eWellness: Do not heat leafy vegetables twice |

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eWellness: Do not heat leafy vegetables twice

Dr KK Aggarwal, 08 August 2020
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#Multispeciality

Nitrates in foods like spinach, beet root and lettuce stimulate the production of nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide is known to relax the blood vessels. Ingested nitrate is reduced by oral, commensal, bacteria to nitrite, which is further reduced to nitric oxide.

Vegetables are a major source of dietary nitrate. Green leafy and root vegetables, such as spinach and carrots, provide more than 85% of dietary nitrate. Foods that contain nitrite are bacon, fermented sausage, hot dogs, bologna, salami, corned beef, ham and other products such as smoked or cured meat, fish and poultry. The conversion of dietary nitrate to nitrite is associated with antimicrobial benefits in the mouth and stomach. Some epidemiological studies have shown a reduced rate of gastric and intestinal cancer in those with a high vegetable-based nitrate intake.

Nitrate is totally harmless; however, it can be converted to nitrite and some portion of nitrite to nitrosamines, some of which are known to be carcinogenic. Heating tends to increase the conversion rate. The longer the heat treatment, the more nitrosamines will be formed. Hence, the recommendation not to heat leafy vegetables twice.

Adding lemon juice to vegetables will reduce the formation of nitrosamines. It contains vitamin C, which also reacts with nitrite, thereby preventing the nitrosamine formation.