GOQii

Blog

  • HOME
  • HEALTHY LIVING
  • FITNESS
  • HEALTHY RECIPES
  • USER STORIES
  • KARMA
  • BUY GOQii

March 1, 2024 By Neha Goyal 2 Comments

All About Cooking In Clay Pots

clay pots

As we are becoming more and more health conscious, trying to eat healthier meals, we cannot overlook the cookware used to prepare those meals. The vessels we choose have a great impact on the taste, quality and nutritional value of food. While Researching about which cookware is the best for our health, I always noticed that clay pots are on top of the list but I was never sure if I can really cook my regular food in them. A few weeks back, after a lot of research on how we can use them for regular cooking, I gave it a try and bought one home. Now I can confidently say that everyone should give them a try. In fact, I am planning to buy some more as I find more space in my kitchen to keep them safely. Before you get convinced by my experience, let’s understand why you should be switching to clay pots.

Benefits Of Using Clay Pots 

  • They infuse your food with calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sulphur and many other minerals depending on the composition of clay used in making these pots.
  • Help in restoring pH balance of food as clay is alkaline in nature.
  • Lends a nice earthy aroma and enhances the flavor of your food which metal pans usually destroy. 
  • Preparing food in clay pots requires slow cooking which helps retain maximum nutrition.
  • Less oil is required while cooking in clay pots as the porous nature of clay pots allows heat and moisture to circulate evenly.
  • Prevents us from harmful chemicals and metals that leach into our food while cooking in metals like aluminium and non-stick cookware. 
  • They are pocket friendly and available in different sizes and shapes.
  • Environmentally friendly and completely biodegradable.

How To Choose Them 

Clay pots are available in glazed and unglazed form. Both have their own set of advantages. 

Glazed ones are ready to use, have a shiny appearance and are easy to clean. These encourage good steam circulation due to low ability to absorb water. But sometimes, their glaze could be of low quality that may contain harmful chemicals. On the other hand, unglazed pots need a little bit more care being more porous, but have better ability to balance the pH of food.

How To Use Clay Cookware 

  1. Clay cookware needs to be prepared prior to first use by immersing them in water for 24 hours or at least overnight.
  2. Next day, scrub and rinse it and let it dry. Then you need to soak it in starch water/rice, cooked water/rice soaked water for one more day.
  3. Wash it again and dry it under the sun. After drying, wipe it with any vegetable oil and dry it under the sun till the oil is absorbed by the pot. 
  4. Your clay pots are ready to use now.
  5. Though this preparation process seems long but ensures a long life to your clay pots.

How To Maintain Clay Pots 

Some points are needed to be kept in mind while using clay pots in your daily routine.

  • Never keep hot clay pots on a cold surface or put cold water in a hot pot. This temperature shock may cause cracks.
  • You may not want to clean them with soap as it will enter into small pores of the pots which can mix into food while cooking. Use ash, baking soda and salt, rice flour or gram flour to clean these pots.
  • These pots work well on a regular gas stove, but never heat empty pot on very high flame. During cooking, it is advisable to keep the flame medium to low.

If you haven’t got a hold of clay pots yet, I suggest getting one and experiencing the goodness and flavor in food that usual cookwares lack. I hope this article helps you if you plan on using one. Do leave your thoughts and queries in the comments below! 

For more useful information, check out Healthy Reads or reach out to our certified experts by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

 

#BeTheForce 

February 28, 2024 By CHARMI GOGRI 2 Comments

10 Cooking habits that you need to RECONSIDER!

Ever wondered why people are still at risk for chronic illness despite following a healthy lifestyle? Why does immunity fail to protect the body when the weather changes? Why with growing awareness about fitness, people still fall sick?

