Best of all: how to choose fruits and vegetables

Everyone already knows that vegetables and fruits are very beneficial for our health. Now on the shelves of stores and markets there is a huge selection of these products. But such an abundance does not mean that all of them, without exception, will benefit our body. How to choose the right fruits and vegetables - we'll talk in this article.

How to choose fruits and vegetables

About half of all vegetables and fruits sold in stores are harmful to us. They are treated with different chemistry not only during cultivation, but also during storage and transportation. How to find among them those that are really useful.

It is extremely difficult to find harmless products now. Use our tips to make it easier for yourself:

• Buy fruits or vegetables depending on the season. Of course, you want to pamper yourself with fresh cucumbers or tomatoes in winter. But you know that in winter they do not grow in our latitudes. So they were grown in greenhouses using fertilizers and chemicals. Or they were brought from abroad, and so that the products did not lose their presentation, they were also treated with something harmful.
• Prefer locally produced vegetables and fruits. These usually do not need to be processed before selling.
• Don't go after cheap fruits and vegetables. Usually, the price is reduced due to the fact that the product has some kind of defect - mechanical damage, the development of a fungus, or simply the product has already begun to deteriorate. Low price - the ability to quickly get rid of unnecessary goods.
• When buying apples, pay attention to the peel. If it is slippery and sticky, then the apple is treated with paraffin. It is impossible to wash it off with just water or even detergent. Choose fruits that don't look too attractive. So it is more likely to buy apples without any chemicals.
• When buying cucumbers, run your hand over them. If the thorns are soft and easy to remove, then the vegetable is grown according to all the rules. If the thorns are tough and the skin is rough, then the cucumbers were treated with nitrates.
• For a tomato, pay attention to the condition of the skin. If it is thick, and white streaks are visible on the cut, then there is a lot of chemistry in the tomatoes. You can throw a tomato into the wall. The less nitrates in a tomato, the more impact damage will be.
• Choose cabbage by its appearance. Good cabbage should not have dark spots - these are traces of a fungus that infects vegetables stuffed with nitrate. The top leaves should be bright green and shiny.
• Choose carrots by color. A good root vegetable has an orange color without blotches of a different color.
• When buying potatoes, press down on them with your fingernail. If the tuber is crunchy, then the potatoes are good. Choose medium-sized fruits with fewer nitrates. Don't buy potatoes with green spots. This indicates improper storage. In such tubers, a toxic substance accumulates.

The harm of nitrates

The presence of nitrates in vegetables suggests that this particular product contains nitric acid salts. Vegetables get them from the soil and accumulate them for further development. But the problem is that they take these substances in larger quantities than they really need. The excess remains unprocessed and enters the human body.

Some of these substances leave without problems, and the other part is processed into harmful chemical compounds - nitrites. Because of them, a person begins to feel unwell. He is weakening immune defense, the metabolism slows down, the state of the nervous system worsens, digestion problems begin, the heart and lungs suffer.

How to wash fruits and vegetables

Without exception, all vegetables and fruits must be washed in cold water. Some, like citrus fruits, can even be boiled or washed with soap and a brush. After washing the vegetables, it is better to immediately process or eat them. They are not stored for a long time.

Soak vegetables and fruits for an hour in cold water before washing. So you can remove some of the harmful substances that have accumulated in the fruits. Divide the grapes into bunches and wash shower, and then dry in a colander. Be sure to soak all root vegetables before washing. Then rinse the vegetables with warm and then cold water with a brush.

Peel the head vegetables from the top leaves before washing. Divide the cauliflower into florets. Wash such vegetables only cool. water... Peel the onion before washing. Remove the top husk and cut off the bottom. Then wash the vegetable with cool water.

First sort out the greens, throw out the spoiled parts, throw out the roots and withered leaves. Then place the herbs in a bowl of water and rinse. Change the water from time to time until it is clean. Then rinse the herbs with running water and lay them on a napkin to dry.