Food for Thought
Q&A
Our diet and nutrition expert Faiza Abdur Rab has some wonderful(nutritious) answers for all those who sent us their queries. Read on…
Gaining Weight
Q. I am 5’3 inches in height and my weight is a 100 pounds. I look very thin. I do not feel hungry. I do not do much physical activity because I do not want to lose any more weight. I want to gain weight. Please suggest something to help me. Rosheen
A. You are slightly under weight. You should take a balanced diet that should be composed of food items from the food groups of fruits, vegetables, grains, meat and beans, milk and oils, in your diet plan for every day. If you are taking a good diet and do some physical activity, you will not lose any more weight. Instead, you will feel hungry and that would help you to increase your intake. Physical activity is not only important to lose weight but it is equally important to gain weight and to keep a good health.
Refreezing Thawed Meat
Q. Is it safe to refreeze thawed meat? I am concerned about the safety and quality of meat because often due to power failures, the meat in the freezer is partially thawed and then refrozen. Rashida
A. It is safe if meat thaws at low temperatures e.g.
5 oC and lower in freezers. However thawing would affect the quality of meat as each time it thaws, some cells of meat would be destroyed leading to the release of nutrition rich juice that would support the growth of residual populations of meat germs if the meat is stored at higher temperatures.
At low temperature, e.g. thawing in freezer during power failure, most of germs including the food borne disease and food poisoning causing organisms in the meat would not be able to grow to affect the safety of the meat.
There are good chances of micro-organisms to grow and risk the safety of meat if meat is thawed at room temperature before refreezing it.
B3 Niacin Deficiency
Q. I often become ill. My friends say that I have a deficiency of Vitamin B3 Niacin. What factors can lead to the deficiency of Vitamin B3 Niacin? Mahreen
A. Intestinal problems e.g. chronic diarrhoea, inflammatory bowel disease, physical trauma, stress, prolonged fever, can cause deficiency of Vitamin B3 Niacin. Besides that people with poor overall intake of protein can also develop Vitamin B3 Niacin deficiency because a part of our body’s requirement for niacin is fulfilled by the conversion of tryptophan, an amino acid (a building unit of a protein).
Chinese Salt
Q. I like to add Chinese salt (mono sodium glutamate) in soups. Is it a safe ingredient? How much of it can I safely add in soups? Farkhanda
A. Chinese salt or mono sodium glutamate (MSG) is a sodium salt of an amino acid. A glutamic acid does not have any distinct taste of its own but is used as a taste enhancer in different dishes e.g. soups. Some people are sensitive to MSG and can develop adverse reactions e.g. migraine, nausea, increased heart beat and chest pain on the consumption of food having MSG in a larger quantity. People with asthma problems should avoid food containing MSG.
Most foods get a good flavour if around one and a half gram of MSG is added to them. Using 3 grams or more is considered to be a large quantity. Three grams of MSG is enough for seasoning up to 5 servings of fried rice or 1 pound of meat.
Storing Semi-Cooked Dishes
Q. I am a working woman. I prepare several semi-cooked dishes on the same day and keep them in the fridge till I further process them which could take several days. Is it fine to do so? Jamila
A. It is not a very good idea. The process of cooking besides releasing the nutrients from the food and bringing changes in food taste, texture and aroma also kills the food germs including the occasionally present disease causing organisms. When food is partially cooked, many food germs would be able to escape from getting killed. In the presence of nutrient rich broth they may get a good opportunity to grow as soon as temperature lowers. Many germs require 20-30 minutes to double their populations under favourable growth conditions. Some of these germs can keep themselves active under refrigeration conditions and can spoil the quality of food producing toxins in it. Cooking in later stages might be insufficient to kill the larger populations of food germs, nullify the quality changes that occurred or to in-activate the toxins produced by them.
There is a high risk of food quality deterioration, food borne diseases and food poisoning if partially cooked food is consumed after storing in fridge for several days. The risk is even higher in summer than in winter.
Making Yogurt at Home
Q. I like eating yogurt very much but it is expensive to buy it from market. Can we prepare good quality 
yogurt at home. Dinshaw
A. Yes, we can prepare good quality yogurt at home. It is very simple to do so. Take 1 litre of UHT treated packed standardised milk in a glass bowl. Heat the milk up to 45 oC. It is the temperature that the human body can easily tolerate to touch. Pour it in a glass bowl. Add 6 tablespoon of yogurt purchased from the market. Mix it well. Pour it in hot water washed glass jar bottles and close the lid. Leave it overnight, ideally at 37 oC . If the room temperature is very low the desired temperature can be obtained by keeping airtight sealed bottles in water preheated at 37 oC. Next day refrigerate the prepared yogurt till use.
Proteins and Carbohydrate Mixed Meals
Q. I heard that it is not healthy to mix carbohydrate and protein foods in the same meal. Is it really not safe? Hameed
A. There is no harm in eating carbohydrate food mixed with protein food. Rather it is beneficial to do so. Glucose in the blood is tightly controlled but it can fluctuate sharply (rise sharply and then fall rapidly) on eating merely carbohydrate rich food in meals especially those, rich in sugar. Combining protein with carbohydrate would lead to slow absorption of sugar in the gut and would help to prevent this fluctuation.
If you have any health and nutrition
related queries please do not hesitate and send
them to our health and nutrition expert at: health@magtheweekly.com
