Are Leftovers Nutrition Nirvana For A 40-Year-Old Body?
These are the best practices for adding new life, and extra nutrition, to old foods.
Happines is a healthy bowl of left-overs
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 3 minutes 30 seconds
Time to action: 5 minutes
Mantra: “Food waste is a reflection of our values and priorities.” - Tristram Stuart
Main message: Cheaper, easier, healthier. Tripple nutrition win!
Stat: $1 trillion - The economic cost of food wastage annually
”Rehashing yesterday’s meal can be highly beneficial for your health”
Few things make you feel like you’re 40 more than knowing you sound like your parents. But, where food waste is concerned the Boomers, had it right. Few things feel worse than waste. There is a win here for body and mind in the hidden health benefits to leftovers.Here’s how a simple reheat can turn what can feel a bit grungy, into an absolute world beater.
Love my pasta better than you. Know it’s wrong so what should I do?
Rehashing yesterday’s meal can be highly beneficial for your health. Pasta for example - the enemy of many a middle-aged belly. According to research at the University of Surrey, reheated pasta becomes starch resistant and reduces the rise in blood glucose by a mind-blowing 50%! That means it’s slower to digest and your body treats it more like fibre than a carbohydrate. ‘Retrogradation’ occurs when starches in certain foods, such as rice and potatoes, undergo changes in their molecular structure after cooling and then reheating. This process can lead to the formation of resistant starch, a type of dietary fibre that resists digestion in the small intestine, reaching the large intestine where it has positive effects on our health.
It’s okay to eat potatoes because they don’t have any feelings
The humble sweet potato also has a staggering 62% increase in resistant starch when reheated, helping you stay lean because you feel fuller for longer. With many traditional carbohydrate sources, the leftovers could oddly enough be healthier than the original meal.
With the lights out, grow tomatoes, here we are now, grow tomatoes
The process of cooking tomatoes breaks down cells and releases lycopene, which has health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and carcinogenic illness. When reheated, the lycopene levels further increase. So reheating tomato-based dishes can boost these nutritional advantages.
Reheating tomatoes raises lycopene levels which are good for you.
In addition to its role as a prebiotic, resistant starch found in reheated or leftover food can play a crucial role in fostering a healthier digestive system. Because it resists digestion in the small intestine, resistant starch reaches the colon intact, becoming a substrate for the growth of beneficial bacteria, commonly referred to as probiotics. These probiotics thrive on the fermentation of this resistant starch. A diverse and balanced gut microbiota has been linked to improved digestive health, enhanced nutrient absorption, and a reduced risk of various gastrointestinal issues. Incorporating foods rich in resistant starch through reheated or leftover meals can be a practical and palatable way to support a thriving gut ecosystem and contribute to digestive wellbeing.
The temperatures at which you cook your food have a huge impact on its nutritional value, and safety. The extreme heat of stir-fries, for example, not only enhance their taste but also their goodness. Research at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at Zhejiang University found stir frying increases food’s antioxidant and vitamin C levels.
What does this mean for the temperature you should set your leftovers to warm to? An exact figure has been placed on how hot you need to your leftovers to be. The Food Safety and Inspection Service states that they need to reach 74ºC, as measured by a food thermometer. For all foods, check on the re-heat before serving of course, but take joy in knowing that the simplicity and cost-efficiency of meal number two is actually surpassed by the hidden health benefits you’re about to enjoy.
What do you throw out the most?
22% - fresh fruits and vegetables
19% - dairy
18% - meat, poultry and fish
14% - grain products
10% - caloric sweeteners
8% - processed fruits and vegetables
7% - fats and oils
2% - eggs
Source: >Journal of Consumer Affairs<Global Food Waste:
Roughly one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption, approximately 1.3 billion tons, is lost or wasted each year.
Household Waste:
In developed countries, about 40% of total food losses occur at the retail and consumer levels. In the United States, for example, it's estimated that 30-40% of the food supply is wasted.
Environmental Impact:
Food waste contributes to environmental problems. The carbon footprint of food produced but not eaten is estimated at 3.3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent.
Water Wastage:
About 24% of all water used for agriculture is associated with producing food that is ultimately lost or wasted.
Fruits and Vegetables:
It is estimated that about 45% of all fruits and vegetables produced are wasted.
Wasted Land:
The land area used to grow food that is ultimately wasted is about 1.4 billion hectares, which is roughly 28% of the world's agricultural area.
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STIR FRYINGZhang, Jin-jie; Ji, Rong; Hu, Ya-qin; Chen, Jian-chu; Ye, Xing-qian (4 September 2011). "Effect of three cooking methods on nutrient components and antioxidant capacities of bamboo shoot (Phyllostachys praecox C.D. Chu et C.S. Chao)". Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE B 12 (9): 752–759. doi:10.1631/jzus.B1000251.
LEFTOVERS FOOD TEMPERATURE AND SHELF LIFEhttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/Leftovers_and_Food_Safety.pdf
SHELF LIFEhttp://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/_Documents/science/potentially-hazardous-foods.pdf
REHEATED PASTAhttp://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29629761
REHEATED LEGUMEShttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562607 