Do You Know How to Make The Most Out of Nutrients?
Discover how you can make the most out of the nutrients in the foods that you eat just by following a series of easy tips. After all, it’s pointless to have high quality and nutritious ingredients if we’re not taking advantage of them.
How we can make better use of the nutrients in our food
Depending on the cooking techniques, temperatures and other factors such as durability, the nutrients in our food vary tremendously. As you’re about to learn, it’s not enough to simply buy healthy food, you must also eat them the right way.
1. Don’t overcook vegetables
Vegetables are a basic food staple in any diet. To maintain adequate health levels, you must eat vegetables on a daily basis.
The right way to cook vegetables is over a low heat and with the necessary amount of water. Ideally, you must drain them with cold water once they’re cooked al dente. Leaving them for too long in boiling water means that the nutrients disappear. Therefore, you risk not taking full advantage of all the properties contained in vegetables.
2. Drink freshly squeezed juice
You’ve surely heard that you should drink fresh juice quickly so that the vitamins remain? Well, this is a completely true statement. The ideal moment to drink fresh juice is right after it’s been squeezed.
As time passes, fresh juices lose a certain amount of nutrients and start to oxidize. This is because the nutrients are not preserved when they’re in contact with air, humidity and temperature changes. So now you know, drink your juices instantly to make the most out of their nutrients, benefits, and flavor.
Besides, it’s important to mention that packaged juices contain a considerably inferior number of nutrients compared to homemade juices. If you’re looking for a sugar-free option that’s totally healthy, choose a natural juice every time.
3. Avoid drastic temperature changes
Temperature changes are one of the greatest enemies for nutrients. That’s why experts recommend cooking at low temperatures and if it’s necessary to use high temperatures, do so gradually and slowly.
To maintain all of the nutrients, avoid using the fryer, pressure cooker and microwave as much as possible. While it’s true that they’re efficient and offer quicker cooking methods, we must remember that they also destroy a large number of properties.
If you want to make the most out of the nutrients in your food, it’s best to choose cooking methods such as low heat, baking, and steaming. It may take slightly longer to cook your meal, but it’s the best way to maintain every nutrient in its optimal state.
4. Choose fresh foods
We’ve already talked about the importance of including seasonal products in your diet. In addition to being the cheaper alternative in the supermarket, they keep all their properties and contain many other nutrients. You can find a list of seasonal fruits and vegetables in this article. Take a look and verify that there’s a wide variety of appealing fruits and vegetables for each season.
The same applies to meat and fish. You can buy these frozen, but it’s better if you buy and eat them fresh. The price may be higher, although we can assure you that you’ll be able to tell the difference from the first bite.
Besides, eating fresh foods is a great way to maintain a varied diet. If you follow this routine, your children will become familiar with eating a wide and complete variety of foods too. Sometimes, eating frozen or out of season foods can mean that we only eat two or three different varieties of fruits, vegetables, meats or fish over the course of one year.
It’s not difficult to make the most out of the nutrients in your food. As you have discovered, it’s enough to follow the tips we talked about. This ensures that you’ll eat in a healthier way without noticing the changes in your everyday life. Don’t wait any longer to start making the most out of the nutrients in your food!