There is a number of articles and literature online that broadcast the importance of active life, a nutritious, mostly plant-based diet, daily exercises, weight management, disease prevention, smoking cessation, moderation in alcohol intake etc. Despite the abundance of knowledge about how to live a “healthy” lifestyle, choose “best food” and follow an “active” exercise regime, there haven’t been such significant improvements in the health of the general public. There is something missing which needs to be corrected so as to multiply the goodness of active life and healthy food.

Let me support this with a phrase, “Muscles are built in a gym, but nourished in Kitchens”

Yes! The kitchen is the place where our food first enters before it enters our body. There are some kitchen habits which might be silently killing us. When I chose to highlight this topic, I did not have to look much farther than my own circle to compile a list of common, but avoidable kitchen habits:

  • Dipping tea bags in hot water: Some of the tea bags are made with a variety of plastics. These plastics are generally considered among the safest in terms of leaching potential, but the molecules in these plastic tea bags may still break down and leach out when steeped in boiling water. Tea bags made up of paper may be just as bad, or worse, than the plastic ones because many of them are treated with epichlorohydrin. When this epichlorohydrin comes in contact with water, it hydrolyzes to a compound which has been shown to cause cancer and suppress immune function in animals. Knowing these hazards, your best option would be to opt for loose organic tea.
  • Reusing Cooking oil: Indian cooking is said to be indispensable without cooking oil. Consumption of oil in the right proportion and in the correct manner often doesn’t cause any health issues. Though many people follow this practice regularly, Very few people are aware of the dangerous effects of recycled cooking oil i.e. reheating the used oil. Reusing the oil alters the chemical composition of oil leads to the formation of highly charged free radicals or uncharged molecules with unpaired electrons which can often be These free radicals attach themselves to healthy cells resulting in an increase of bad cholesterol levels and block arteries as well.

Storing the used oil for a longer period of time encourages bacterial growth due to the presence of leftover food particles present in the oil, can lead to fatal food poisoning. Best possible solution to avoid hazards of reusing oil would be using less amount of oil for frying or choosing shallow/stir frying over deep frying to avoid wastage of oil.

