Time Sensitive
You can get much more out of veggies and fruits when they are fresh. The older your produce gets, the more nutrients they are losing, so the sooner you consume them, the more you are getting out of them. Cooked vs. Raw When you cook veggies, they lose many vitamins that they contain during the process, so if you want to get the most nutrients out of them that you possibly can, you should eat them when they are fresh and raw. Minerals do not get depleted through the cooking process, but many vitamins do, as well as water of course and these are vital resources that we cannot afford to be wasting. It is a delicate balance that has to be struck because it is easier to digest foods that have been cooked. They have a lower water content and the fiber that they contain has been transformed into a more easily digestible form. Cooked veggies are softer and require less work on your body's part in order to digest them, but money-wise as well as nutrient and resource (such as water) -wise, you want to get all you can out of the foods you are purchasing. When you get more water from the foods you are eating, you don't need to drink as much water, which is something that so many people don't do enough of anyway, so you want to make it as easy on yourself as possible. Easier on Digestion Another thing that makes digestion easier is when foods are broken down as much as possible before they are consumed so that there is less work to be done on the part of the body. A way that I make use of this fact is by making delicious juices with my Nutribullet. This allows you to still get all the fiber contained in the fruits and veggies and have an easier time digesting them. It is not a pure dose of sugar like traditional fruit juices can be, but instead a more complete, wholesome food. When you consume one of these juices, you get all the water, all the fiber, and all the flavor. They are seriously one of my favorite things to consume. They are also very satisfying and much more filling than many people might think because, unlike typical juices, they still have all the fiber and solid goodness of the original components, just broken down into a form that is easier on your body. They are not only the water and sugar, but all of the goodness contained within the fruits and veggies. Multiple Uses & Utilizing Every Part Another way to get the most out of your produce is to utilize them in different ways. There are many fruits and veggies that are very versatile and lend themselves to many cooked and raw uses. Also, there are many types of produce of which you can use nearly every piece. For instance, citrus fruits: you can zest them, use the pulp, and the juice, you can also preserve the rinds. Watermelon is another one that you can utilize every bit of by pickling the rind. You can harvest the seeds from a fruit and plant them, in the right conditions, to grow more from the ground up. You can also roast the seeds from certain plants, such as pumpkins, and enjoy those as well. Pickling, preserving, canning, and drying are all good ways of utilizing every bit of a food and not allowing any of it to go bad as well. This also provides variety even when consuming the same basic foods, so this is a good way to shake things up. Proper Treatment Another way to get the most out of your produce is to make sure that you are treating it properly. Certain fruits and veggies keep better in the fridge, while others are best when not refrigerated. It is worth it to do the research to find out how to properly store each produce item so that they can last as long as possible. For instance, tomatoes are best when they are left out of the refrigerator. This is true of pears as well, which when refrigerated, form those annoying, tough spherical crystals that make the pear not very enjoyable. The problem with keeping produce unrefrigerated though, especially in the summer months, is that it does not last as long and so you need to make sure to use it as quickly as possible. Something that helps in this endeavor is to not purchase too much at once so you can be sure to have it all when it is fresh and at its peak level of nutrition and flavor and to not allow any of it to go to waste, especially since food waste is such an epidemic problem in this society.
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