5 principles to remember when choosing safe fruits and vegetables

Vegetables are indispensable foods in daily meals. Their quality will greatly affect health.

According to Dr. Hoang Kim Thanh - National Institute of Nutrition - vegetables and fruits play a particularly important role in daily meals because they provide the body with many minerals, vitamins, pectin and organic acids.

Human needs for vitamin C and carotene are mainly provided by fruits and vegetables. In addition, they also contain water-soluble sugars and cellulose (which can remove cholesterol and toxins from the body).

Vegetables have the ability to increase appetite and stimulate the digestive glands to secrete digestive juices. This effect is especially evident in vegetables containing essential oils such as coriander, onions, and garlic. Many spices also provide plant antibiotics to help the body increase resistance.

Vegetables and fruits must be soaked in clean water for 15-20 minutes, washed many times (at least 3-4 times) under running water to remove most of the residual pesticides. Photo: Leaf.

In addition, vegetables and fruits also contain enzymes that have a positive effect on the digestive process. Cellulose in the form of a bond with pectin forms a pectin-cellulose complex. This complex strongly stimulates intestinal motility and intestinal secretion.

However, Dr. Thanh is concerned that farmers are overusing pesticides to spray on fruits and vegetables for profit. Chemical residues in fruits and vegetables can cause acute or chronic poisoning to consumers.

In particular, many farming areas have used unsanitary water sources for watering and washing vegetables, contaminated with some bacteria, especially cholera, which causes acute diarrhea in people who eat raw vegetables and is the source of many diseases of the colon and intestines.

Therefore, experts give some recommendations so that people can choose and use safe fruits and vegetables:

Principles of choosing fruits and vegetables

- You should not buy off-season vegetables and fruits. At this time, the weather is not favorable, so insects develop a lot, vegetables and fruits are barren, so vegetable growers have to use many types of pesticides and growth stimulants.

- Do not choose bunches of vegetables that are too young, plump, or fruits that are larger and shinier than normal because the growers must use pesticides and growth stimulants for these types of vegetables and fruits.

- Do not buy fruits and vegetables with strange smells or unusual colors.

- Choose fruits and vegetables that are intact, not crushed or have cracks or holes.

- Avoid buying pre-peeled and pre-cut vegetables and fruits, soaked in water because the water source is not hygienic or contains toxic chemicals to keep them white.

How to wash and prepare

- Soak thoroughly, wash each leaf, especially the leaf gaps, peel fresh fruits. For small leafy vegetables such as lettuce, amaranth, and cauliflower, mix 1-2 teaspoons of salt into the washing water to help bugs and insects crawl out of the leaf gaps. For vegetables and fruits, leave the roots whole, wash thoroughly before peeling.

- Vegetables and fruits must be soaked in clean water for 15-20 minutes, washed many times (at least 3-4 times) under running water to remove most of the residual pesticides.

- Cooking and leaving the lid open while cooking is also a good way to eliminate most of the remaining plant chemical residues through evaporation.

According to Zing