10 Cooking Habits That Can Ruin Your Health

Culinary traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Watching our mothers and grandmothers act in the kitchen year after year, we adopt their experience. It is not always positive. Some habits associated with cooking can not only worsen the taste of dishes, but also negatively affect our health.

We often criticize the catering industry and blame it for poor quality products. But the inexorable statistics show that 12 percent of eating disorders occur not because of food from cafes and restaurants, but because of home cooking. How to cook yourself tasty and safe? First of all, you need to avoid 10 negative habits that undermine our health.

Raw vegetables can be quite hard. So it is logical that we boil them until they become soft. But in doing so, they lose not only their natural color, but also a significant portion of vitamins. Therefore, carrots, broccoli, beans and other popular garden crops are best left firm and slightly crunchy.

Doctors say that it is absolutely forbidden to try dishes that are not yet ready. Bacteria that have not yet been destroyed by heat treatment may remain in the products. They can cause serious illnesses. Dough dishes are especially dangerous in this regard. Trying them, you can catch salmonella from eggs or even E. coli from flour.

We are used to washing meat, poultry and fish bought in a store or at a market under running water. But doctors do not recommend doing this. Under running water, bacteria that are on the surface of the products fly around the entire kitchen and settle on surfaces. Later, after contact with them, dishes or food can become a source of infection. Instead of washing, you just need to blot the meat with a paper towel. If you cannot cook unwashed meat, rinse it in a basin, avoiding splashes.

It is necessary to wash the gifts of nature, even if we are not going to eat them with the peel. Watermelons, melons, oranges, bananas are washed before consumption, preferably with a brush. If you cut unwashed fruits and vegetables, microbes can get from the knife to the pulp and then into our body, causing poisoning or other digestive problems.

The temperature range from +4 to +60 degrees Celsius is considered optimal for the reproduction of bacteria. By defrosting meat, fish, poultry and offal at room temperature, we create ideal conditions for microbes. Therefore, all products must be defrosted only in the refrigerator. For the same reason, meat should also be marinated in a cool place.

Scientists have long determined that the dirtiest items in any kitchen are always the trash can and... cutting boards. Even if you thoroughly wash the board after each use, food particles accumulate in the microscopic pores of the wood and bacteria multiply.

You won't be able to solve this problem with water and detergents. If you cut meat on a board, and then bread or fruit, that is, food that is not heat-treated, there is a risk of transferring bacteria. Experts believe that there should be at least two cutting boards in the kitchen. One for meat, poultry and fish, and the other for everything else.

Many of us taste foods that we doubt are good for us. We don’t hesitate to take a sip of milk that has been sitting in the fridge, bite into a weathered piece of sausage, or try a pickle from a suspicious jar.

All this seems harmless to us because of the insignificant dose of the product, but it is not so. For serious poisoning this may be quite enough. The product should be thrown away at the slightest suspicion that it is unfit for food or that its expiration date has passed.

Many housewives bring the oil in the frying pan to a boil and only then begin to fry on it. This approach is dangerous to health, as it increases the likelihood of cancer. Excessive heat treatment destroys antioxidants and provokes the formation of carcinogens. For the same reason, it is better to stay away from fast food, where oil is used several times.

For a long time, there was a popular myth about the harm of food cooked in aluminum cookware. Then scientists refuted it and pots and pans made of light metal became popular again. It is possible to cook in them, but doctors still do not recommend storing anything for a long time. This is especially true for dishes with an acidic or alkaline pH. Such food can react with the cookware and as a result, dangerous aluminum salts are formed. And storing in such containers often worsens the taste of the dishes.

We are taught from childhood that hands should be washed before eating. But it is very rare to hear about washing them before and after preparing food. It is absolutely necessary to do this to avoid cross-contamination of products with bacteria. If you take bread with your hands after meat, microbes can transfer from one product to another. They also get on furniture surfaces, dishes and kitchen equipment.

And also, we need to say goodbye once and for all to the most harmful products from our diet.