Healthy Cooking

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Most or all of us have seen our grand mothers or great grand mothers cooking on fire in a earthen pot. Technology has improved over the generations, cooking, eating habits have all changed. For the best or worse? Time has to decide and the time is deciding with the increase of ill health and diseases and so it is proven that the old customs are better way of living a healthy life.
Clay Pot cooking is good because it does not leech metals into food. Cooking with a clay pot is great because it helps to hold your foods nutrition (minerals) within the pot.

If you’re cooking in metal or ceramic pots and pans chances are the pots ingredients (metals like chromium, nickel, titanium, aluminium and/or chemicals & oxides from ceramics like lead, cadmium, chromium) are leaching into your food. Also, the harsh form of heat destroys the core nutritional value of the food and water-soluble nutrients are lost with the steam constantly leaving the pot.The metal reacts to food during the cooking process (under heat) and leach metallic ions into the food. These metal ions accumulate in the body over time and disrupt the basic metabolic functioning which in turn is one of the causes for various diseases.
Food cooked in clay pots is synonymous with food cooked perfectly. Clay vessels have the unique quality of locking in all the steam and vapour that evaporates during cooking to retain all the nutrients of the food. The added advantage is that when this locking in of steam and vapour happens, the food gets cooked in its own oils and liquids, this reduces the need to add more oil and/or water.

Benefits of Clay Pots

  • It is 100% Natural, Inert & Non-Toxic.
  • Unique, Food-Friendly Heat cooks food without damaging the nutrients.
  • Locks Steam — Retains all the water Soluble Nutrients.
  • Clay is a Great Retainer of Heat.

Commonly Used Cookware and Their Effects

One chemical ingredient most common to non-stick cookware is perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA). This is a synthetic chemical that creates a soap-like slipperiness and the non-stick finish. When heated, the PFOA quickly reaches temperatures high enough to release toxic flames into the air and food and has been known to produce serious changes in organs like the brain, prostrate, liver, thymus kidney showing toxicity. It is also seen to cause changes in the pituitary glands, which is the organ that controls growth, reproduction and many metabolic functions, as observed in lab tests and animal studies.
Aluminium is a reactive soft metal. It easily reacts with the different food and releases the metal into the food. In fact, there is today enough evidence to prove that there is a strong connection between Aluminium and Alzheimer’s disease.
Iron occurs in its ferric and ferrous form. Cast iron cookware contains iron in its ferric form and that cannot be assimilated or digested by our bodies. It has no value to our bodies in the cellular level. In fact, it is very harmful to people who are allergic to heavy metals, and can lead to auto immune problems. This ferric form of iron when combined with the oxygen in the body, can release oxygen-free radicals, which are unstable molecules. And studies now show that the damage caused by these unstable molecules known as free radicals may be the cause for many forms of cancer (National Cancer Institute).
Stainless steel is made up of a combination of various metals like iron, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, carbon etc. But it is no consolation that these metals are in smaller quantities because even small amounts of these metals can prove extremely toxic. For instance, a very small amount of concentration of nickel can cause kidney dysfunction, low blood pressure, muscle tremors, oral cancer, skin problems etc. And this is just from one of the metals.
Pure glass which is made from natural sand is also 100% inert but it cannot be used for cooking (pure-glass shatters when heated). In order for glass to be used for cooking it has to be shock resistant and Lead is used to gives these wares shock resistance and uniformity in colour.

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