Sunday, December 24, 2006 Paquiao: Getting the most from nutrients By Calixto S. Paquiao Fitness & you
IF YOU eat three square meals a day or take vitamins supplements, you might think you’re getting adequate nutrition. But you could be wrong.
Nutrition is not that simple or direct. Your body doesn’t always make the best use of all the vitamins you take in, either in food or in supplements. Some nutrients never get to where they can do the most good. Others sail through your system without being absorbed.
Is there any other way to help insure that you’re getting what you need? Yes, you can multiply your intake of vitamins and minerals without spending extra money on supplements or foods by making a few simple, economical changes in the way you shop and prepare meals. These hints will help you get the most nutrients for the food you buy.
- Choose the best. Not all fruits and vegetables are created equal. In general, the darker the food, the more nutrients it contains. For example, pink pomelo contains more than 30 times the vitamin A of a white pomelo. Romaine lettuce has twice the calcium and iron, eight times the vitamin C and more than 10 times the vitamin A of an ordinary lettuce. One of the most nutrient-packed vegetables you can eat is broccoli. Other top contenders are spinach, lima beans, peas, asparagus, sweet potatoes, carrots, red bell peppers and squash. Don’t forget our malunggay, kangkong and alugbati.
Processed Foods:
You should go easy on the processed foods. The have more calories and are less nutritious than their natural counterparts. Raw nuts have far more thiamine and vitamin B than roasted nuts. Whole wheat bread and brown rice are higher in nutrients and fiber than their processed white counterparts. Even if the processed food is “fortified”, it usually doesn’t provide the same range of nutrients as a natural whole food. You must eat more food that is fresh. Even a day or two in the refrigerator can rob a fruit or vegetable of precious nutrients. Why? Because fresh foods are virtually alive, its cells are still consuming oxygen and burning fuel to produce carbon dioxide and heat. This uses up nutrients. Fruits and vegetables can lose half their vitamin C after two or three days in the refrigerator, and they lose it even more quickly at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate fresh food as soon as you bring it home, and if you can’t buy your fresh food, buy it frozen. Freezing retains most of the nutrients.
Most of us never knew that heat, light and exposure to air or water destroy certain nutrients. Follow these steps to maximize nutrition and storage life.
- Refrigerate greens in an airtight container to retain its freshness. Or use plastic bags, punching a few holes for drainage to prevent sogginess. (Exceptions: cucumbers, peppers and eggplant go soft in bags).
- Don’t wash or cut fruits and vegetables before storing them, and never soak or store them in water.
- Store dried foods in dark, dry places and sealed against air. Dried fruits can also lose vitamins A, C, and E if exposed to oxygen. Fresh fruits should be stored in an environment that conserve moisture.
- Minimize cutting. Chopping fresh foods and exposing the cut surface to air causes oxidation, which destroys certain nutrients especially vitamins A, C and B6, thiamine and biotin. So, wait the last minute before chopping or opening cans. When you do cut fresh foods, cut it in big chunks to minimize nutrient loss. For example, you lose more vitamin C by mincing peppers than by slicing them.
Many of us take away the skin or the outer layer of a plant where most of the nutrients are concentrated. So, use a scrubber instead of a peeler. Don’t peel skins that protect against vitamin loss during cooking too. This principle holds for fish as well.
Now that you know already the proper way of preserving fresh food, I hope you’ll apply it next time you buy them.
