Leading a healthy life is the most important thing for all human being. To lead a healthy life, one should eat healthy foods. Nowadays, people are busy with their work, so it results in diseases and makes our life short. To avoid these problems, one should take food which is prepared by healthy cooking. Since lot of nutrients are lost during cooking process, the process of cooking needs more attention. Lets us see a few tips for healthy cooking.
1. Eat fresh
Preparing food in less quantities, avoid the wastage of food. Also, the food you consume will be fresh. Since it remains fresh, nutrient content will be more than the food which is subjected to frequent refrigerating and reheating.
2. Preserve the skin
Eating fruits without peeling off the skin is the best way to gain more nutrients and also it is rich in fiber content. Few vegetables can be scraped slightly using a plastic scrubber or knife. The root vegetables should be boiled with skins on and then peeled off. This results in more nutrient consumption. To remove any residues or germicide on fruits and vegetables, you should soak them in water without peeling or cutting. Also you should not peel or cut the fruits or vegetables before eating or making salads.
3. Soaking
Since soaking saves the cooking time, it is good to soak grains, pulses, in little amount of water overnight and also soak pulses for half an hour before cooking. By soaking you can remove the anti-nutritional factors in the food and also it wont cause any digestion problems.
4. Sprouting
Sprouted grains are more nutritious. Just take the grains or seeds soak them in water over night and next day drain them completely and place the seeds in a strain basket and pour little water every day. Sprouts will start to grow in few days. When sprouts are 2 or 3 cm long, you can cook it.
5. Choosing
Choose healthy food like low-fat or fat-free foods, less dairy products and include high-sodium ingredients, reduce salt, butter, try to avoid canned foods. Eat foods made on egg-white than on egg-yolk.
6. Recycle nutrients
Use the excess water drained after boiling rice or vegetables or cheese, because it contains nutrients. So, we can keep that to make curry, soup or soak. Most of the nutrients are lost by disposing the water. Most of the household women are not utilizing the water.
7. Use the pressure-cooker
Use pressure cooker to conserve more nutrients and also it saves gas. During open boiling most of the nutrients are lost so thats not the ideal way for cooking. Also pressure cooker saves time and if not pressure cooker means then use covered pans.
8. Use less oil
Oil plays major role in your health, so try to use less amount of oil in cooking food. While cooking you just add little amount of oil in tablespoon and don’t add much while starting itself. Another way of preparing is to use low calorie oils for preparing gravies. While making gravies fry the items in little oil and then add other ingredients. Use mustard oil, rice-bran oil and olive oil.
9. Eat Less Processed Meats
Most of the processed meats contain nitrates, which results in cancer. Don’t make the meat dishes with too much brownie color because they are linked with disease. As far as possible try to avoid non-veg or consume it in less amount. While making non-veg dishes clean the meat well, use less oil and avoid the fat content in meat.
10. Good gadgets and good shopping
Not only the process and food will decides the healthy life, also the equipments used. Use tight containers so loss of nutrient is avoided and also keeps food fresh. Use hand juicer, non-stick pan which will consume only less oil but gives you the same taste. Another important thing is buying good fruits, vegetables, meats and cereals. Find a good grocery shop and stick to that for buying food products.