Top Three Healthy Cooking Methods
Most experts agree that cooking generally takes away from the nutritional value of food. The mostpreferred cooking methods for healthy eating are those that involve less heat as heat tends to reduce the nutrient content in most foods. If experts are asked to rate best cooking methods, the top three healthy cooking methods are steaming, grilling and stir-frying.
Don’t Sacrifice Great Taste For Healthy Living
When it comes to healthy living and healthy cooking methods, most people immediately think, "boring." This may be because the healthiest cooking methods involve less salt, sugar and fat, and this does not sound like good news for some. Did you know that there are ways to cook your food and still maintain great taste? Just because you'll use less heat, fat and salt doesn't mean that you can't enjoy an array of different flavors! Knowing what you cook and how you cook it is of great importance to your health. The first step towards cooking healthy meals is choosing healthy ingredients. Choose foods that are fresh and are high in nutritional content. This will ensure that you get the best out of what nature has to offer. Secondly, you'll need to understand the different healthy cooking methods available to you and the types of food you can cook using them.
Steaming is the first healthy method on the list. When cooking with steam, very little nutrients are lost and no fat is involved. This method involves placing the food item in a perforated dish and place it above boiling water. The steam is supposed to cook the food. While the food is cooking, you can add spices and seasonings to better the taste. Many foods can be cooked using this method with a limitation to some meat products.
The second healthy cooking method is grilling. Grilling is a tasty way of cooking food as it gives food a smoky taste and flavor. Grilling involves exposing the food to high heat so it cooks quickly, reducing the overall time the food is exposed to heat. Because there is only a small portion of the food in contact with the cooking surace, grilling requires very little fat. One should note that it is possible to char meat with this method. Studies have shown that there might be a link between charred meat and breast cancer. However, removing meat from the grill before a charred crust forms virtually elliminates this risk. Foods cooked with this method are meat, vegetables and some sea foods.
Last is stir frying. This is a technique which involves cooking food for only a few minutes in hot oil. This method originated in Asia and has since been applied elsewhere in the world. The ingredients are cut into small, even-sized pieces and thrown in the hot pan in rapid succession and stirred quickly. A few minutes later, the food is cooked. This is a beneficial method in that oil and a bit of frying is used but in a relatively low and healthy manner. Most vegetables and meats can be cooked using this method.
Depending on the type of food you like, you could rate best cooking methods that work for you and recommend them to family or friends and encourage them to use these healthy means to cook.
