Sonia Jones ND from the Haven Spa and Alternative Treatment Clinic

We all know that fruit and vegetables are good for us. Though you wouldn’t think so when you look at all the statistics of how little people eat each day.

You may think that you are getting the nutrients you need from the vegetables you eat but are you?

Boiling your vegetables and throwing the water water away means a lot of the water soluble vitamins and minerals are literally being poured down the drain. You could drink the water but few people do this, or you could make soup from the water, in reality few people can be bothered to keep the water until they are ready to make soup. What to do instead? Steam your vegetables as little water as possible for a little time as possible to preserve as much of the nutrients and enzymes as possible.

The more you cook the vegetables, be it boiling or steaming the more enzymes are destroyed.

The longer the vegetables sit a round in your kitchen the more nutrients they lose. Putting them in the cool dark fridge helps to slow down their deterioration a little.

Peeling, and cutting up fresh fruit and vegetables should be done just before using them. The longer the cut surfaces are exposed to oxygen and light the faster the nutrients deteriorate (oxidation). Supermarkets offer fruit and vegetables ready cut up, buying your produce this way you pay a premium for less nutrients, however this option is better than choosing a processed meal because you are in a hurry.

Microwaving – vegetables, there is some evidence it changes the molecular structure of the food in a negative way? Use your microwave very occasionally to reheat. Buy an electric kettle to heat your water for herbal teas, don’t use the microwave.

Fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables whats best? I buy both, this enables me to have more variety and so there is always fruit and vegetables in the house as a standby when I have run out of fresh produce. It is always better to eat frozen fruit and vegetables, than none.

When you eat fruit and vegetables you are getting the vitamins, minerals, healing plant-compounds, fiber and the all important enzymes. Don’t destroy them with your cooking methods.

Producing your own sprouts in the kitchen will give you endless amounts of fresh, highly nutritious, cheap food, grown without pesticides etc, to use in stir-fries or salads.