Benefits Of Grilled Food

How do you like your food to be cooked - fried, sautéed, baked, roasted, boiled, steamed or grilled? We really have a lot of options when it comes to cooking food. Each method has its own specialty and the taste of food varies greatly depending on the method. Now-a-days a lot of emphasis is being laid of healthy methods of cooking. But not everyone finds every 'healthy' method to be tasty. However, there is one method that is more or less liked by all - grilled. Health benefits of grilled food have been cited by many nutritionists across the globe. Be is meat or vegetables the method of grilling brings about a marvelous change in the taste of food which is relished by all. Come summertime and grills too come out. Instead of cooking in the hot interiors of the kitchen grilling in the open is preferred. It also serves as a nice excuse to get together and spend some relaxed and happy times with friends and family. So what are these health benefits of grilling food? Counting the benefits they may be only a handful but these are enough to prompt you to adopt the method. 

TRY OUT GRILLED SALMON: INDIAN STYLE RECIPE 

1. Reduced fat: Excess fat is termed as an unhealthy addition to food. It leads to various illnesses, cardiovascular diseases being a rather serious one. With grilling of food the excess of fat on the food drips off leaving the cooked food fat-light to a considerable extent. 

2. Nutrition retention: Be it vegetables or meat, grilling helps retain vital vitamins and minerals. On the vegetable front the food is cooked just so much as to ensure it is no more raw. The crunch is retained and its nutrition. In case of meats grilling helps retain riboflavin and thiamine which again are vital for a healthy body. 

3. Low sodium: Cutting back on sodium is regularly advised by doctors as a high sodium diet can lead to high blood pressure. Once a person starts suffering from high blood pressures there is no looking back. While grilling lesser quantity of salt is required as compared to other methods, but this again depends upon how consciously you make an effort. No doubt grilling is one of the very safe and health friendly methods of cooking for all. It benefits all generations alike and is relished too. But we need to extend a word of caution here. The benefits of grilling can be derived by fulfilling certain conditions. If not taken care of it can lead to serious repercussions. 

1. Marinate: It has been found that marinating meat helps reduce carcinogens. The type of marinate you apply to your food will also affect its nutrition quality. Go for a low fat one with less of sodium. It would be best if you do away with the salt and marinate only with lemon and lightly spice it.

2. Pre-cook: Long duration of cooking on a grill can rob the food off is valuable vitamins and minerals. In order to shorten the grill exposure time it would be wise to pre-cook the food a little. You can do this in the microwave or a steamer. Doing so will help combat food charring on an open grill. 

3. Clean the grill: Make sure to clean the grill after every use to derive the health benefits of grilled food. There should be no residue from the previous cooking. Food residue, if left behind, burns on the next use making grounds for the build-up of carcinogens. 

4. Avoid flare-ups: When meat is cooked on a grill the fat drips off into the fire and leads to flare up. Avoid these conditions by trimming off fat from the meat. This dripping and flaring up fat is once again a breeding ground for carcinogen. 

5. Limit meat: Carcinogen formation is mostly associated with meat products. If possible, try to limit the intake of grilled meat. Vegetables on the grill will be a smarter choice. Positives and negatives are associated with everything. The same goes for health benefits of grilling food. The general perception is that the less the oil the healthier the food. But, sadly, it is not so. Fat too is necessary but in limited quantity. Grilling does involve minimum use of oil but various other factors need to be kept in mind to derive the much talked about benefits.