Do you have any Labor Day plans? Maybe you’ll be spending the holiday with family and friends and grilling up some great food to share. Grilling can be a great way to connect with others and enjoy the outdoors. Plus, there are some health benefits associated with preparing food on the grill!
Grilling fruits and vegetables can be a tasty way to get your “five a day the color way”!
MyPlate recommends we fill half our plate with fruits and vegetables. Eating a variety of different colored fruits and vegetables each day can help you live a longer, healthier life and protect you from certain chronic diseases such as heart disease and some types of cancer. Many fruits and vegetables can be grilled, and kabobs are a fun way to grill a variety of different colored fruits and veggies. See the videos below for suggestions to grill two favorite summer vegetables: sweet corn and zucchini.
In addition to the nutrients your grilled vegetables contain, you also get some Vitamin D when outside grilling. While most vitamins are obtained through our diets, the best way to get Vitamin D is by exposing your skin to sunlight. Vitamin D is nicknamed the “Sunshine Vitamin” because our bodies form it after exposure to sunlight.
While there are many nutritional benefits to cooking vegetables on the grill, it’s important to note that carcinogens – substances capable of causing cancer – can form when meats and proteins are cooked at very high temperatures. To reduce the formation of carcinogens when grilling, marinate your meats in an acidic liquid like vinegar before putting them on the grill. These carcinogens are only produced by meats, so no need to worry about them when grilling your vegetables.
Here’s to a safe and healthy Labor Day weekend, hopefully with some grilling involved!
Resources:
Axelrod, A. (2021). Friday Fix: How to make grilled foods healthier. Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. https://www.pancan.org/news/friday-fix-how-to-make-grilled-foods-healthier/.
McManus, K. (2019). Phytonutrients: Paint your plate with the color of the rainbow. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/phytonutrients-paint-your-plate-with-the-colors-of-the-rainbow-2019042516501
Written by Kacey Gonzalez, Dietetic Intern, Marshall University
Reviewed by Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Franklin County
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