Cooking techniques and materials – choices that can influence the quality of life

Abstract

Adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle is very important for the prevention of obesity, malnutrition and maladies such as diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease, which have an increasing incidence among people. A person’s diet depends on age, sex and the degree of physical activity performed during a day, the number of calories and the percentages of macro‑ and micronutrients required being different depending on these factors. In the last decade, the food industry has developed considerably, currently using new food preparation and preservation techniques, that are made with the help of much more complex devices. Although some modern techniques are used only to create a modern and spectacular dish (molecular gastronomy), there are techniques that protect the qualities of food by preventing their degradation during cooking or storage, and ensuring a preparation with a higher nutritional value.