Recipe for a Healthy Family

Preparing healthy food for your family is very easy if you understand the basic nutrients that are needed on a routine basis. You can not only make it tasty and interesting but also maintain a healthy life and a healthy quality of living.

Healthy food is easy to cook and also consumes less time as there is no need to put in elaborate ingredients into it. Good health and good diet begins at home and you are responsible for preparing good and tasty meal comprising the daily dose of nutrients.

Here are some tips to help make your cooking as effective on your family’s health as the effort you put in to it.

Plan your menu well in advance.

Ensure the vegetables are not over cooked because over cooked food lose their nutritional value.

Buy fresh and tender vegetables cook easily and quickly and don’t need a lot of spices and seasoning thereby enhancing its nutritional value.

Serve food that is freshly cooked to prevent re-heating because reheating your food destroys the nutritive value of foods and also tampers with its original taste.

Wash the vegetables with potassium permanganate and then rinse them in plain water because most vegetables are covered with pesticides and fertilizers.

Avoid cooking leafy vegetables in acids like lime or tamarind as they find it difficult to absorb nutrients.

Cover the food containers with cling film (plastic wrap) before storing in the refrigerator to prevent the food flavors from mixing.

Boil the milk purchased from a dairy for at least 10 – 15 minutes to eliminate the effect of any bacteria or germs.

Onions are a rich in quercetin which is a very important phytochemical and antioxidant. Remember to cut onions at least 10 minutes before serving as oxidation helps quercetin to get activated.

Buy unpolished small sized pulses and legumes we buy should be unpolished and small in size because while polishing they lose out on some nutrients.

Remember that the food you consume should not just take care of your calorie intake but also provide you enough nourishment to grow, maintain, repair bodily tissues and also prevent and fight diseases.

To ensure that food is not overcooked in a pressure cooker, first boil the water without putting the lid on the cooker. Once it starts to boil only then add the vegetables and ingredients. Cover the lid tightly and cook on low flame till you feel the food is done instead of pressure cooking on high flame with many whistles of the cooker.

Pyrex and stainless steel is the safest cookware

it is also very important to use the right cookware. Do not use painted and decorated pots and pans as they may contain lead and silver toxin material which may lead to severe digestive disorders.

Do not use aluminum vessels for cooking as they deposit high levels of aluminum in the brain tissue and it is difficult to remove aluminum from the body. People suffering from Alzheimer’s disease have high aluminum in brain tissue.