Three harmful ways to eat vegetables

The habit of eating raw vegetables, eating overnight vegetables or eating a lot of pickled vegetables is not good for your health.

Vegetables provide essential nutrients to maintain health and enhance nutrient absorption. Dr. Dang Ngoc Hung, Institute of Nutrition Research and Consulting, said that green vegetables such as Malabar spinach, mustard greens, and water spinach contain a lot of vitamin C, K, and folate, while colorful fruits and vegetables such as amaranth, purple cabbage, tomatoes, cauliflower, and bell peppers are rich in vitamin C, beta-carotene, and flavonoids, which help reduce oxidation, provide resistance to the body, and prevent disease. In addition, vegetables also contain a lot of fiber, which protects the digestive system and reduces cholesterol.

However, there are three types of vegetables you should avoid because they can cause illness, as follows:

Eat raw vegetables

Many people have the habit of eating raw vegetables with other foods. In fact, unprocessed raw vegetables pose many risks, including contamination with preservatives, pesticides, and growth hormones. In addition, there is the risk of bacterial contamination due to unclean vegetable washing, or unsanitary storage environments for raw vegetables. In the long run, these toxic substances gradually accumulate in the body, which is not good for health.

You should only eat raw vegetables that are homegrown, organic, or have a clear origin. On the contrary, vegetables bought at the market, with unknown growing and transportation processes, should be cooked before eating. Heat and hot water can evaporate some of the chemicals in vegetables.

When eating pho at a restaurant, you should ask the owner to dip the vegetables in hot water instead of eating them raw.

Eat overnight vegetables

Many families have the habit of leaving leftover vegetables from the night before to use for breakfast or lunch the next day. However, some green vegetables can contain a lot of nitrate, and if left overnight, the nitrate content will easily change to nitrite, such as cauliflower, spinach, bok choy, broccoli, radish, carrots, celery... contain more nitrate than other vegetables.

Nitrite is not a very toxic substance, but too much can create nitrosamine - a carcinogen. Of course, not all vegetables produce nitrite after being left overnight. But to be safe, you should eat it all at once, avoiding unnecessary nitrite increase for the body.

Eat lots of pickled vegetables

Pickled vegetables help preserve vegetables longer, and at the same time bring a slightly sour, slightly salty flavor, delicious when eaten with rice. However, eating vegetables prepared in this way is not recommended by experts, because it contains a lot of salt, which is not good for blood pressure and blood sugar.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that foods that contain a lot of salt increase the risk of stomach cancer. Salt can increase the risk of gastric and duodenal ulcers, increase the growth of HP bacteria and the risk of cancer.

In general, pickled vegetables should be used sparingly. Instead, you should prepare them by steaming or boiling.

Thuy Quynh

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