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The effect of cultivation on the nutritional value
The nutritional recommendations indicate that you should eat as many vegetables as possible and introduce fruit, and this should be borne in mind every day. They are products rich in vitamins and minerals. However, research shows that today’s agricultural crops have a lower nutritional value than even a few dozen years ago. It is i.a. the question of the desire to source more and more higher crop yield. Consequently, there are more plants in an area to ‘feed’, which in turn contributes to the lower nutrient content of fruits and vegetables. As indicated in the publication by Dr. Donald Davis of the University of Texas in HortScience (analyzes data on the content of nutrients in vegetables and fruits), there has been a decrease in their content over the last 50 years. The median decrease in the proportion of minerals in plant products can be quite significant, ranging from 5 to 40 percent. The same goes for vitamins and protein.
However, it is not only the problem here to increase the yield. Alone method of cultivation, fertilization, plant protection products and sterilized soil contribute to a lower nutrient content in plants. It is from the ground that they get their minerals. Worse still, the lack of crop rotation, soil exploitation and poor cultivation techniques result in weak and diseased plants growing that need a range of plant protection products to survive.
Nowalijki under the magnifying glass
Time for early vegetables is ahead of us. After winter, we are hungry for new vegetables that are not cabbage, turnips or beetroot. We eagerly reach for young radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, spinach and carrots. Are they a good choice? Are they nutrient-rich? It depends mainly on how they are grown. Since the weather is not yet conducive to the growth of plants under normal conditions, they are most often grown in greenhouses. The advantage of this is that there is less exposure to insects that are impossible to get rid of in normal cultivation. It is also easier to find the ideal temperature and humidity here, which contributes to faster maturation of the plants. Most often, however, spring vegetables do not grow on typical soil, but a mixture of fertilizers, peat or a special liquid mixture of minerals (hydroponic cultivation). Unfortunately often are intensively fertilizedso that they are more handsome and grow faster. Thanks to this treatment, there are fewer and fewer nutrients in vegetables, incl. vitamins A or B vitamins. Additionally, the nitrates contained in fertilizers accumulate in vegetables, and in the human body transform into nitrosamines, which are harmful to health.
Buy locally
So how to protect yourself from threats and introduce the most valuable products? It is best to find out how vegetables or fruits were grown, i.e. to choose products from a befriended farmer or from your own garden or window sill. However, it is important that the plants do not grow close to the road, because then they accumulate heavy metals that are unfavorable to the body, such as lead or cadmium. You can also try to buy organic vegetables, but as we already wrote in the article ‘Buying organic fruit and vegetables makes sense?’ caution should also be exercised with them, because while the theory is that they should be pesticide-free, are all producers honest and actually add nothing?
Choose wisely
In addition, it is worth remembering a few rules for selecting and preparing food to minimize the loss of nutrients. In the store, do not choose them by size or beauty. Most often, the larger the fruit or vegetable, the greater the certainty that nitrogen fertilizers were used in breeding. An example would be giant radishes. Additionally, our attention should be drawn to wilting and yellowing leaves. It is also a sign of a large accumulation of nitrates. It’s worth smelling the vegetables before buying them and checking for signs of mold. Once you buy spring vegetables, remember to take them out of the foil wrapper to prevent moisture from accumulating on them. Under such conditions, it is easier to find unfavorable transformations of nitrates into nitrites.
Cook wisely
Try to limit the cooking time and choose the steam method rather than a large amount of water, where a lot of valuable ingredients go into the solution. If you are already cooking in the water, add vegetables while it boils. When preparing the salad, mince the vegetables just before eating. The finer they are cut, the easier the access of air to the product, and thus the oxidation of the ingredients and the risk of losses. Also remember that the content of nutrients in the cooked product is lower. If you can, eat vegetables and fruits raw as often as possible, after washing them thoroughly.
Despite some dangers resulting from the modern way of growing plants, our biggest problem is still too little consumption of vegetables and fruits. First, therefore, we should focus on how to enrich the diet with these, despite everything, still very valuable products for our health.
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