HEALTHY COOKING

It is said, “The beginning of the heart disease is through the stomach”. Yes, food is still the most important cause of the blockages that leads to coronary heart disease. When I started my research on the role of lifestyle changes in the reversal of heart disease, I found that the modification of diet was a must.

Hunger builds up the desire to eat and leads to eating. But none of the food would pass through the mouth without taste. We all love to eat tasty food. When I planned to stop all types of visible oil in the food, I found that the taste was becoming a major constraint. (All oils are Triglycerides and a most important cause of heart disease after Cholesterol). People all over the country were complaining that without taste there was no point in eating and I realized that my entire treatment would fail if my patients don’t adhere to my dietary advises. So we started looking for the alternate ways of cooking without any oil. This led to the development of “Zero oil cooking”.

During these years we have seen that very tasty food can be made by frying the spices or masalas with water (we call it “Saaol oil” now). Eventually we developed about two hundred types of recipes in about a year. This led to the publishing of my first and the most famous cookbook “Food for Reversing Heart Disease“. My experiments with foods continued and I kept on exploring the other ways of cooking. I studied many more ways by which food could be cooked. This issue of the Heart talk will discuss all that we found useful in cooking for preventing and reversing heart disease.

I have found that there are three major ways of cooking possible (dry cooking, moist cooking and the medium of oil). Dry cooking would mean just baking or simple roasting without any medium. Moist cooking would include steaming, boiling, braising and so on. The medium can be any liquid including water. The third method was the use of oil as a medium of cooking (especially in India) wherein it works as an interface between the food and the heat, thus preventing sudden heating and burning of the food. This method consists of roasting with little oil, shallow or deep-frying in plenty of oil and lastly grilling after little application of oil.

But in the cooking methods developed by us with “Saaol Oil” I use water as a buffer medium between the food and the fire/heat. One difficulty is that the water will evaporate soon and that is why it has to be added very frequently again and again. This prevents the burning of the food and leads to adequate cooking. With the masalas cooked in this way the food becomes equally tasty.

Modern technology has brought newer methods of cooking which are increasingly gaining popularity like microwave cooking, AMC (some German made uniformly heating utensil). I am sure there are many more ways, which we still do not know. They will surface in future. I would request my readers to apply their mind and suggest some more methods.

WHAT IS COOKING          

Food preparation is a modern term in cookery. It denotes pre-preparation and cooking. It follows a flow pattern which commences with the purchasing and selection of materials, their handling, processing and the ultimate presentation of the dishes, where “food service” takes over. In French, the work “Cuisine” denotes the art of cooking preparing dishes, and the place the kitchen in which they are prepared.

The Origin of Cooking   

The art of cooking is ancient. The first cook was a primitive man, who had put a hunk of meat close to the fire, which he had lit to warm himself. He discovered that the meat heated in this way was not only tasty but it was also much easier to masticate. From this moment, in unrecorded past, cooking has evolved to reach the present level of sophistication.

Aims and Objects of Cooking

The aim or the intension of cooking is to see that the food is cooked, undergoes a physical change, sometimes a chemical change and is acceptable.

The object of cooking is to achieve certain results such as:

To facilitate and hasten digestion, so that the cooked food is absorbed by the digestive system and subsequently assimilated by the body. This is largely determined in the manner the food is cooked. During the cooking process, it breaks down and gets starches present. The alteration is brought about in texture, thus assisting mastication, by physical and chemical changes.

A physical change occurs when a substance changes its form, color or size, but still remains the same substance, like water that changes to ice. A chemical change occurs when a substance changes its form, color, size but still remains the same substance, combining so as to form an entirely new body, example: milk changes to curd.

EFFECT OF COOKING

The effect of cooking upon the three chief constituents of food-proteins, carbohydrates and fats is visible in their increased digestibility.

Proteins: The protein of whet (gluten), of pulse (legumin) is coagulated by heat. The connective tissue is converted into gelatin which is soluble in water and rendered digestible. The proteins biological value is improved by moderate heating.

Carbohydrates: Starch in food is greatly affected by heat. By moist heat it is converted first into a soluble form and then by extreme heat into a new substance, sweetish in flavor, dextran as in the crust of bread.

·         Cellulose is softened by the application of moist heat.

·         Sugar when heated in water dissolves, then colors, upon further heating, turns brown and becomes a caramel and emits a lovely flavor, but does not crystallize.

·         Moderate heat does not cause much loss of mineral salts and vitamins, except vitamin C.

                                                    

Fats: If heated to a very high degree for a long time, undergo partial decomposition and fatty acids and glycerol are produced. Glycerol further decomposes into acerolin which is an irritating compound to the digestive system.

·         Cooking pleases the eye and is receptive to the palate and helps to stimulate the digestive juices, thereby creating an appetite. On application of heat, flavors are developed, which stimulate the digestive juices. The colors of the vegetables are brightened. Green vegetables fast boiled without a lid, improve the green color. Cauliflower is acidic medium, when boiled, gets a white refreshed look.

Other effects of cooking in general

·         Cooking sterilizes the food partially: Cooked food can be stored for a longer time and it prevents food poisoning and diseases when stored properly. Some of the diseases producing germs are killed by cooking because of high temperature.

·         Cooking retains as far as possible, the nutritive and flavoring ingredients: The flavor depends upon the amount and kind of extractives present, and the acids developed. While cooking, the nutrition could be preserved by using the cooking color.

·         Cooking gives a variety to the menu: As one food item could be cooked in various ways and given different textures. Different methods of cooking when used make the menu interesting and enhance variety. It is, therefore, easier to plan balanced diet.    

·         Cooking preserves food for a longer time: The high temperature destroys bacteria and limits spoilage. It is economical as the cooked leftovers could be utilized and interesting new dishes could be prepared.

 

RANCIDITY AND DENATURATION OF OIL

Spoilage of fats may occur on storage. Rancidity is of two types hydrolytic and oxidative.

Hydrolysis: Hydrolysis is brought about by enzymes that decompose fats into free fatty acids and glycerol.

Oxidation: Only unsaturated fats and foods which have lipooxygeanse are susceptible to oxidative changes. Hydroperoxides that are formed, break readily producing smaller volatile substances that give the characteristic odours of rancid fat. The development of rancidity is objectionable not only because of the undesirable changes in odour, flavor, color and consistency of fat but because, it is accompanied by the inactivation of Vitamin A and E.

 

“SAAOL OIL” THE BEST MEDIUM FOR COOKING

It is time that we find out the substitute of oil that is Water or “SAAOL Oil”. It does not contain any harmful triglycerides and saturated or mono/polyunsaturated fats. It does not increase the cholesterol levels and thus not cause any blockages. Moreover using oil will suppress the actual flavor of spices and condiments used. This does not happen when SAAOL oil is used as cooking medium for sautéing vegetables etc. There is no restriction on use of this oil. One can use it to any limit without worry. Oils are triglycerides and SAAOL teaches its members to stop the visible oil. Whatever invisible oil is present in the food will be suffice to achieve the daily requirement of triglycerides. Triglycerides are one of the major risk factors for heart disease. Along with blockages, oils are also prone to rancidity and denaturation which can be detrimental to the health.

Hope you liked this blog!

This article is written by Dr. Bimal Chhajer (Famous Heart Doctor India)