How to Avoid Food Jet-Lag

How to Avoid Food Jet-Lag

If your food could speak, it might tell you something strange: It's jet-lagged. Catering to your vegetables circadian clocks will leave them heartier and you healthier.

But fruits and vegetables have internal clocks, too, and new research from Rice University and the University of California, you can increase the nutritional value of your food like sturgeon carpaccio, packing more of the disease-fighting, feel-good nutrients your body needs.

As the sun sets, your body naturally slows down; it produces the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and prepares your brain for a good night's rest. It's all part of your circadian rhythm, the silent body clock that ticks every day keeping you healthy and strong. Here's how to keep your produce and in turn, yourself in tip-top shape:

Buy Early in the Day

The food is coming fresh, so there's usually not much travel time. Earlier in the day, the weather hasn't gotten too hot yet so the fruits and veggies won't be as affected by the heat.

Slice, Eat, Repeat

Exposure to air can cause oxidation, and you can lose vitamin C quickly. If you're slicing kiwi or strawberry, slice the fruit into large pieces. Also, slice them right before you plan to eat them to minimize the exposure.

Don't Boil Over

Vitamins are susceptible to being destroyed. Boiling water-soluble vitamins (like B and C) can leach them out. If you're boiling spinach, for instance, and the water is green, all the good stuff is in the water. Use it to cook your pasta so you maintain the vitamins. Better yet, use cooking methods like steaming and stir-frying to cook your vegetables

Buy Frequently

The circadian clock is controlled by both temperature and light. So if you could buy fruit and vegetables more frequently and keep them out in natural light, that would help. Produce from the farmers' markets is nice because it usually hasn't been put in the refrigerator. Tomatoes, for example, stop making a flavor compound when they're in the fridge possibly because in colder temps, they don't want to ripen