Vitamin Supplements

There is still one more ‘do not’ and that is do not put bicarbonate of soda in the cooking water. Its popularity lies in the fact that it can be used to retain the bright green colour in vegetables such as peas, cabbage, beans and broccoli, but this is at the expense of the vitamins. Bicarbonate of soda alters the pH of the water, changing it from acid to alkaline. (pH is a term used to describe the acidity of a solution; the lower the pH number the stronger the acid. This is due to the mathematics of the term and is not as illogical as it seems!) Generally speaking food survives better in acid solution than alkaline. Plant and animal fluids and tissues tend to be acid or weakly alkali and a strong alkaline solution is an unnatural environment for vitamins. Read the rest of this entry »

We are now left with one final group of commodities; the vegetables and fruit group. These are our main source of vitamin C. They also provide approximately half of the vitamin A we need and a very useful amount of the B complex and vitamins E and K. We have more control over the conservation of these vitamins than in most of the other groups of foods we have looked at. Our first responsibility lies in the way we buy our fruit and vegetables. Continental housewives select their own goods from the display at the greengrocers whereas we take what is given to us. Read the rest of this entry »