Vegetables are a food that everyone eats every day, but there are also rules to how they are eaten. There are 5 common ways of eating vegetables that can lead to a loss of nutrients. Let's learn about them below.
This is the least nutritious way to eat vegetables
1. Vegetables are stored for a long time
Some people like to buy a lot of vegetables at once and eat them slowly at home, but vegetables lose a large amount of nutrients for each extra day they are stored. For example, under normal conditions (20°C), spinach loses up to 84% of its vitamin C after just one day of storage. Therefore, the storage time for vegetables should be minimized. If storage is necessary, a dry, ventilated, and light-proof place should be chosen.
2. Throwing away the most nutritious part
Some people's habitual ways of processing vegetables also affect the nutrient content. For instance, some people discard the bean sprouts themselves to eat only the sprouts, but the bean sprouts actually contain 2-3 times more vitamin C than the sprouts. Another example is squeezing out the juice when making dumpling filling, which can lead to a loss of over 70% of the vitamins. The correct method is to mix the chopped vegetables with oil first, then add salt and seasonings. This "oil-coating-the-vegetables" method prevents the dumpling filling from becoming too soupy.
3. Cutting vegetables before washing them
Some people, to save time, cut vegetables first and then rinse them together, but this also causes a large amount of vitamins to be washed away into the water.
4. Stir-frying over low heat
Vitamins C and B1 are sensitive to heat. Therefore, avoid stir-frying over low heat for extended periods; instead, use high heat. Adding a little vinegar during stir-frying also helps preserve vitamins. Furthermore, some vegetables are more suitable for eating raw in salads, such as cucumbers and tomatoes.
5. Not eating vegetables immediately after they are cooked
Many people like to keep cooked food warm in a pot or in a thermal container and eat it later, but this also leads to a significant loss of nutrients.
Vegetable-eating常识 you should know
1. "Have fruit every day, and vegetables with every meal."
Experts say the most basic principle for eating vegetables is: ensure everyone consumes 300-500 grams per day, preferably from more than 5 types. Experts believe that the more diverse the types of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and fungi/algae consumed daily, the better. Fungi and algae, such as mushrooms and black fungus, should ideally be included every day. In terms of quantity, about 100 grams of raw vegetables, when cooked, is roughly equivalent to the size of a tennis ball. Therefore, eating 5 tennis ball-sized servings of cooked vegetables daily is equivalent to consuming 500 grams of raw vegetables. Additionally, to change people's "bad habit" of not liking to eat vegetables, experts around the world are actively coming up with strategies.