  • Overheating cooking oil: Oils can withstand varying levels of heat, for some type of oils the threshold for heat tolerance is lower and for some, it’s higher. Normally, a heated cooking oil is considered unsafe when it reaches its smoking point i,e, the temperature at which it begins to chemically break down and smoke continuously. At this point, the fat molecules break down into glycerol and free fatty acids, and the glycerol breaks down further to produce toxic fumes and free radicals.This also leads to loss of the antioxidants present in the oil. So it’s wise to pick up oil with better smoke value if you intend to use for cooking and not dressing.
  • Using non-stick pans on high temperature: Almost everyone owns a non-stick Teflon-coated pan. It may be more convenient and easier to clean but, cooking in it on high temperatures can cause the “Teflon flu.” This illness is characterized by flu-like symptoms such as headaches, chills, backaches, and a temperature ranging between 100°F and 104°F. High temperatures cause the non-stick lining to release PFCs (Perfluorocarbons) in the form of fumes. PFCs can cause liver damage and also developmental problems. Also, the chemicals used to make this non-stick substance include ammonium perfluorooctanoate which has been linked to cancer, organ damage and other negative health effects (animal studies).
  • Using metal ladles on non-stick vessels: Using metal utensils to stir on a nonstick pan is not a good idea. You can unknowingly/unintentionally scratch the surface of the pan, which could lead you to ingest the PFCs in the nonstick lining. Use wooden or heat-safe rubber utensils when using a non-stick pan to avoid any scraping.
  • Using regular utensils in the microwave: Radiation from microwaves has not been proven to be particularly dangerous in itself, providing that the appliance is in good working order. Rather, the danger lies in the types of containers we microwave our food in. Certain compounds used to make rigid plastic more pliable may act as endocrine disrupters. They may mimic or compete with human hormones, which could affect fertility or cancer risk. It is best to avoid microwaving plastic containers that aren’t specifically designed for microwave use.
  • Poor ventilation: Without appropriate ventilation, indoor air quality can suffer and cause serious health problems. The pollutants which degrade air quality comes from cooking burners especially gas burners and have an effect on the respiratory and cardiovascular system as they can enter the bloodstream and reduce oxygen delivery to the body’s organs and tissues. Fine particles are produced essentially by volatilizing dust by both gas and electric burners during cooking. They are potentially very harmful because they can enter the lungs, bloodstream or other tissues. Decreasing this indoor pollution is to make sure pollutants vents to the outdoors else they will simply recirculate in the kitchen. If having a hood/ exhaust fan is not possible, opening a window while cooking does help.
  • Keeping water pans open: It’s not new that epidemic of waterborne disease is so widespread and easy to acquire. People who don’t own water purifier often have the sense to boil water before consumption. One cannot fill the drinking pots with hot water so people usually keep hot water pans (often uncovered) at room temperature. While water is getting cooled and getting ready to be transferred in pots, it gets attracted by dust and particles present in the air. The chances of water contamination increase if air microflora is high. The safe way to deal with this is to invest in water purifier or perhaps cover the pans with lid and strain water with muslin cloth before transferring to pots.
  • Cleaning vegetables and fruits: Every homemaker knows the importance of washing fruits and vegetables once before consuming. Having said that most of homemakers/chef clean them superficially i.e cleaning under running water for 1-2 mins and keep it open to air dry. Does this really wash off the chemicals and pesticides? Well, No! It doesn’t. There are numerous options to clean them correctly. Soaking them in 10 % White vinegar + 90 % water solution for 15-20 mins; Soaking them in 2% salt solution or washing them in cold water helps to wash off most of the pesticides, chemicals as well as dirt present on the surface. It is worthwhile to invest some time in washing and cleaning your food, as you don’t want to end up consuming a portion of toxins with your meals!
  • Using Aluminium foil to pack hot food: High levels of Aluminium has been found in the food cooked, reheated and cooled in aluminium foil. This is alarming knowing the fact that high levels of Aluminum which accumulates in the body causes hypercalcemia (More calcium in the blood), weakens bone mineral density and hence causes Osteoporosis later in life. However, use of Aluminum foil has been found safe to wrap cold food as aluminium doesn’t leach out. As an alternative to cook/store hot food, Parchment paper/wax paper can be used respectively.

While concluding this eye-opener topic, I would like to make it a point that despite the risks associated with many cooking methods, you don’t have to start eating all your food raw. Simply take small steps to avoid these cooking dangers.

Many little changes can go a long way in terms of improving your health and preventing illness.Many of the above-mentioned habits don’t pose an immediate danger to your health, but long-term use and a combination (with other lifestyle factors) might lead to problems later on in life.

So the take-home message is “Don’t overreact, just be mindful of the habits, Now is the time to understand and adapt ourselves to healthy cooking habits along with making healthy meal choices”

#BeTheForce

July 23, 2023 By Navnee Garg 1 Comment

Does Food Cooked In Different Utensils Impact Your Health?

Different UtensilsIf cooking is an art, then the utensils are the canvas. With different cuisines in our country, even the variety of utensils are different – each has its own use. This makes it essential to know how the metals react to different foods. While we’re busy choosing fancy non-stick cookware or microwave friendly utensils, we need to understand that they aren’t safe as they can harm your health in the long run. Back in the day, clay pots, iron, brass and bronze utensils were used for cooking as they not only preserved the nutrients in food but also enhanced the taste.

How Do Different Utensils Impact Your Health? 

