Cooking and kitchen tips for better health

Basic healthy cooking tips

• Always wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap before cooking any food.


• Always wash the cutting tools like knife and cooking vessels to make sure they are neat and clean. Even wipe the cutting table and stove (gas) with a cloth before use.


• During cooking try to use minimal amount of water.


• Usage of food colors(or essence) must be strictly avoided to prevent serious health issues.


• Try to make minimal use of soda or baking powder as it causes irritation to the intestine.


• While cooking green vegetables make sure the lids are closed so as to preserve their green color.


• Avoid pesticide-sprayed foods or wash them thoroughly (at least 3-4 times) before use.


• Always cut as big pieces because they carry more vita.


• Avoid peeling off the skin of some vegetables as they contain more nutrients.

Low fat cooking tips

• Use olive oil for cooking as much as possible to restrict cholesterol intake.


• For recipes based on cream usage,use low fat yoghurt or skimmed milk as thickener.


• Prefer boiling or baking as against frying.


• For sandwiches, avoid mayonnaise and use low fat spreads like sauce/ketchup or home-made green chutneys.


• Make use of low fat milk instead of whole milk.


• While cooking make Use of non stick cookware so that you don't get to use excess oil.


• For non-vegetarian cooking, try to make use of fat free chicken broth.


• For non-vegetarian cooking, prepare fish, eggs and chicken in less quantity of water. This method of cooking is known as poaching.


• Make a habit of low fat cooking methods like baking, steaming, poaching, grilling, broiling or sautéing.


• When preparing oily food, attempt to remove the excess oil by pressing the food stuff using paper or kitchen napkins.

Nutrient retaining cooking tips

• Please do not strain starch water from rice during cooking.


• Try not to cook at high temperatures as much as possible, since this may destroy some of the vitamins (by oxidation).


• Instead of boiling vegetables, Steam or microwave them.


• Do not use copper vessels/tins as copper tends to destroy vitamin content.


• Avoid washing vegetables after they are chopped as it may take away some valuable nutrients.


• Prefer Steaming over boiling.


• Prefer usage of boiled vegetable water for soups and other gravies.


• Rinse vegetables in quick time rather than soaking them for long time.


• Do not peel off all vegetables before boiling them.Boil potatoes,beetroots and similar vegetables along with their skin intact.


• Boil vegetables as whole and then cut them to enable retainment of several nutrients.


• For storage, keep vegetables in a refrigerator to retain their vitamin content.


• If vegetables are to be soaked before cooking, add some salt when you soak them.


• Fruits should not be soaked in water for long. In fact, it would be good if you can completely avoid soaking fruits in water (exceptions: Mangoes).

Low salt/sodium cooking tips

• Restrict usage of margarine, butter, etc. since they contain lots of salt.


• Use fresh or frozen vegetables and avoid canned vegetables as they contain salt.


• Always make use of salt-free cheese.


• Salt is a difficult ingredient to substitute while cooking. Try to use lemon juice, vinegar, spices,etc. to reduce requirement for salt.


• Use sauces only when required, because they contain lot of salt.


• Restrict usage/consumption of pickles as they too contain lots of salt. Prepare home-made pickles making use of less salt.