Nobody likes to throw away leftovers, especially because they are easy to reheat and usually very tasty. But, when it comes to reheating meals, not all of them are harmless, so there are some you should avoid.
Some foods can be reheated, while others are very dangerous to your health when reheated. These are 4 leftover foods that you should never reheat.
Vegetable Oil
It is very dangerous to reheat the meals that contain vegetable oil in them. This action is connected to the increased risk of cancer, heart diseases and also cancer. This happens because reheating polyunsaturated oils that contain linoleic acid (sunflower oil, canola, and corn oil) releases 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE), a toxin derived from fatty acids. This toxin can only do harm to your body, and it is contacted to the Alzheimer’s and several types of cancer. So be careful and don’t reheat vegetable oil.
Rice
The Food Standard Agency claims that uncooked rice has spores of harmful bacteria that can even survive the cooking process. So, if you store your rice at room temperature, these spores can multiply and make numerous digestive problems. They can also survive reheating, so scientists say we should eat all the rice we cooked at once, and if we have any leftovers, we should freeze them or keep them in a fridge for one day.
Vegetables
Did you know that improper reheating of some vegetables can be very dangerous? Leftover vegetables should be stored at -4 C, according to the Center for Food Safety, and if you want to store them for a longer period of time, you should freeze them. All of this doesn’t apply to all veggies, just for some of them. Beets, lettuce, celery and spinach have high levels of nitrates that can cause trouble when exposed to room temperature. They can cause methemoglobinemia in children, a rare blood disorder which causes symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath and seizures.
Chicken
When protein gets reheated, it can become dangerous, and chicken is full of it. You can only reheat chicken meat if the inside of it is very hot. This fact is important when you use the microwave because it doesn’t reheat meals evenly. Also, keep in mind that you can eat this kind of meat up to 2 days, not a day longer.
