How many calories are in zucchini and what properties do they have?
The inclusion of vegetables in your diet has a beneficial effect on human health. In addition to vitamins, trace elements, you can get a sufficient amount of fiber, proteins, carbohydrates. Vegetables will help cleanse the intestines of toxins and toxins, lose extra pounds.
Zucchini first appeared on the European table in the 18th century and immediately became popular. Modern diets are not complete without this wonderful vegetable. It is actively used in baby food. And the zucchini has earned universal love due to its composition, useful properties.
Content:
- Composition and useful properties
- Calorie content of a vegetable, its use in diets
- Harm and contraindications
- How to choose the right zucchini
- Harvesting and storing vegetables
Composition and useful properties
Young zucchini are used for cooking various dishes, canning due to their high nutritional value:
- The pantry of vitamins is considered a relative pumpkin... Vitamin C is in the first place in it, a little less - vitamins of group B and PP.
- The pulp of a long vessel of the fruit is full of macronutrients - potassium, magnesium, phosphorus.
- It contains "deposits" of iron. It is enough to supply the body with a trace element by 22 percent.
- The nutritional value of a product is determined by the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in it. There will be 0.6 grams, 0.3 and 4.6 grams of them, respectively, per 100 grams of zucchini.
- The carbohydrate content is related to the sugar content of the vegetable.
Such a composition of zucchini benefits the human body, starting from childhood. The first feeding of the newborn takes place using grated vegetable gruel. The product is characterized by high digestibility, no allergic reactions.
For people with problems in the work of the cardiovascular system, zucchini is simply irreplaceable.
Regular use of the product will strengthen the myocardium, improve blood properties, and increase the body's resistance to physical and mental stress. A significant amount of liquid in the zucchini will help normalize the water-salt balance, relieve the kidneys and liver. The pathological condition is alleviated if a person suffers from cholecystitis, gallstone disease.
Zucchini is included in the diet of diabetics to limit the intake of carbohydrates and fats. And thanks to natural antioxidants, those who love vegetables, often prepare various dishes from it, do not form malignant tumors. Such people always look young, do not get sick. The benefit is a raw zucchini. Together with the tender young skin, the human body receives biostimulants, substances for the prevention of many diseases.
Calorie content of a vegetable, its use in diets
The problem of extra pounds is solved easily by sitting on a squash diet. And all because there are 23-24 kilocalories per one hundred grams of a vegetable. And their assimilation is easy - the stomach and intestines are not irritated. Therefore, for people with diseases of the digestive tract, a vegetable is an ideal product that gives an energy boost.
The main quality of zucchini for dietetic nutrition is the low percentage of fat in the product.
Therefore, it is necessary to prepare it, following the exclusion of refined oils from the menu. It is best to combine zucchini with other vegetables.It tastes good when cooked with fish, poultry.
To reduce the calorie content, fat content of some dishes, you need to put zucchini in them. This applies to cutlets, meat stew. And soups with the addition of grated vegetables will be much thicker and tastier. Many people bake wonderful pancakes from zucchini. The calorie content of any dish is reduced several times. Zucchini can replace potatoesb, meat, legumes, it is in his power to make each dish unique in taste, light. And the extra pounds will gradually start to go away.
Harm and contraindications
There are contraindications for consuming the squash diet. A raw vegetable is forbidden to be included in the menu for those who suffer from gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. Gastritis caused by increased acidity of the digestive organ will worsen after eating squash.
A vegetable can harm the body when kidney function is reduced and they poorly excrete potassium.
And excessive fluctuations in the volume of a macroelement in the direction of decrease or increase negatively affects human health. With an excess of potassium, the muscles begin to contract involuntarily, including the heart.
If the potassium obtained from zucchini cannot be excreted and its percentage in the body increases, then this can lead to pressure drops, malfunctioning of the heart.
How to choose the right zucchini
Usually, unripe fruits of zucchini are eaten - they are tender, well absorbed together with a thin peel. When purchasing a vegetable for food in stores, you need to pay attention to how it looks:
- The fruit should be small, then you don't have to choose seeds from the pulp. It will be enough to buy a zucchini thirty centimeters long and eight centimeters thick.
- The vegetable is tastier with a thin light green skin, tender, juicy pulp.
- When pressed on the fruit, softness is felt.
Overripe fruits come with a thick skin that is difficult to cut with a knife. And a large number of seeds and fibrous pulp will become an obstacle to making mashed potatoes or tender stews. For the dietary nutrition of children, yellow zucchini is suitable. The choice of a vegetable variety depends on the preferences, taste of a particular person.
Harvesting and storing vegetables
It is necessary to collect the vegetable for storage when it reaches normal ripeness. The procedure takes place before the beginning of the first frost. Even slightly frozen fruits are not stored for a long time - they will rot. The tail on the zucchini is left at least five centimeters. Such zucchini can keep freshness for one or four months.
The optimal storage temperature for vegetables in the cellar will be 5-10 degrees above zero. A shelf is prepared for the fruits, where they are laid in one row so that they do not come into contact with each other. Fruit should be checked frequently for spoilage.
With a small harvest, the zucchini are placed in the refrigerator, after wrapping them in newspaper or putting them in a paper bag.
Freeze the zucchini, having previously cut it into circles, dipping it in boiling water for a minute. So they can be used for six months. Storing a vegetable also includes preserving it.
More information can be found in the video:
I love zucchini, especially young ones: just fried, and stew with other vegetables, and stuffed. I used to marinate, but now I buy only fresh ones for cooking, since you can buy them almost all year round.
We love this inexpensive vegetable very much. Fry it, prepare the pancakes and add to the vegetable stew. So yesterday they cooked a stew full of a brazier. We always buy only young zucchini, and use the more mature ones for preservation. Canned zucchini, also delicious.