Experts warn about Eid: Eat vegetables along with meat

With the Eid al-Adha just around the corner in Trabzon, the activity at the animal market continues, while experts are also making recommendations on the consumption and storage of sacrificial meat. Experts, who draw attention to a healthy and balanced diet without overdoing it in meat consumption, recommend consuming vegetables as well as fibrous foods such as fruit, along with red meat.

'ROASTING CARRIES HEALTH RISKS'

KTÜ Nutrition and Dietetics Department Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazlı Nur Aslan Çin, made recommendations and drew attention to the fact that roasting, which has become a tradition especially for holiday morning breakfasts, may pose health risks. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çin said, "When the Feast of Sacrifice comes, roasting is a desired dish in breakfast halls. Instead of roasting; we prefer to eat grilled, boiled and baked meat. We need to rest the sacrificial meat we slaughter in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. If we are going to roast sacrificial meat; it will be sufficient to cook it with the meat's own fat on low heat and with a small amount of salt without adding saturated fat."

'SHEPHERD'S AND SEASONAL SALAD' SUGGESTION

Emphasizing that a vegetable-based diet along with meat facilitates digestion, Çin said, "In order to prevent the risk of 'contamination' during slaughtering, cutting meat on a special, separate board other than the boards we use to cut bread and vegetables will be the most appropriate step in preventing contamination. Breakfast should not be made with only sacrificial meat. A vegetable-based diet should be followed along with meat; shepherd's salad made of broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber and tomato or seasonal salad should be preferred. Consuming a salad with lemon will increase iron absorption. Thus, digestion will be easier. Beverages with high probiotic content such as whole grain bread, bulgur pilaf, ayran and kefir should be consumed."

'ANIMAL FAT SHOULD NOT BE ADDED WHILE COOKING'

Stating that care should be taken when cooking sacrificial meat, Çin said, "Cooking meat on high heat, on a barbecue, at close range causes the formation of carcinogenic compounds. Meat should be cooked by dripping its fat. Burnt meat should not be consumed and care should be taken not to add animal fats such as butter and tail fat. Care should also be taken when consuming the offal of meat; liver. If there are white spots on the meat, it should not be consumed. The liver being homogeneous and cotton-like means that the slaughtered animal is healthy. The healthiest meat is meat with low fat content, pink and shiny."

'MUST BE STORED FOR SINGLE USE'

China has listed the following recommendations for storing meat taken out of the freezer:

"After the meat is cut, the 'rigor mortis' that we call it must end. The meat must be minced or roasted in small pieces and stored in the freezer for single use. The storage period must be a maximum of 6 months. The meat that you will use should not be thawed by putting it directly into hot water from the refrigerator or by keeping it outside. It should be taken out of the refrigerator the night before and made ready for consumption by keeping it in the microwave or the refrigerator. We cut off some of the meat that we store as minced meat or roasted meat in large quantities and put the rest back into the refrigerator. These habits both reduce the nutritional value and increase microbiological growth. Therefore, they should definitely not be used. It is also useful to cover the meat that you put in the microwave with a glass lid or another plate and use it after thawing."