Healthy and nutritious summer

2000/08/13 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Dietetika/Elikagaiak

When looking at the Mediterranean diet, nutrition experts observed that those who followed had, in general, fewer health problems than the rest. And that was rare, because they took as many fats as elsewhere. The main difference was that more olive oil, vegetables and fruit was consumed.

Due to current dietary habits, daily consumption is increasingly far from the proper Mediterranean diet. Do not eat other vegetables, fruits or cereals before. However, it is a good time to approach summer to the ideal diet of the Mediterranean. Pasta, rice, vegetables, legumes, fruit, olive oil, lots of fish, little meat and good wine to measure. These supplements of the Mediterranean diet. And in the base olive oil. This type of oil reduces the risk of obstructions in the arteries of the heart. Olive oil contains 80% monounsaturated oleic acid and 20% saturated fatty acid.

Typical summer dishes, essential

Although it is available all year, it is in summer when you eat more fruit. It can be eaten raw, cooked, squeezed, alone, mixed. Easy preparation and easy consumption. And it is cheap at this time of the year, since there are many varieties. In addition to its sweet, good and refreshing flavor, the food most recommended by experts in nutrition is fruit. The fruit has many qualities.

The abundance of liquid makes the fruit ideal to combat the risk of dehydration. Its high content of vitamins and hydro-carbon makes eating fruit the easiest, most comfortable and adequate way to get the necessary calories in summer. The fruit is also rich in fiber, so it can help combat the problems of guts, coronary diseases, and cancer. Regarding Europe, here you can eat a lot of fruit. According to data, 77 kilos of fruit per person are consumed each year, while fresh vegetables are around 50 kilos. Among the vegetables stand out the potato and the tomato, while the queen of the fruits is the orange. With an adequate diet, experts say that in summer it would be necessary to eat between 200 and 250 grams of vegetables a day. However, according to other studies, this is very little, it is estimated that at least five daily meals of between 100 and 150 grams of vegetables should be made.

It is important to eat as many vegetables and fruits as necessary, but it is perhaps more important to prepare them properly. When cooking, it should be taken into account that a bad cooking can lose its nutritional value. If there are problems to make the digestion of the vegetables or to divide the vegetables in the mouth, it is preferable to crush them before, in puree, in the form of croquettes, etc. Vitamins and minerals are found in vegetables and fruit and if they are not prepared well they are lost. In this way, vegetables should be cleaned well, but do not allow themselves to macerate. They will cook with the lid on, with little water and the time necessary to complete the cooking process. Once cooked, add the salt. The pressure cooker for cooking is the best. The fruit juice will be taken immediately after preparation. Each food has its conservation time, so you have to act accordingly. Frozen foods and fresh foods, from a nutritional point of view, have the same value, so the defrosting and freezing of food can cause problems. When making the purchase, choosing the seasonal products, are usually cheaper.

Along with fruits and vegetables, the podium of the Mediterranean diet contains a yogurt. You can buy yogurts of different flavors. In addition, to keep it there is no difficulty. Yogurt is a fermented milk, probiotic milk, that is, it contains active bacterial cells that after eating favor health. Yoghurts can be a source of high quality proteins and many other nutrients. However, these characteristics depend on the quality of the products. According to studies, traditional yogurts contain an adequate amount of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and zinc, but not as high as it is announced. However, iron, copper and magnesium also appear in yoghurts with fruit fractions. Therefore, we cannot deny the benefit of eating yoghurts for the body.

In those days where heat predominates, vegetables and salads come in perfectly, the fruit, let's not say, the yogurt that comes out of the fridge is also taken to taste, but what better than ice cream? They can also become a pleasure. The origin of the ice cream is ancient. The Chinese mixed the snow with honey and fruit and the caliphs of Bagdad with fruit juices. The latter were called sharbets -liquid. According to history, the ice cream formula was brought to Europe by the mythical Marco Polo. In 1660 the Italian Procopio began to manufacture it in the bar Procope of Paris. Today, as is known, most of the ice creams are industrial production.

The 13%-23% of the ice cream is sugar -sucrose, dextrose, fructose…-, 5-10% fat -milk, butter, cream…-, 8-12% solid dairy without fat -milk, dairy serum, dyes, seeds, acids, water…- and the rest of the usual ingredients -egg yolks, cocoa, chocolate, alcoholic beverages… Although the nutritional value of the ice cream comes mostly dry In addition, they contain numerous vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fat. The most important step in the process of making ice cream is pasteurization, a heat treatment with the mixture of ice cream. In this step the proteins of the serum are denatured, the absorption of water is accelerated, emulsions are produced, the fat is transformed into liquid by effect of the heat and the risk of contamination with bacteria is avoided. In short, ice creams are refreshing, easy to eat and digest, and very nutritious.

The risk of dehydration increases in summer compared to the rest of the year. This risk is due to the loss of water from the body, which at this time expels more sweat than normal. Dehydration, in addition to thirst, can cause weight loss and, in extremely serious cases, reach the coma state. Living beings must get the necessary amount of water. It is believed that man needs 3 liters of water a day. Half of this amount is obtained from food and the rest through the intake of water. It is advisable to drink more water than usual during the summer or during the sport. If you have to do sport, do not wait to have a feeling of thirst, drink liquid before doing sport, do sport and after finishing the sports session.

Store food, headaches in summer

Due to the increase in temperatures during the summer the bacteria multiply, so it is necessary to intensify the conservation measures of food. Places where food is stored should be easily washable and disinfectable. Germs can be anywhere. To avoid the appearance of toxins, it is essential to keep food at an adequate temperature. According to the Organization for World Health, if the temperature exceeds 60ºC, food should not be stored. Likewise, it must be taken into account that the prepared food should not be stored instantly in the refrigerator, since there is a risk of proliferation of microbes inside by heat.

Among the foods with problems during the summer are eggs and their derivatives. Both in the transport and in the preparation of eggs, in addition to maintaining the usual cleaning standards, special measures should be adopted. And it is that salmonellosis, the most common infection of the summer, is often caused by the misuse of eggs. Tips below:

• Buy eggs with clean shell.
• Respect the expiration date.
• Do not wash the eggs before putting them in the refrigerator.
• Make the eggs well.
• Store in the refrigerator the mahonesa, homemade or acquired.
• Do not break the shell in the same container in which you are going to beat the egg.
• Use only the egg shake container.
• To separate the yolk from the white do not use the egg shell.
• Do not leave more than two hours outside the refrigerator.
• Store the cakes, native... in the refrigerator and eat before 24 hours of its preparation.

Happy!

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