Healthy cooking method that works
Boiling, grilling, roasting, frying, baking and steaming cooking techniques are all handy to use to convert our raw foods into more edible forms, but traditionally, in this part of the world roasting and grilling are part of our cooking methods that we can hardly do without. We cannot detach ourselves from those kinds of foods […]
Boiling, grilling, roasting, frying, baking and steaming cooking techniques are all handy to use to convert our raw foods into more edible forms, but traditionally, in this part of the world roasting and grilling are part of our cooking methods that we can hardly do without. We cannot detach ourselves from those kinds of foods like the grilled meat and fish that we find at relaxation points, the roasted plantain, yam that we find on the streets. Sure, they are handy and taste good, but health experts say caution should be taken when buying them.
Healthy cooking does not imply that you have to be a gourmet chef or own the best of cookware or skills, it entails using basic cooking techniques to prepare food in healthy ways. Accordingly, the essence of using healthy cooking techniques according to experts is to cut down fat – calories and to prevent harmful carcinogens that can be injurious to health. For instance, when using the frying method consider that each tablespoon of oil used when frying adds more calories to the meal. Now, switching to roasting may not only eliminate added fat but also in a way, allow some of the fat in the food to drip away. However, this method, because of the open use of fire and smoke can attract deleterious substances. However, this does not mean that we are not going to roast, fry of smoke food again as this is our cooking culture in Nigeria.
It is important to note also, that the way foods are cooked can have a big impact on their nutritional content because many vitamins like vitamin C, vitamin B and foliate, are sensitive to heat and air exposure. Thus, loss of nutrients occurs as cooking time increases and with higher temperature.
Mrs. Serah Abagai, the Head of the Department of Dietetics, National Hospital, Abuja says “there are certain kinds of food one cannot eat without cooking and no matter what technique you are using, it reduces the nutritional value of foods especially fruits and vegetables”.
She advised that a way of reconciling this is to ensure that the total intake of cooked food in a day is reduced. “If you look at the whole intake of food per day and you want to enjoy good health, ensure that you have at least about 25 to 50% of food cooked. You have 50 to 75% of raw food incorporated in the whole day’s meal and how you achieve this is that you eat more vegetables raw”, she advised.
Explaining further, Mrs. Abagai said “we can make up for the deficiencies of cooked foods by eating fruits like carrot, garden eggs, little salad of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onions, green pepper. While sitting in the office, you can eat garden eggs, carrot and apple. In the afternoon, eat good lunch. By the time you put together the cooked food in the whole day’s menu, let it be less than the raw foods that you would have eaten in the cause of the day”, she advised.
She added that there is no method of cooking that is entirely the safest, what is recommended is that people should vary methods of cooking, some are safer, though. What we are saying is that let it not be on a regular basis and each time you eat such foods then you should be able to eat other foods that will neutralise the carcinogens in these other foods. For example, when people eat suya or grill meat, it is important to eat it along side fresh fruits and vegetables to neutralise the negative effects of the meal because of the method used.
“When we eat certain foods that have been cooked in certain ways that we know it can generate a lot of risk, we should be able to eat that kind of food with lots of natural fruit juices and vegetables, they will help in reducing the risk of cancer by neutralizing those cancer causing agents in the food. This means we should be able to devise various means of cooking this food, don’t fry, grill all the time, and try to vary the methods of cooking. When cooking meat, if you just simmer the meat gently, it reduces the carcinogen load in that meat, but when it is cooked very rapidly, you have a higher load of carcinogen in that meat”, she affirmed.