Sometimes, a simple addition or twist to your food can do wonders for the nutrition you consume and absorb. Scroll down to find out more.
Eating right is one thing. But eating it right also matters! There are a whole lot of suggestions from experts about how nutrition must be on top of our minds when we consume food. But caring a little more about the ingredients we use to cook or prepare those foods goes a long way in giving it a healthy or unhealthy twist.
Anushka, a nutritionist and a digital creator, took to Instagram to share some very interesting nutrition hacks for everyone amid the New Year festive season.
“Nutrition hacks to get the most out of your food. These are simple tricks that will help you eat better and not lose out on all the minerals and vitamins from your food,” she wrote along with her post.
These are the 6 nutrition hacks you may consider including in your daily life:
1. Add a pinch of black pepper when using turmeric.
Anushka says piperine is a key chemical in black pepper that helps with the absorption of curcumin: the active ingredient in turmeric. Adding a pinch of turmeric when cooking or when you have turmeric milk can be helpful. Turmeric has been a natural antiseptic and medicine for long. Using it with a dash of black pepper makes it better!
2. Squeeze lemon on your greens
Squeezing lemon on your green salads or to your dish with legumes can be a healthy food hack. It is because pairing vitamin C with iron-rich foods like lentils, spinach, kale can aid nutrient absorption by the body. Also, lemon is a healthy citrus food that helps in the digestion of the food.
3. Add good fats to your veggies
Sprinkle nuts or seeds or drizzle some olive oil on your veggies salad or cook your veggies with some oil. It increases the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A,E,D, and K. Our body requires a good proportion of fats in our daily diet, it provides energy, and adding healthy fats like nuts and olive oil can be a great combination with green vegetables.
4. Soak grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts
Pre-soak rice for a few hours while kidney beans and chickpeas overnight and wash it well before cooking. Pre-soaking them gets rid of phytic acid which inhibits enzymes needed for the breakdown of proteins and starch in the stomach.
5. Avoid coffee and green tea along with meals
Avoid green tea and coffee along with the meals rather than having green tea or coffee either 1-2 hours before a meal or 1-2 hours post-meal. This will lead to better absorption of food. Also, tannins in green tea and coffee can interfere with the absorption of minerals and vitamins from your food.
6. Chop or crush garlic before you cook it
Chop or crush garlic and leave it open for 10 mins before cooking. This releases an enzyme, alliinase which helps ease inflammation and blocks free radicals that may harm cells and tissues in the body.
