Loss of Nutrients After Leaving the Store
Our Bodies May Not Utilize Foods’ Vitamins/Minerals
Our bodies are wondrous mechanisms in obtaining and using vitamins and minerals in our diets. Unfortunately, many fruits and vegetables don’t have the nutrients credited to them when purchased in the store. See article, "Why Our Purchased Food Lacks Nutrients", for more information. In addition, between the store and our digestive systems are many roadblocks due to our modern lifestyle.
Home Cooking Becoming a Lost Art
- It is common knowledge that home-cooking is better-tasting and healthier for people. If you prepare a box of macaroni with a packet of dried cheese, that is not home-cooking.
- Due to busy jobs and social or school obligations, most families don’t serve homemade foods, even when they eat at home. Frozen and instant meals are the norms which have had many nutrients processed out of them and fat and/or sodium added.
- Read nutrition labels of processed foods to ensure you know what you are getting, particularly if you need to reduce sodium.
- For tips on easy home cooking, see article, "Tips for Making Your Own Healthy Foods Easily".
Type of Preparation
- Leave it to humans to mess up healthy food. Most of our fish and chicken intake today is breaded and fried, often at fast food restaurants. The high temperatures of frying (usually reaching 375° F) destroys numerous nutrients, i.e. Vitamin B1 (thiamin), niacin, and biotin.
- Broiling fish destroys nearly half the omega-3s, according to The Doctors Book of Home Remedies. Cooking in the microwave has little effect on these healthy oils.
- Frying vegetables, of course, destroys Vitamin C. In addition, the typical boiling of vegetables means most of the nutrients dissolve into the water which is thrown out. Steaming in the microwave is the best method for these nutrient powerhouses
Absorption of Nutrients
- Vitamins A, D, E, and K require fat to be absorbed in the intestine. With so many people avoiding fat to lose weight, deficiencies of these are becoming a modern problem.
- Calcium is best absorbed with meals and also requires Vitamin D. Boron facilitates its use by the bones.
Smoking or Second-Hand Smoke
- By now, everyone should know the dangers of this habit. Even secondhand smoke contains 4,000-plus chemical compounds. Included are 60 known or suspected to cause cancer. Smokers require 40% more Vitamin C than non-smokers to compensate for the extra free radicals created, according to 10,000 Food Facts, Chefs’ Secrets & Household Hints.
Do Supplements Help?
In today’s world, a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement is good insurance. However, too many people feel it will make up for the way they eat. You need as many of the natural nutrients in foods as possible as they usually work together. This ensures you are obtaining proper proportion of nutrients, as well as those not yet discovered.
For example, The Doctors Book of Home Remedies indicates some studies show eating a diet high in Vitamin C (fruits and vegetables) can help protect against numerous forms of cancer. However, evidence is lacking for Vitamin C supplements having this quality. As is so often indicated, it seems this nutrient works best when given in the natural foods.
Do the Right Thing for Your Body
The age-old advice is truer today than ever, eat your fruits and vegetables, processed as little as possible. Avoid the harmful habits, i.e. smoking and the couch-potato syndrome. Most of all, make time for joy in your life, whether reading a book or spending time with friends and family.
Resources
Yeager, Selene, Editors of Prevention; The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, Rodale, Inc., 2007
Bader, Myles H; 10,0001 Food Facts, Chefs' Secrets & Household Hints; Michael Freidman Publishing Group, Inc.; 2001
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