  • Stainless Steel: It is the most commonly used iron alloy made up of chromium, nickel, carbon and silicon and has aluminum or copper coating at the bottom for heating purposes. Stainless steel is considered the safest metal to use for cooking as it does not react with food or flake or leach harmful chemicals into the food leading to no adverse effects on the immune system.
  • Aluminum: Our baking utensils are mostly made up of aluminum as the metal is ideal for high temperatures. It also has a larger than life use in our Indian Kitchen, in the form of utensils or a foil wrap.  Food cooked in aluminum utensils tends to absorb aluminum because aluminum dissolves into food and water during the cooking process. Cooking alkaline foods in aluminum is completely safe for our immune system as the amount of aluminum soaked is very less. It is always better to avoid cooking acidic food like tomatoes or sauerkraut in aluminum as it can react quite badly with the metal and may release harmful compounds in your meal, making it dangerous to consume.
  • Cast Iron: A very popular metal for our kitchens. All our kadhai, tavas and skillets are made of Cast Iron. Cooking in iron is an excellent way to add some iron in our diet as it leaches iron into our food. Iron is not only a metal but also an essential mineral required by the body. Imagine cooking an iron rich food in an iron pan, this would help you add value to the daily required Iron for your body.  For example , premenopausal women require 18mg of iron per day and A serving of scrambled eggs cooked in a cast iron skillet increased from 1.49 mg to 4.76 mg of iron. And along with it, we can prepare tomato sauce in an iron pan that can provide 5mg off iron which is 60% of RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance). In fact, cooking regularly in iron utensils can help you hit the struggle to achieve daily iron RDA.
  • Non-Stick: Mostly called as Teflon coating, this is an easy cookware to use and clean.  But unfortunately, as a Nutritionist, I do not recommend excessive use of these utensils as the chemicals used to manufacture the non-stick coating can harm human health by causing abnormal thyroid hormone levels, liver inflammation, cancer, elevated cholesterol and reduced immune system response. We can use non-stick for a few recipes like pancakes, cheela or dosa which is not a daily staple meal. But, I would not recommend making parathas or subji on a daily basis.
  • Glassware: Considered another Neutral cookware and a good heat conductor to consider for baking your dishes. Although a few unhealthy components such as lead and cadmium leach out in food while cooking but the amount is minimal to harm human health.
  • Ceramic: It is considered to be the safest when it comes to healthy cooking. An environment friendly cookware made using all-natural clay, water and gas. This can be a great replacement for dishes we cook in Teflon non-stick pans and pots as it does not affect the immune system adversely.
  • Copper: An excellent metal to promote health from your kitchen. Copper utensils with tin or nickel coatings can be used for cooking rice due to its antibacterial properties or storing drinking water due to its medicinal properties, the ability to improve the digestive system, slow down ageing and heal wounds faster. Copper can also detoxify the body and increase Hemoglobin. But you need to take care while cooking in copper as acidic foods react with copper and can hinder the taste. 

Every metal has its own pros and cons. The ideal way to cook is to choose the perfect cookware as per the recipe. Try some more ancient methods of cooking in iron, clay/earthen pots as they are not only safe but loaded with various health benefits like retaining/adding nutritive value to the food and helping the immune system. 

If this article helped you, let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this article with your friends and family. You can find more articles on living healthy here or you can get this kind of information directly from a GOQii Coach by subscribing to Personalised Health Coaching here. 

#BeTheForce 

Search

Recent Posts

  • 5 Fat Loss Mistakes You Might Be Making
  • 11 Fat Burning Foods You Should Try For Weight Loss!
  • Portion Control: The Right Method To Lose Weight
  • Digestion: The Secret to Losing Weight
  • Exercise and dieting helps you lose belly fat

