Due to lack of time or to avoid food waste, we tend to keep the remains of a dish in order to warm them up. Although this habit is a good way to act against the current food waste, there are certain foods that are harmful or even dangerous to our health when they are reheated.
Indeed, for reasons of economy, speed and to fight against food waste, we heat our dishes in the microwave. But this practical and positive aspect hides digestive disorders such as food poisoning, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea but also cardiovascular problems. To preserve your health, discover the 4 leftovers food that you must imperatively avoid. Also, use a different cooking medium than the microwave oven because it will neutralize the essential nutrients in foods and, according to several studies, increases cholesterol, insomnia, migraines, depressions and many other ailments .
4 Foods You Should Never Eat
The vegetables
Various vegetables beneficial to the body lose their nutritional value once conserved and reheated as is the case of spinach, beets, potatoes and celery. Indeed, they have a high content of harmless nitrates but which are transformed into nitrites and nitrosamines and become harmful to the body.
Moreover, when left at room temperature, these vegetables undergo a proliferation of bacteria, also at the origin of this carcinogenic transformation. Fragile individuals such as infants and those with low gastric acidity are at risk of death when they ingest these molecules and pass them through the blood as hemoglobin is then transformed into methemoglobin. This results in a reduction in blood oxygenation leading to fatal asphyxia.
What to do ?
Make sure to store vegetables directly after cooking at a temperature below 5 ° C to avoid bacteria proliferation and consume them preferably cold the next day. The best is to reasonably measure the quantities of vegetables in order to avoid leftovers.
Vegetable oils
Frying vegetable oils promotes the release of toxic compounds. The temperature of these vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn, soybean or rapeseed oil causes degradation of the polyunsaturated fatty acids they contain. A toxin called 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) is released as a result of the cooking of these oils, it is particularly reactive to body proteins and nucleic acids. Numerous studies have linked the consumption of this toxin and various diseases including arthosclerosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, liver disease and even cancer.
In addition, the concentration of this toxin increases with the re-use of vegetable oils.
What to do ?
First, avoid cooking in the form of frying which is particularly greasy and then, prefer the olive oil which, according to the same study, has the lowest rate of toxicity. Also be careful not to overheat the vegetable oils and get rid of them as soon as they begin to foam or to smoke.
The chicken
Chicken contains a lot of protein, usually beneficial to the body's good function. However, when heated, protein composition changes dramatically and can cause digestive problems. In addition, a study by the University of Massachusetts in the United States highlighted the fact that chicken remains lose 80% of their iron content. They warmed the chicken remains in an oven between 55 ° C and 90 ° C in order to reach this conclusion.
What to do ?
If you keep any leftover chicken, be sure to leave it in the refrigerator. Finally, if you plan to consume them, avoid heating them and consume them in a salad or a sandwich to preserve their nutritional value.
Rice
According to the Food Standard Agency, uncooked rice contains spores of harmful bacteria that can survive the first firing. Then, if the rice is stored at room temperature, these spores are likely to multiply further causing digestive disorders, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. In addition, they survive the reheating, so it is advisable to avoid leaving the rice at room temperature more than one hour after cooking.
What to do ?
Like vegetables, the best option is to correctly dose the amount of rice you are going to consume in order to avoid having food residues. Otherwise, keep the rice immediately after cooking and favor freezing, which prevents the growth of bacteria.