Compared with chicken essence, which is healthier?
People who carefully check the food ingredients list will find that the main component of chicken essence is sodium glutamate, just like monosodium glutamate. The words "monosodium glutamate" are clearly written on the ingredient list of some chicken essence, and they account for the first place in the food ingredient list, indicating that the added ingredients are the most among all ingredients, in addition, there are auxiliary materials such as salt, nucleotide and sugar.
Chicken essence is more delicious than monosodium glutamate, not because of the ingredients of chicken, but because of flavoring nucleotides and other auxiliary materials to make the food more salty and delicious. To everyone's disappointment, there is no chicken ingredient in many chicken essence ingredient lists. Although some brands of chicken essence have added some chicken powder or meat extract, the dosage is very limited.
Whether it is chicken essence or monosodium glutamate, it is not as terrible as everyone thinks. Some people say that monosodium glutamate can cause cancer, because sodium glutamate in monosodium glutamate will produce a substance called sodium pyroglutamate when it is heated at high temperature.
Sodium pyroglutamate has no refreshing effect, but it is not carcinogenic. The real ingredient related to cancer is sodium salt, because many studies have shown that excessive intake of sodium salt will increase the risk of gastric cancer. Not only should we eat less chicken essence and monosodium glutamate around us, but all foods containing sodium salt should be controlled.
The Dietary Guide for China Residents suggests that the daily salt intake of adults is 6g. This 6g refers not only to the salt put in cooking, but also to all kinds of foods with salt added, such as bean paste, soy sauce, chicken essence, pickles, preserved food and so on.
Therefore, it is very safe to eat a small amount of monosodium glutamate and chicken essence. If chicken essence or monosodium glutamate has been added in the process of cooking, don't add salt. Studies have found that under the same salinity, adding monosodium glutamate will make your sodium intake lower.
In addition, don't put salt, chicken essence, monosodium glutamate and other seasonings too early in the cooking process, and it is best to put them when they are out of the pot, because the seasonings put in this way will not enter the food on the surface of the food, not only retaining the proper taste, but also making the body consume less sodium.