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Get the max from your fruit and veg
Storing, preparing and cooking correctly will ensure no essential nutrients are lost
With the cost of food soaring, it's important for our health and
budget that we get the most from the provisions that we buy.
Fruit and vegetables are the most nutritious and healthy foods onthe menu and we are all encouraged to eat more of them. However, if they are not bought, stored, prepared and cooked correctly, many of the nutrients can be lost and our money is wasted.
Therefore:
Serve fruit and vegetables raw whenever possible, to maintain maximum vitamins, minerals and enzymes.
Steam, boil or simmer foods in a minimal amount of water for the shortest time possible.
Buy organic, where possible, as organic foods can be higher in nutrients and lower in contaminants.
Boil or bake potatoes in their skins to retain iron, vitamin C and fibre.
Most of the nutrients in carrots are directly under the skin, so scrub, don't peel.
Refrigerate prepared juices and store for no more than a few days.
Store cut raw fruit and vegetables in an airtight container and refrigerate; storing in water means vitamin C will be lost.
Scrub and wash fruit and vegetables to remove contaminants and pesticides, but don't soak fresh vegetables if you wish to retain vitamins B and C.
Avoid pre-prepared salads and vegetables, and make your own when you are ready to eat them. Fruit and vegetables cut up and left to stand lose vitamins.
Use a sharp knife when cutting fresh vegetables because vitamins A and are lowered when vegetable tissues are bruised.
n Avoid buying fresh fruit and vegetables and then leaving them for days in the refrigerator. The vitamin content of frozen green beans, for
example, will be higher than those fresh ones you have kept in your refrigerator for a week.
Don't throw out the outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage – they can have higher calcium, iron, and vitamin A content.
Don't thaw frozen vegetables before cooking.
n Frozen foods, such as boil-in-the-bag veg, can offer more vitamins than long-stored foods – and all frozen foods are preferable to canned ones.
Use cooking water from vegetables to make soups, juices from meats for gravies, and syrups from canned fruits to make desserts.
When buying packaged fruit and vegetables, always look for the longest sell-by date to get the freshest possible.
Store fruit and veg in the refrigerator as soon as you buy, and consume within a few days.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
