How To Choose The Right Vegetables?

2023 Author: Lucy Dunce | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:49

How to choose the right vegetables?

Every person who cares about proper nutrition understands how important vegetables and fruits are for the body. In addition to the fact that they contain the necessary vitamins and minerals that cannot be replaced by any tablets and chemically synthesized elements, regular consumption of vegetables and fruits is necessary for the normal functioning of the digestive system, and therefore - maintaining the correct metabolism, on which the health of a person as a whole directly depends. … However, it is not easy to choose vegetables and herbs that are truly healthy and safe. In winter and most of spring, the cultivation of green crops in central Russia is impossible due to climatic conditions, so vegetables and fruits are exported to us from abroad, some are grown in greenhouses,and during the autumn and at the beginning of winter those are sold that are stored for a long time (sometimes more than six months) in vegetable stores.

It's no secret that greenhouse vegetables and herbs are very different from those grown in the open air, called "ground". They receive less light and heat, the soil in which they grow contains less minerals and therefore the nutritional value for the body of such products is many times less than that of ordinary ones. No matter how hard a person tries to recreate the natural environment and microclimate for greenhouse plants using the most modern technologies, the conditions are still very far from natural. However, the producers of such vegetables are not at all interested in their product being less popular, therefore they use many proven methods to give their products a special attractive look. First of all, this is achieved with the help of nitrogen fertilizers - nitrates and nitrites,which, on the one hand, sharply increase the yield (for example, the yield of beets after the application of nitrogen fertilizers increases by 150%) and on the other hand, they give the fruits an attractive, bright appearance. In fact, such external beauty is primarily due to the presence of a large amount of water in vegetables, but nothing more. At the same time, an excessive amount of fertilizers can cause the presence of these substances in the vegetables themselves and adversely affect human health. At the same time, an excessive amount of fertilizers can cause the presence of these substances in the vegetables themselves and adversely affect human health. At the same time, an excessive amount of fertilizers can cause the presence of these substances in the vegetables themselves and adversely affect human health.

In order for fresh greens to only benefit the body, you need to try to avoid purchasing greenhouse products. As a rule, such vegetables look very even and smooth, as they do not come into contact with rain, wind and other natural phenomena, due to the presence of nitrates, their size is greatly increased compared to ground vegetables, but the taste is more bland and less intense. Typically, these vegetables and fruits are practically odorless. Citrus fruits accumulate nitrates in the skin, and low-quality fruit can be distinguished by the degree of its thickness. If you wish, you can purchase a special device - a nitrometer, which will allow you to make an express test for the content of fertilizers right in the supermarket or on the market.

Vegetables that are kept in storage for a long time also lose their useful properties, and in addition, they are often processed with special substances that prevent premature spoilage. Keeping track of the level of cleanliness in the vegetable store itself is a rather complicated matter: in order for the fruits not to dry out, a constant high humidity is maintained, which is an invariable companion of the development of numerous pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Therefore, the premises are disinfected every 10 - 15 days, often the fruits themselves are treated with antibacterial drugs. To avoid poisoning, it is imperative to wash such products (especially root crops: carrots, beets, potatoes) in the most thorough way and clean off the surface layer. Vegetables that have been in storage for a long time are by no means so useful, unlike fresh ones,despite the words of manufacturers: many vitamins and minerals are destroyed during long-term storage. For example, vitamin C almost completely disappears after storage for more than 5-6 months.

Vegetables after long-term storage are very different from fresh ones, primarily due to their appearance: cracks, scuffs, brown spots and dents are visible on the skin (this is a consequence of exposure to moisture). If you see small dots on the fruit - in no case do not buy it - these are traces of injections of preservatives that slow down the decomposition process, but are by no means useful for humans. Particular attention should be paid to the color of vegetables: carrots should be exactly orange, without yellow and green spots, beets - dark burgundy, when choosing cabbage, you need to carefully examine the leaf slices: in the place where the cut crosses the vein there should be no black spots.

When choosing, it is most important to listen to your own feelings: sluggish spotted fruits that have lain for more than one month in storage do not want to buy exactly the same as apples and oranges filled with nitrates, many times larger than their natural counterparts, it is better to refuse to purchase such products altogether than then guess about the causes of diseases and disorders of the body.

Author: Maria Lev (specially for Calorizator.ru)

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