How Food Cooked in Cooker Affects Health


Food cooked in pressure cooker is one of India’s most popular cooking techniques, very little is debated about whether or not pressure cooking is safe. It has become a way of life and we have concluded that this is the natural way to cook our meat, rice and potatoes. But there are opposing opinions on the health effects of food cooked under pressure. Pressure cooking is a cooking method which uses pressured steam to prepare the food in a pressure cooker (a special airtight cooking pot). When heated, the cooking pot retains the vapor that arises from the liquid (water) and then increases the inside pressure that greatly accelerate the cooking process. You actually convert heat from the heat source to the food by steam in this method of cooking.

While nothing has been reported so far, it is still questionable whether pressure cooking is safe. For others, since it heats the nutrients in the food at a very high temperature, it is harmful. Although it is safer for some, it exposes food to heat for a shorter period of time and thus retains the nutrients preserved. Steaming is considered one of the healthiest cooking methods as equivalent to boiling. It helps vegetables preserve the nutrients they carry, according to scientists, while other methods of cooking kill them due to exposure to excessive heat.

Pressure cookers behave differently with each food object. When it comes to rice, similar to steamed rice, cooked rice makes it heavier. Although it makes pressure fried ones healthier in the case of tomato. The cooked pork/mutton is easier to absorb than the one cooked in an uncovered wok in the case of meat.

The unfortunate thing is that these form acrylamide when starchy foods are cooked under pressure, a toxic chemical that can contribute to health problems such as cancer, infertility, and neurological disorders when eaten on a daily basis. Pressure cooking decreases the lectin content of foods, according to a research issued by the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Lectin is a harmful chemical, which, by disrupting the absorption of minerals, restricts the nutritional value of food. We all know that in a pressure cooker, cooking meals decreases the cooking time. The available in the market also claims that it preserves the nutrient of the food intact. When food is exposed to heat for a shorter period of time the food is much healthier.

The fact of the matter is that it’s a good exchange for you if you enjoy the taste of food cooked in a pressure cooker and you don’t have enough time to go for any other complicated cooking process. If not, you can choose for several more techniques. As every other cooking process, pressure cooking has its own advantages and disadvantages, too. It is always good to continue to innovate with food and cooking methods so that the body is always prepared to accept the changes.