Cooking your own food is always the easiest way to eat healthy. However what most people don’t know is that most foods aren’t meant to be cooked at the high temperatures we normally use.

From ovens to frying pans to barbecues, we cook all kinds of foods at such high temperatures that we are, likely without knowing it, cooking food that could be much healthier if prepared at a lower temperature.  For foods like meat, some studies show cooking at high temperatures can sometimes create Maillard reaction products (MRPs) that could lead to a variety of health related complications such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20335546 

Grilling meat, popular this time of the year, at high temperatures until very well-done creates carcinogens (cancer-causing compounds).  The more well-done the meat, the higher the levels of carcinogens, called heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than less well-done meat.   These compounds are formed when the protein and/or fat in the meat gets very hot.  That black char-grilled exterior so many love on their hot-dogs, steak and burgers can actually increase your colon cancer risk.

Vegetables also lose a significant amount of nutrients when cooked at high temperatures.  In general, most of the temperatures we use to cook things in the oven exist within a range where substantial nutrient loss occurs.  Even boiling a vegetable for a significant amount of time can result in nutrient loss, a carrot for example loses up to 80% of its folic acid when boiled.

Ultimately, prolonged high-heat cooking is not an ideal method of food preparation.  For more nutritious and delicious food, it’s important to have a good range cooker that will facilitate the slow, steady and healthy low temperature cooking that will result in significantly more nutritious food.  Your health is incredibly important and learning how to get the most out of your meals will ensure that you and your family are getting all the best things from all the food you eat.