If you are a food lover, you must have enjoyed roasted food.
Cooking is an art. Properly roasted food items simply provide the taste of the divine. Starting
from roasted vegetables with sandwiches, side dishes, and salads, perfectly cooked food gives pleasure with every crunch. But does it affect your body negatively? Does it decrease the nutrient content of that food item? Let's find out.
While cooking, the food items undergo several chemical reactions in response to the heat, and as a result, the food items become edible.
Honestly, no perfect guidelines are there to describe the amount of browned or charred food items that people can consume. But you need to understand which food you are taking in and how you can get maximum health benefits.
When provided the proper amount of heat, most of the nutrients come out of the plant cell wall, and their bioavailability increases. The carotenoid family, including lycopene, abundant in tomatoes (helpful in treating cardiovascular diseases), and beta-carotene found in kale or spinach, should be eaten after cooking. Foods like cabbage, mushrooms, and asparagus impart healthy antioxidant molecules after proper heating.
On the contrary, heating sometimes decreases the vitamins that are water-soluble (vitamin C and vitamin B complex). The excess heating is not suitable for most food items as it breaks down the nutrients of the oil used, changing the flavor with the consequent release of adverse free radicals. The important phytochemicals are destroyed by overheating.
Cooking time holds an important aspect of the health benefits of food items. The best way to cook vegetables is indirect moist heat for a short period. Always consider the smoke point of the oil used.
The smoke point is nothing but the temperature at which the oil starts burning. This is around 410 degrees for most of the edible oils used globally. It is suggested to use oils with a high smoke point.
The ghee and coconut oil usually possess high smoke points. Salt is an important ingredient for roasted food items as it reduces the smoke point of the oil used.
Moreover, parboiling is another solution to this issue. The parboiling is heating the food items at a medium temperature just before cooking.
There are various ways to prepare food items, especially if you are a vegetarian. They come in sautéed, steamed, and roasted forms. Especially the green leafy vegetables can be eaten after proper steaming, whereas some greens and onions are best when sautéed.
The roasting is required for root vegetables, mostly. However, carrots and avocados can be eaten even without cooking.
If you want the crispy crunch every time, then yes, you are reducing the nutritional content of the foods consumed. The best way is to consider roasting with low heat for a specific duration. This makes the food healthy as well as tasty.
