It is a common practice in most of the household to consume the leftover food the next day. Without even having a thought that the food has become stale now. We end up cooking a bit of extra vegetable or rice and stock it up in the fridge so that we can eat it 1 or 2 days later. Here I am not talking about food with preservatives or junk food, it’s the home-cooked food, which can cause havoc in the stomach if consumed the next day. Eating stale food or reheating it, again and again, is not good for health and this kind of lifestyle can be very harmful especially in the long run.
Life is too busy and there is hardly any time to cook a fresh meal on daily basis. We make an extra helping of veggies to take it to the office the next day since there is a paucity of time in the morning. Even morning veggies are consumed in the night. If the food smells fine, we gulp it inside our tummy. Some people don’t like to throw food out of respect. Eating stale food is not even counted as an unhealthy habit.
The negative impact of stale or reheating food only satisfies your taste bud but can make you sick. Here are some problems we face if we continue to eat stale food:
1.Home for Bacteria:
After cooking the food, we cool it down and then put it in the fridge. This gives rise to bacteria and germs and they further ferment the food which can cause a lot of health issues.
2 High Chance of Food Poisoning:
Eating stale food increases the chance of food poisoning inside the stomach. After cooking the food, we stash it in the fridge for several hours. Due to the accumulation of bacteria especially during summers, the food gets spoiled, resulting in food poisoning. On many occasions, we blame junk food for causing stomach issues. But eating stale food every day can make you sick as well.
3. Zero nutritional value:
Many health experts say that one should consume fresh food i.e. make fresh, eat fresh. The salad should be cut immediately before it has to be served. This can result in poor digestion and doesn’t hold any nutritional value after a while.
4. Stomach issues:
Stale food can cause stomach issues such as indigestion vomiting, and diarrhea. These problems are very common during the summer season. If the food is stored in the fridge for more than 4 to 5 hours, it becomes stale and if we reheat it again and again, it comes in contact with the air and contaminates the food. Diarrhea is usually caused due to the intake of stale food comprising of bacteria. The bacteria also ferment the food and make it acidic, this can cause extreme acidity.
5. Dehydration:
When we eat stale food during summers, it increases the risk of diarrhea, which can cause dehydration. It means there is a lot of fluid loss which can be damaging.
6. Liver issues:
Nobody can even imagine, eating the delicious rajma or pao bhaji or shahi paneer the next day can affect their liver. The food which is left over is fuller than before and hence makes it difficult to digest. Simultaneously, the bacteria in the food can be harmful to our liver.
Conclusion:
It is very essential to eat freshly cooked homemade food, as it is not just fresh but also tastes very well. But due to lack of time or attention, we end up cooking extra for the next day, which may not have immediate side effects but can harm your digestion process in the future.
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