Corned beef can be mixed with pasta as a filling. Picture: LANCE SEETO
As the pandemic and lockdown continue, making low-budget meals for their families at home becomes more and more common, as many people save the very little money they see in the rest of the week.
When many people can't even open the refrigerator, it makes perfect sense to put canned fish, canned meat, instant noodles and other dry goods in the cupboard to supplement fresh vegetables. The challenge is to spend as little money as possible at home, but still provide a large amount of nutritious and not completely nutritious meals. All of us are now in survival mode, so knowing how to best eat the food at home is essential to spend the rest of the year under a national curfew. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, we must learn to maintain a high level of immunity to help our body resist this insidious virus in the unfortunate event of infection.
Canned meat is not the healthiest food because sodium nitrate is used to prevent the meat from spoiling without refrigeration. Although it contains a lot of vitamin B12 and zinc, corned beef, especially salted lamb, is high in cholesterol, saturated fat and salt-this is the trinity of ingredients that cause non-communicable diseases.
But like all canned foods, if you eat more healthy ingredients in moderation, you can turn a can of processed meat or fish into a cost-effective, nutritious, and hearty meal.
Although its rap is not good, I have had a love affair with canned corned beef or "bully beef" since I was a kid because we know it grew up in Australia. My father learned to like canned beef when he grew up in Papua New Guinea, because they were very popular during World War II, when fresh meat was rationed and canned meat was convenient and easy to store. Australian soldiers stationed in Papua New Guinea also carry canned corned beef in their rations, usually eaten with dry biscuits, because they fought the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. This battle against COVID-19 is a bit similar to wartime, so its use is reasonable, especially if you don't have electricity or can't afford fresh meat.
The popularity of canned meat in our region is not surprising, especially in rural areas and remote islands, where bulls are used to cultivate land or cows provide milk. Like canned tuna, corned beef and lamb also provide emergency rations during natural disasters, especially when refrigeration is not possible. At the end of the cyclone or during our current COVID-19 lockdown, the supply of canned corned beef and lamb usually disappears as people stock up within a few days. Its value as a short-term nutritional survival food is undisputed. It is ideal during hurricanes, power outages, pandemics, war zones and pandemic lock-in periods.
For those who are concerned about weight or cholesterol, canned meat should be a moderately edible food. According to the US website Nutritionix, a 225 grams of food contains up to 600 calories, 68% of daily fat intake, 50% of salt and 48% of cholesterol intake. These 600 calories will take you more than 1 hour to walk away, 30 minutes to run, or 45 minutes to ride a bicycle. And you also need to make sure that your canned meat only contains meat. Some brands include heart and other offal, which some people might like, but if I want to enjoy my canned bacon, I want to make sure it mainly includes meat and not the lining of the stomach.
Generally speaking, cheap canned meat is not healthy for Pacific Islanders due to the ingredients used to process and preserve meat. It contains a lot of saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium-all of which are not good for heart health and blood pressure. To make matters worse, canned corned beef and lamb are marinated with sodium nitrite to maintain the color and flavor of the meat while preventing bacterial growth. Nevertheless, there is a good side to eating bacon. Corned beef contains a lot of essential nutrients. It is a good source of protein, zinc, iron and B-complex vitamins. These nutrients can be used to maintain and perform important organ functions. Corned beef also contains zinc, which helps to quickly heal wounds and acne, maintain the normal function of the immune and digestive systems, improve metabolism, and control diabetes and stress levels. The iron content plays a role in the proper absorption of oxygen in the blood and the production of hemoglobin. It can also prevent and treat anemia and fatigue. A lot of antioxidants, such as selenium, are also found in corned beef. The selenium in it has anti-inflammatory properties, promotes good heart health, and can reduce oxidative stress. So occasionally eating corned beef and mutton will not cause any major health hazards. However, people suffering from heart disease and other diseases should avoid eating, or at least consult a doctor.
Tips on how to enjoy
In order to enjoy canned meat occasionally, there are a few tips that can help reduce fat and salt intake, including removing excess fat after cooking, or mixing the meat with more anti-fat ingredients, such as fresh vegetables and citrus. If you can choose a reduced salt or less oil version, then you must choose to buy these. Another way to reduce guilt and enjoy canned meat is to follow the Chinese blush principle. Instead of leaving salt and fat in the gastrointestinal tract for normal digestion, it is better to wash them away with hot drinks instead of cold drinks. When fat comes into contact with cold drinks, they tend to solidify, causing a blockage in the digestive tract, causing stomach problems, or if the oil leaks into the blood, it can block blood vessels and cause a heart attack. Chinese people usually drink a cup of hot black tea or hot water when eating any greasy food to push fat through the digestive tract, and finally leave the back door as soon as you go to the bathroom. Also, try not to eat canned meat late at night, especially after yagona, because the fat will get stuck in your tube while you sleep. Talking about canned meat is not a very appetizing way, but you need to strike a balance between good and bad. Eat, flush, and defecate.
Copyright © 2021 Fiji Times Limited. all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2021 Fiji Times Limited. all rights reserved.