Healthy cooking

  Healthy eating also involves preparing food to preserve nutrients and prevent disease, as well as paying attention to food production issues.

Healthy cooking

When preparing food, aim to preserve the nutrient value of the food and utilize healthy fats, reasonable portions, and whole foods. Here are a few tips:

Use healthy cooking methods such as steaming, broiling, grilling and roasting. Frying requires adding fat to achieve the desired results and deep-fried foods add considerable fat to the American diet.

Cook foods in as little water and for as short a period of time as possible to preserve all water soluble vitamins (Bs and C).

Use a variety of herbs and spices for additional flavor rather than relying on salt alone.

Avoid packaged or processed foods, which are likely to contain added salt, sugar and fats. Recognize that consuming these foods increases your intake of salt, sugar, and fats considerably (often without knowing specifically what or how much). As we eat more and more processed foods, we eat less of the phytochemicals and nutrients our bod ies need.