spinach, but on average just as many B vitamins.
Tomatoes contain many healthy nutrients such as lycopene, the carotenoid responsible for the red color. In the body, lycopene has an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effect and has a positive influence on the cardiovascular system. However, the body finds it difficult to break down the thick cell walls of raw tomatoes. It is therefore better to cook the tomatoes. If the cell structure is broken down by the heat, the body can absorb the healthy lycopene more easily.
It is much healthier to give the body the opportunity to wake up on its own. You should therefore drink your first coffee a little later in the morning. The reason for this is that shortly after waking up, the body produces more of the hormone cortisol on its own. Cortisol regulates the day-night rhythm and is also known as the wake-up hormone. If the cortisol level is high, coffee in the morning has no positive effect.
Most people eat broccoli cooked. However, raw broccoli contains a lot of vitamins. Broccoli is rich in vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, and vitamin C. However, when broccoli is heated, a large amount of the heat-sensitive vitamin C disappears. The same applies to peppers. The vegetable is one of the varieties with the highest vitamin C content. Just half a pepper can cover up to half of your daily nutrient requirements – but only if the vegetable is eaten raw.
Chickpeas are a good source of vegetable protein. They also fill you up quickly and provide lots of fiber. However, canned chickpeas should be washed before consumption. This makes canned legumes easier to digest.
Lemons are often drunk in winter with hot water, ginger, and a little honey. This is said to not only protect the immune system but also help with sore throats and other respiratory illnesses. However, to ensure that the important vitamin C is retained, the drink must not be prepared too hot. Because vitamin C is heat-sensitive and should therefore never be heated to temperatures hotter than 40 degrees.
Raw carrots contain a lot of healthy nutrients, only if the carrots are eaten with the peel on. Because most of the vitamins are contained in the peel. However, the beta carotene it contains is more easily absorbed by the body if the carrots have already been cooked.
Smoothies and salads with raw spinach are considered particularly healthy. The green vegetables contain a lot of oxalic acid, which can be harmful to health in large quantities. Oxalic acid also prevents the absorption of calcium and iron in the intestines. It is better to warm up or boil the spinach. The acid is broken down and the body can digest the spinach better.
Green beans contain valuable vegetable protein. However, the protein lectin can be found in raw beans, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients. Some people are even allergic to lectin. If consumed, symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, or diarrhea may occur. Heating deactivates the protein and therefore makes green beans more digestible.
A balanced diet should include enough fruit and vegetables on the menu. According to the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) at least two portions of vegetables and two portions of fruit end up on your plate. However, nutrients contained in food can be lost when preparing food. To ensure that important minerals, vitamins, and secondary plant substances actually reach the body, a few important rules should be followed when processing and cooking.]
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