Eating Vegetables Improperly Can Be Harmful to Health
Eating more vegetables is beneficial to health, but there are right and wrong ways to eat them. If you don't eat them correctly, not only will you get no nutrition, but it will also harm your health. Dong Shuzhen, director of the Nutrition Department of the Municipal People's Hospital, pointed out that the following methods of eating vegetables are incorrect and should be avoided.
1. Often eating raw tomatoes before a meal
Tomatoes should be eaten after a meal. This allows gastric acid and food to mix, significantly reducing the acidity and preventing an increase in intra-gastric pressure that can lead to symptoms such as gastric distension, abdominal pain, and stomach discomfort.
2. Excessive consumption of carotene
Although carotene is very nutritious, it should be consumed in moderation. In particular, if children drink too much vegetable juice made from carrots or tomatoes, it may cause carotenemia, causing the skin on the face and hands to turn orange-yellow, and may lead to loss of appetite, unstable mental state, irritability, and poor sleep.
3. Over-washing or soaking mushrooms in water
Mushrooms contain ergosterol, which is converted into vitamin D after exposure to sunlight. However, if they are over-washed or soaked in water before eating, many nutrients will be lost. Mushrooms should also not be cooked in iron or copper pots, as this will also cause a loss of nutrients.
4. Children eating too much spinach
Spinach contains a large amount of oxalic acid and is not suitable for children to eat in large quantities. Oxalic acid in the body will form calcium oxalate and zinc oxalate with calcium and zinc, which are not easily absorbed and excreted. This affects the absorption of calcium and zinc in the intestines, easily causing children to have deficiencies in calcium and zinc, leading to poor development of bones and teeth, and also affecting intellectual development.
5. Long-term stewing of green leafy vegetables
Green leafy vegetables should not be stewed for a long time during cooking. Otherwise, not only will nutrients be lost, but the nitrates in the vegetables will be converted into nitrites, which are harmful to human health.