Avoid re-heating these food items if you care about health

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A healthy diet provides fluid, vitamins, minerals and energy. Choose mostly unprocessed foods. Eat plenty of vegetables (3 or more servings a day) and fruit (2 to 4 servings a day). Include wholegrain bread, oats and muesli and low fat milk, yoghurt and cheese (choose reduced fat options). Choose lean meats and fish. Include unsalted nuts, seeds and tahini (no added salt).

It is quite common to store the leftover food in the refrigerator and then reheat them in an oven or steam. However, health experts say that not all food items are safe to be reheated. Some food items may release toxic chemicals when they are heated again. These are some of the foods that shouldn’t be reheated and consumed later.

Potato
Even though a popular food item, it isn’t too safe to reheat potatoes. A bacteria called Clostridium botulinum that releases a toxic chemical would be grown if cooked potatoes are kept at room temperature for longer. So, leftover potatoes should be stored in the fridge.

Spinach and leafy vegetables
Leafy vegetables are storehouses of nutrients and nitrates. But, the nitrates get transformed into harmful variants when reheated. This could cause serious health issues like cancer. Spinach or leafy vegetables are safer to be consumed immediately.

Chicken
Loaded with protein, reheating the leftover chicken could be dangerous. The structure of the protein could get altered when chicken is heated at a high temperature. This could be the reason for indigestion and food poisoning. So, if at all you want to reheat the chicken, try to do it at a low temperature.

Egg
Eggs contain protein; so, the bacteria would develop quickly while reheating. It is better to consume eggs as soon as they are cooked. Ensure that you don’t store leftover eggs.

Oils and fats
Reheating oils and fats would turn them into trans fats and free radicals that are harmful to health. This could cause heart disease and other severe ailments. So, it is better to use oil minimally while cooking. Try avoiding reheating the food items that contain oils or fats.

Source: onmanorama.com