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We usually
associate Spring with lettuce and green onions, which are among
the vegetables, containing many nitrates. It’s known that there
are nitrates even in drinking water and sausages. It is
important to know, what are the values of nitrates in drinking water
in the area you live.
The question
is, whether our body has a mechanism to deal with nitrates.
Unfortunately, the answer is -no. In itself, however, nitrates are not
harmful, however, it is dangerous when nitrates turn
themselves into nitrites. They in turn, combine to hemoglobin in
human organism, and thus, they prevent the transfer of oxygen to tissues
and organs. This may lead to appearance of cancer.
What we can do is
to remove them in a very simple way. The most elementary thing, is
to soak the green salad in a bowl of water in which there are
couples of spoons of vinegar. Mix 5 tablespoons of vinegar with
one liter of water. If you do not have vinegar, you can add baking
soda in the same proportion.
Soak the salad
for at least 20-30 minutes, then throw out the water and rinse. To
be even more sure, that you have no nitrates in the
salad, season it with lemon. It contains large amounts of vitamin C,
which prevents conversion of nitrates into nitrites.
Other
vegetables that can be treated in the same way, are green onions, garlic and
tomatoes. It's nice to know, that tomatoes with thicker peel, contain more
nitrates. Carrots and beets – they accumulate nitrates in root
tips (mustache), so always remove them.
If you notice
that they are curly (mustaches), it is best not buy these vegetables. The
same goes for radishes. Mainly, nitrates are contained in the peels of fruits and vegetables. In potatoes,
however, there are nitrates and in their core, as well. So first peel the potatoes, cut them
into several pieces, boil them, throw out the water and then cook.
When prepare cabbage,
it is necessary to remove the top 4-5 leaves to make sure that you have no problem with
nitrates. Cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant - to get rid of
nitrates, cut off the stalk and soak vegetables in water for 1 hour.
Always choose
cucumbers with deep green color. Darker color indicates more
nitrates. Apples, pears - they contain not only
nitrates, but also dangerous substances for long-term storage of fruits. It
is better to peel them or soak in water, before consumption.
Watermelons – buy them if
they are mellowed very well. If you encounter a watermelon with large
white threads inside, it is better not to consume it. Nitrates
accumulate themselves mainly in the peel and just below it.
