Despite our differences, delicious food is something we all are madly in love with and can’t resist. For centuries, mankind has cherished slow-cooked meals. However, today in our modern world, we often wonder to ourselves, is eating slow-cooked meals healthy? For most of us, our grandparents, especially grandmothers, cooked amazing food. Interestingly, they mostly cooked that yummy food in a crockpot using the slow cooking method.
Thank us later for reminding you what you’ve been missing for so long. Slow-cooked meals taste different and, I can bet you still remember how slow-cooked meals made by your grandmother tasted. The fast-food that most of us love today comes nowhere close to that ultimate taste and deliciousness, right? Today, many health experts vouch for fresh, fast-cooked meals at higher temperatures.
However, such meals aren’t as good as you may think because heat tends to kill many nutrients present in the food. So, what’s the best option for you then? Should you eat food cooked at a higher temperature? Or should you eat slow-cooked food for better health? Well, we’ll find answers to all your questions in this article. Towards the end of this article, you’ll be able to decide what type of cooking method is best for you.
Keep reading to know more about slow-cooked meals and if they’re healthy?
Top Seven Reasons Why Slow Cooked Meals Are Healthy?
If mankind simmered its food for countless centuries, there must be a good reason behind that, right? Well, there are several reasons why the entire mankind simmered its food for centuries. Let’s take a look at the seven most popular ones.
#1 Slow Cooked Meals Protect The Nutritional Value Of The Food
If studies are believed, cooking food at high temperatures destroys some of its essential nutrients, thus lowering its nutritional value. So, slow-cooked meals being cooked for a longer duration doesn’t harm its nutrition. Heating food for long hours at a lower temperature makes it easier to digest. The reason being, slow heat breaks nutrients in their simplest form and ensures you can digest the food effortlessly.
Since slow-cooked food doesn’t lose its nutrition and becomes easier to digest, it can be rewarding for your health. If we look at other cooking methods like boiling or steaming, they take less time and higher temperature. Moreover, these faster cooking methods don’t preserve the food’s vitamins and minerals like the slow cooking method.
#2 Slow Cooked Meals Promote Healthier Hair, Nails, and Glowing Skin
Some foods like meat, broccoli, mushrooms, etc., are rich sources of amino acid known as proline. Cooking meat, especially using the slow cooking method, makes it release proline. As per experts, proline helps our body maintain healthier hair, nails, and skin. Moreover, proline may also help in the treatment of broken joints or pain. So, if you’re someone who desires healthier skin, hair, and stronger joints, you may give slow-cooked meals a try.
#3 Slow Cooked Meals Aid In DNA Synthesis
Slow-cooked meals are rich in various nutrients, and they’re considered healthy for the human body. If you cook meat or veggies using this method, they may release glutathione, an essential antioxidant for the human body. Moreover, slowly cooking meat adds glycine to it and helps in DNA synthesis. On top of this, the low heat for extended hours ensures the meat can be easily digested.
#4 Slow Cooked Meat May Help Your Ligaments and Joints
Since slow-cooked meals do not lose their nutritional value, meat cooked this way is no less than a blessing for your joints. When meat is prepared at low flames for as long as 3-4 or 5-6 hours, it tends to release gelatin and collagen. When the meat releases gelatin and collagen, it becomes even healthier. As per health experts, gelatin and collagen help tendons and ligaments stay healthy.
#5 Slow Cooked Meals May Also Aid In Healing Your Gut
Slow-cooked meals, especially meat, release various amino acids while being cooked. The most common amino acid released by meat is known as Glutamine, and it helps keep the gut healthy. If the gut isn’t healthy, one may face plenty of health problems as a healthy gut keeps harmful bacterias away.
#6 Slow Cooked Meals Are More Delicious
As you know, slow-cooked meals are rich in nutrients, and they taste different from food cooked using other methods. Slow-cooked meals are even more aromatic and delicious because they don’t lose their flavor, taste, and essential nutrients.
#7 Slow Cooked Meals Are Pocket Friendly
Another benefit of slow-cooked meals is that when you make food this way, you often make it for the entire family. This means that your family members won’t spend extra money on fast food on a day of slow cooking. The reason being, they wouldn’t want to miss tasty delicacies being cooked at home. Moreover, the slow cookers used to cook food are energy efficient, using much less electricity.
Other Benefits of Slow Cooked Meals
#1 Slow Cooking is Easy and Quite Simple
Even if you’re a novice at cooking food, trust us, the slow cooking method will help you cook like a pro. The slow cooking method is as easy as opening a bottle’s can. And, no, we aren’t even kidding. To cook a meal using this method, all you need to know is the recipe and use a cooker.
Rest, you need to put all the ingredients in your cooker, and it’ll do the job for you. It may even look like you put your meal on autopilot or something, and you’ll get tasty food within a few hours.
#2 Slow Cooking In Summers Is Something You Must Try
Slow cooking offers a plethora of health benefits, and for some reason, most of us think it is done only in winters. Well, we have been doomed! The truth is, slow cooking in summers is equally great and fun. Moreover, it won’t even make your kitchen heat like an oven or cooktop.
Final Words
Slow-Cooked meals take more than usual time to be prepared, but their nutritional value is way better than fast-cooked meals. So, if you have been wondering, is eating slow-cooked meals healthy, the answer is yes. Moreover, slow-cooked meals are easier to digest, and they’re also good for your gut.