Stay Updated

Archives

  • June 2025 (8)
  • May 2025 (13)
  • April 2025 (21)
  • March 2025 (26)
  • February 2025 (23)
  • January 2025 (26)
  • December 2024 (27)
  • November 2024 (26)
  • October 2024 (27)
  • September 2024 (25)
  • August 2024 (31)
  • July 2024 (22)
  • June 2024 (27)
  • May 2024 (31)
  • April 2024 (27)
  • March 2024 (29)
  • February 2024 (26)
  • January 2024 (27)
  • December 2023 (18)
  • November 2023 (19)
  • October 2023 (25)
  • September 2023 (25)
  • August 2023 (23)
  • July 2023 (24)
  • June 2023 (25)
  • May 2023 (27)
  • April 2023 (25)
  • March 2023 (25)
  • February 2023 (21)
  • January 2023 (17)
  • December 2022 (12)
  • November 2022 (16)
  • October 2022 (17)
  • September 2022 (14)
  • August 2022 (13)
  • July 2022 (19)
  • June 2022 (11)
  • May 2022 (10)
  • April 2022 (6)
  • March 2022 (6)
  • February 2022 (13)
  • January 2022 (13)
  • December 2021 (7)
  • November 2021 (3)
  • October 2021 (6)
  • September 2021 (3)
  • August 2021 (8)
  • July 2021 (7)
  • June 2021 (15)
  • May 2021 (16)
  • April 2021 (10)
  • March 2021 (7)
  • February 2021 (4)
  • January 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (3)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • October 2020 (10)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • August 2020 (3)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (4)
  • May 2020 (10)
  • April 2020 (12)
  • March 2020 (10)
  • February 2020 (4)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • November 2019 (7)
  • October 2019 (5)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (9)
  • July 2019 (9)
  • June 2019 (11)
  • May 2019 (4)
  • April 2019 (9)
  • March 2019 (8)
  • February 2019 (9)
  • January 2019 (8)
  • December 2018 (9)
  • November 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (5)
  • August 2018 (10)
  • July 2018 (6)
  • June 2018 (13)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (18)
  • March 2018 (9)
  • February 2018 (8)
  • January 2018 (15)
  • December 2017 (12)
  • November 2017 (19)
  • October 2017 (13)
  • September 2017 (15)
  • August 2017 (4)
  • July 2017 (8)
  • June 2017 (7)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • April 2017 (8)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (7)
  • January 2017 (10)
  • December 2016 (10)
  • November 2016 (7)
  • October 2016 (7)
  • September 2016 (7)
  • August 2016 (11)
  • July 2016 (9)
  • June 2016 (9)
  • May 2016 (12)
  • April 2016 (17)
  • March 2016 (17)
  • February 2016 (8)
  • January 2016 (6)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (9)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (9)
  • August 2015 (11)
  • July 2015 (9)
  • June 2015 (12)
  • May 2015 (9)
  • April 2015 (13)
  • March 2015 (8)
  • February 2015 (5)
  • January 2015 (12)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (11)
  • October 2014 (6)
  • September 2014 (13)
  • August 2014 (12)
  • July 2014 (6)
  • June 2014 (2)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (5)
Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme … [Read More...]

Mayur Sutar Health Transformation

Mayur Sutar’s Journey to a Healthier Life

At 26, Mayur Sutar was deeply entrenched in the corporate whirlwind. His days were a blur of quick, unsatisfying meals, fitful sleep, and relentless deadlines. This vicious cycle was draining him, fueling a constant state of fatigue and frustration. Health had become a forgotten chapter in the book of his life. In every story, however, […]

Dhiren Matani - Healthy lifestyle

Transforming Health and Life: Dhiren Matani’s Inspirational Journey to Wellness

In the face of persistent health challenges, Dhiren Matani, (43), an entrepreneur from Mumbai, embarked on a journey of resilience and transformation. Battling weight issues and a heart condition for some years, he refused to succumb to the daunting odds. Through sheer determination, he took control of his health at the right time by adopting […]

What’s Your Excuse?

In a world filled with excuses, Shubham’s story stands as a testament to the power of perseverance, passion, and an unwavering commitment to one’s dreams. His journey is a reminder that circumstances may create hurdles, but they can never define the limits of one’s potential. In the bustling suburbs of Mumbai, amidst the challenges of […]

  • HOME
  • HEALTHY LIVING
  • FITNESS
  • HEALTHY RECIPES
  • USER STORIES
  • KARMA
  • BUY GOQii

Copyright ©2016 GOQii