Many of us often prepare meals to last us for a couple of days. But, not many know that some foods change their composition and lose their nutritional properties; they even become toxic when reheated. This is a list of foods that should never be reheated:
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are best consumed immediately after preparation, and if there are leftovers, it is better to eat them cold. This also goes for soups and risotto, made with mushrooms. It’s important to know that when mushrooms are reheated, their protein composition changes. Apart from losing their health benefits, they can also cause a variety of digestive problems.
Chicken
Just as with mushrooms, reheating meats changes their protein composition. That’s why, it’s not recommended to reheat meats at high temperatures, especially chicken, which contains more protein than red meat. If you reheat anyway, do it longer on low temperature.
Potatoes
Potatoes are highly nutritional, but lose most of these properties, and even become toxic when reheated. Thus, it’s best to eat them immediately after preparation or even cold as then they have the highest content of resistant starch responsible for the long-lasting feeling of fullness. If you are preparing stew for several days, put the potatoes aside, then add them later.
Spinach
Spinach has a high content of nitrates, which turn into nitrites when reheated. As these are potentially carcinogenic, it’s highly recommended to eat only freshly prepared spinach.
Beet
Like spinach, beets also contain nitrates which become extremely harmful after reheating. If there are beet leftovers, it’s best to eat them cold.
Celery
Celery, commonly used in soups, should always be removed after cooking, along with carrots because it also contains nitrates. Soup, on the other hand, can be reheated providing celery and carrots are removed.
Eggs
Eggs are another high-risk food that becomes toxic after reheating. It does not apply to foods where the eggs are scrambled in sauces such as béchamel, but refers to dishes with baked or fried eggs.
