How Food Preparation Affects the Nutritional Value and Taste
Food preparation is of fundamental importance because it can affect significantly the nutritional value and palatability of a meal. Food preparation can be easily overlooked, however, this process influences numerous aspects of a meal, including texture, appearance, flavour and odours, as well as nutrients content and their availability. Moreover, cooking can make food more digestible and also safer as heat can kill pathogens that can be present in food.
There is a number of ways that a meal can be prepared and consumed, and for each of them there are some aspects that should be taken into consideration.
Herein are discussed the pros and cons of some cooking methods.
Raw Food
Raw food is probably the most ancient way of eating. Raw foods are not cooked at all, and thus they maintain their natural taste and characteristics. In this approach, some techniques like sprouting or dehydrating are permitted.
Pros:
Some nutrients and compounds that are unstable when cooking, such as vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B1, polyunsaturated fatty acids and certain enzymes, are not lost or destroyed
Faster to prepare
Cheaper, as it does not require a cooker, gas or electricity etc.
Easier to prepare
Cons:
Some foods, such as potatoes, lentils, beans, peas, and many other vegetables, cannot be digested well, which may cause gastrointestinal problems, and also some nutrients they contain cannot be absorbed
The pathogens that raw foods may contain are not destroyed by cooking, which can increase the risk of food poisoning
Baking
Baking is a cooking technique that is commonly used, and involves applying dry heat to foods along with an air flow.
Pros:
It makes the food more digestible
It makes food safer by killing pathogens
It avoids the problem of nutrient loss due to leaching
It can improve food taste
Cons:
Heat labile nutrients are destroyed, especially long-time cooking
Fluids loss will invariably lead to some loss of both water soluble and fat soluble micronutrients.
Food can lose moisture and fats, tending to be dry
Some types of fats, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids, can be damaged by heat
If acidic or alkaline cooking ingredients are added, the pH of food can be altered
Poaching and Boiling
These cooking methods involve cooking food in water, and poaching uses a more gentle heating of foods, compared with boiling.
Pros:
Food is safer as potential pathogens are destroyed
Food is more digestible
No moisture loss
Cons:
Some nutrients are destroyed by the heat
Leaching is a major source of nutrients loss, including vitamins and minerals
Frying
Frying is a very popular cooking method, but it is extremely unhealthy. The results from a study provided evidence that fried foods are linked with serious health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Frying is very unhealthy for a number of reasons. When food is fried, especially potatoes, they absorb a huge amount of oil and thus, become very high in calories, because oil is essentially liquid fat, increasing the incidence of overweight and obesity. Moreover, for frying are often used low quality oils, such as sunflower oils, which are very high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. These types of fats are very sensitive to heat and prone to oxidation, which deteriorate and oxidise easily, increasing toxicity, oxidative stress and oxidative damage. Sometimes for frying are used even trans-fat oils, which elevate bad cholesterol, and lower good cholesterol levels, increasing the incidence of developing cardiovascular diseases. Also, because of high temperature during cooking, food can easily get burned becoming toxic, and this can increase the risk of cancer.
Pros:
Many people like the taste of fried food
Cons:
High cooking temperature destroys many nutrients
High in fat content elevates the risk of overweight and obesity
Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes
In high temperature the food tend to burn easier, becoming toxic
It can increase the risk of cancer
Increased oxidative stress and oxidative damage
High in fat content can affect digestion and exacerbate gastrointestinal problems
Steaming
Steaming is one of the best cooking methods, as natural flavour and colour are retained better.
Pros:
It requires no addition of oils or fats
It is relatively fast
There is not leach of nutrients
Reduced loss of heat sensitive vitamins
Short steaming time can improve the taste of food
Improves digestibility
Destroys potential pathogens
Cons:
Some loss of micronutrients, such as vitamin C and B complex, as they are heat labile
The consumption of fried food should be reduced or eliminated. Whereas, other cooking methods such as steaming or baking foods, represent a healthier choice and can be consumed frequently.
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