by Eliana Liotta
Eliana Liotta’s Smart Tips column. Nutrition science invites us to look back at how our grandmothers and grandfathers ate
If technology projects us into the future, nutritional science invites us to look back at how grandmothers and grandfathers ate. For example, you open the blog of researchers at Harvard University and find praise for minestrone: There is no more comforting food on a winter day. With the right ingredients, it can help increase your intake of plant sources and important nutrients. Indeed, soup satisfies, nourishes and hydrates.
Satiet
A minestrone makes you feel fuller than consuming a solid dinner (study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition). A first reason is that, compared to pasta or a slice of roast, it occupies a greater volume in the stomach, given by the vegetable fibers and liquids, but researchers have noticed that the influence on blood glucose levels is also different.
Single dish or not
When cooking only vegetables, the calorie content is low but, to complete the meal, you should add proteins and carbohydrates: for example, an egg and a slice of wholemeal bread. The soup, on the other hand, can be a single dish if it also includes legumes and potatoes or croutons. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, at the end of the preparation, provides the fats needed to absorb some substances.
I fitocomposti
By cooking for 20-30 minutes, the content of thermolabile vitamins in some vegetables is reduced or eliminated, but substances such as carotenoids, phytocompounds found in pumpkin or carrots, and minerals, which partly transmigrate into the cooking liquid, are not lost. dish (not to be drained, obviously).
Below zero
Frozen minestrone is practical, as long as there are no additives, thickeners, salt or fats among the ingredients. The wording vegetable broth is suspect if the ingredients used are not specified. There are products on the market that advertise the presence of 15 vegetables but potatoes, beans and peas are part of the bouquet. If so, it’s fine as a main dish (with a small addition of cereals or bread if the amount of potatoes is small).
* The review by Stefania Ruggeri, first researcher at Crea (Food and Nutrition Research Centre).
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January 24, 2024 (modified January 24, 2024 | 08:18)
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