There is a saying: you are what you eat. However, did you know that you are how you eat, as well? You do not want to let a precious bite or sip of nutrition go to waste. In order to get the maximum benefit out of each sip or bite it actually matter how you prepare and cook your food. Here are 11 foods which you are probably eating wrong and what you should do to get the best out of your food.
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1. Apples
Apples are juicy, sweet and full of fiber. This makes them the perfect snack to satiate your hunger carvings.
Most of minerals and vitamins are found in the peel of an apple, such as calcium, folate, iron, potassium, and vitamins A and C, so if you peel the skin, you are throwing out all that nutrition.
When you go at mall make sure to buy organic apples and crunch on this fruit with green, yellow, or red peel intact. Chances are also that you are probably eating these fruits before they are fully ripe. This means that apple is not brown in any way. You should wait for several days. According to one study, this ripening process allows apples’ chlorophyll to break down better, which produces healthier and highly active antioxidants in the fruits.
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2. Broccoli
Without doubt broccoli is one of the best foods you can feed your body. This vegetable is part of the brassica family of foods.
This family of foods is shown to be very effective in the prevention of some cancers, such as skin cancer and breast cancer. However, the way you prepare your broccoli makes all the difference in the world.
According to one study, steaming was the only cooking method which has fully preserved the cancer-fighting components of this vegetable. On the other hand, frying and boiling were the worst cooking methods. If you don’t want to give up on boiled broccoli, you may want to pair them with a spicy food. Another study has found that the combination of broccoli and spicy foods increases its cancer-fighting power.
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3. Dried fruit
Dried fruit is a good and healthy option when you need a quick nibble or a healthy way to satisfy your sugar craving. Of course, if it is not covered in sugar.
You should choose dried fruits which are not made with added sugars. Although you can tell if you look at the fruit, in case you are not sure, check the label on the package, there is a good chance that you might be surprised.
We recommend that you make your own trail mix. Combine 1 cup of walnuts, almonds, or cashews (you can also make a mix of all three) with 1 ½ cups of dried fruit, such as banana chips, prunes, apples, and/or raisins, and ½ cup of sunflower seeds in order to make your own souped-up trail mix.
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4. Potatoes
Potatoes are high in vitamin A and full of anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidant. This content of potato makes this vegetable a valuable food to include in your diet.
However, don’t fool yourself – sweet potato fries do not contain the same nutrient package. We recommend that you boil these orange beauties since frying just adds a lot of kilojoules and fat.
You should try to bake the potato whole (and watch the brown sugar and butter) or steam diced chunks. According to one study, purple potatoes are those which have the best benefits. They can reduce the risk for cancer and lower your blood pressure. Another study has found that purple potatoes surpass their white counterparts in the quantity of polyphenols.
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5. Coffee
Coffee has a lot of health benefits. However, it is unfortunate that many of those health benefits are undone by the fact that coffee beans can be moldy.
There are many world governments from Europe, Asia, and other continents which set limits on a number of mold toxins in coffee. However, the United States and Canada did not.
The average cheap cup of coffee which you buy at the grocery store or the café probably contains mold. Make sure to buy single origin coffee in order to minimize mold toxins. In addition, you can also add healthy fats instead of milk in your coffee. For example, upgraded MCT oil and grass-fed butter are energizing and delicious that you will never go back.
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6. Kale
This might come as a surprise but raw kale is not actually much of an epic superfood as the current kale craze would suggest. There are, in fact, a lot of nutrients in kale.
However, those nutrients are not very bioavailable and for that reason, your body has trouble absorbing them, until the kale is cooked.
Cruciferous vegetables with high oxalic acid content, such as sprouts, brussel, chard, collard, spinach, kale, and others, should all be cooked before eaten. These raw greens contain the high amount of oxalates, which makes them anti-nutrients that prevent absorption of other nutrients. We recommend that you eat your kale drained and cooked. In case you love breakfast shakes, you should just blend lightly cooked kale into morning mix.
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7. Red meat
If you know people who are Paleo lovers you have probably sometimes heard a lot about how red meat can be healthy for you in a lot of ways.
However, there is a big caveat – only when you buy beef which is organic and 100% grass-fed from healthy bison, cows, and other pastured sources.
Meat from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFO red meat, is, on the other hand, meat injected with all sort of harmful antibiotics known to hurt our hormones and gut biome.
There are many studies which have found that red meat is bad for you and you know the reason. You should be avoiding it as much as possible. Look for the highest quality meats you can find and avoid CAFO meat sources. Another way to increase the awareness is to ask the waiter in a restaurant if they have any grass-fed meats.
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8. Milk and cheese
Casein, a primary protein found in milk, is hard to digest and the pasteurization process only makes it worse. For that reason, the only dairy which we recommend is grass-fed butter.
However, in case you want to indulge you should consider this: there are people who can tolerate dairy much better when it’s raw.
Cut dairy out of your diet and see how you feel. After several days add back in organic, grass-fed, raw dairy which is not pasteurized and see if you can tolerate it. We recommend that you replace pasteurized cheese and milk in your diet with grass-fed butter and a bit of raw milk or cheese, if you tolerate it well, of course.
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9. Carbs
It is not just important what you eat, but also when you eat certain foods. The time of a day when you consume carbs can change how you feel.
That said, make sure to eat most of your carbs later in the day, instead of consuming them in the morning. It is best to consume only protein and fat early in the day in order to keep your body in fat-burning mode all day.
Save your carbs and consume them later in the day. By doing this you will avoid big swings in blood sugar and crashes which result in difficult cravings. You will also improve your quality of sleep if you eat some carbs in the early evening hours or during your dinner.
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10. Carrots
Our love and need of soup increases while fall gears up. Try to resist the urge to cut up your carrots next time you are making a batch of chicken noodle soup.
According to a study, it has been found that cutting carrots can increase the surface size and allow more nutrients to leach out.
That said, after you wash and peel your carrots, they should go straight into the water in their whole form. Another study has shown that carrots which are cooked contain carotenoids whose bioavailability has been increased. Next time you prepare your meal with carrots try to remember this.
11. Beans
Beans are a great source of fiber and protein and also low in fat, and since they are inexpensive, beans are an excellent addition to your healthy diet. However, the problem with beans is that most of them come in cans which are lined with BPA.
Foods which were exposed to this chemical have been linked to early puberty, heart disease, and cancer. Boiling and soaking your own beans is your best bet since canned beans are high in sodium. Choose BPA-free canned beans in case you are short on time.