How to eat better by debunking the myths about food

Away with preconceptions!

In his book How to Eat Better (Gaia Ediciones), botanist James Wong ends many of the preconceptions we have about food, such as that carrots should be eaten without grating.

"Mistreat" the salad and grate the carrot

If instead of preparing your salads at the moment, you cut the leaves of the lettuce and put them in a bag in the refrigerator overnight, you multiply its antioxidants by 50%, which strengthens your health. Ah! And grating the carrots in advance would also have this multiplier effect, according to Dr. James Wong.

Rice, also steamed

It's better than you think. It is obtained industrially after soaking paddy rice at 60 ºC and subjecting it to strong steam pressure. This removes a part of the starch, which lowers its glycemic index even below the integral one, and makes it conserve more vitamins of group B.

Don't throw away the pepper threads

Don't discard the white fibers inside peppers - hot or not - because they contain up to 4 times more polyphenols and other antioxidants than their meat. And if you take the red peppers, you get 5 times more phytonutrients than if they are green.

Roast the pumpkin in the oven

To get 50% more vitamins A and C, it is best to roast the pumpkin in the oven. In addition to being made alone without giving work, so that it provides more nutrients, you do not even have to peel it! Eating it roasted with the skin - quiet, it is soft - can make you get up to 5 times more carotenoids.

Broccoli, steamed and with mustard

Broccoli –and other crucifers– has isothiocyanates, with preventive effects against cancer, but… 90% is destroyed when cooked. Avoid sprinkling with ground mustard grains (half a teaspoon per 200g), because this is also a cruciferous with a heat resistant enzyme. So it is almost as healthy as it is raw again.

Barley flakes (not just oats)

We love oat flakes for their content of beta-glucans, a type of fiber that helps regulate the immune system and reduce "bad" cholesterol. Well, barley flakes can contain up to twice as many beta-glucans as oat flakes. Of course, as long as the barley flakes are whole, because when it is refined, it has 6 times less nutrients.

With what do you take fruits of the forest?

The ideal: With walnuts and / or almonds, two nuts rich in phytic acid that, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , multiply the bioavailability of anthocyanins - a powerful antioxidant - in these berries.

The potatoes, eat them with skin

The skin contains 50% of the polyphenols and insoluble fiber, which slows down the absorption of its sugars. If they are new potatoes, better, because they have less starch (and more skin in relation to the pulp).

Vegetables: size matters

Which has more antioxidants, the baby leaves of the vegetables or the more ripe ones? Well it depends … The baby has more in the case that they are made of spinach, chard, beet leaves … But better with large leaves if they are cruciferous such as cabbage, kale, cabbage, etc. And if you have doubts about whether some are more nourishing than the others, take a look at the office about whether baby vegetables are more nutritious than normal (or not).

Apple, with skin and cooked!

You probably already knew about eating it with the skin on, and that is how you take in more vitamins A and C, and a flavonoid called quercetin than if you peel it, not to mention the amount of fiber it contains. But what you may not know is that if you steam it for a few minutes with a dash of lemon, you double its antioxidant content, one more of the benefits of eating an apple a day.

Would you like to reduce the number of calories without giving up its taste? Want more antioxidant blueberries for almost half the price? Did you know that cooked carrots have twice the phytonutrients than raw carrots and they also taste sweeter? Would you like to obtain the maximum nutritional benefit from food with little effort? This is what the botanist James Wong proposes in How to eat better, the book in which the false myths about food are dismantled, and in which he gives the keys to learn to choose, preserve and cook everyday ingredients so that they become superfoods.

EAT BETTER

Despite what you have read millions of times, there are myths that are false and that prevent you from getting the best out of the food you eat, here are some of the keys to squeeze the benefits of what you put on your plates:

Lettuce. Cut the leaves of the lettuce and put them in a bag in the refrigerator overnight, you multiply its antioxidants by 50%, which strengthens your health.
Carrot. It is the same as with lettuce, it is better to grate the carrots in advance and multiply its benefits.
Pumpkin. Roast it in the oven, so you will get 50% more vitamins A and C.

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