Why is it important to add aromatic herbs only at the end of a recipe?

In addition to adding flavor to your culinary preparations, aromatic herbs have many health benefits. They are also recommended as part of the Mediterranean diet. This diet is known to promote a balanced diet throughout the week. By favoring the variety of foods, it fits perfectly with the dietary recommendations. Thus, aromatic herbs are “nutritional bombs” very low in calories, explains Diana Kadouch, nutritionist doctor interviewed by Hello Doctors.

“Ten grams of dried thyme can provide up to 70% of our daily iron intake” explains the nutritionist. However, iron is essential for good health. Indeed, iron helps oxygenate our organs and is one of the main components of red blood cells. By sprinkling thyme on your preparations, its richness in vitamin C allows the absorption of iron.

Dried rosemary, for its part, provides calcium, an essential nutrient for our good health. If you are not a fan of dairy products, this is a good solution to stock up on calcium. In fact, ten grams of dried rosemary provides around 40 milligrams of calcium.

Parsley provides a good dose of vitamin C: 10 grams of parsley provides 18% of the recommended daily intake and 6% of that of beta-carotene. The latter is one of the precursors of vitamin A, essential for good eye health. “It could reduce the risk of developing eye degeneration”indicates the specialist.

Dried basil provides vitamin K, essential for blood clotting. Ten grams provides all of our daily needs. These herbs are very low in calories and help reduce the amounts of salt used. Don’t hesitate to add raw herbs at the end of your recipe, just before eating!

Although our aromatic herbs contain a lot of vitamins and nutrients, there is however a mistake to avoid when cooking them. If added during cooking, it lowers the amount of vitamins, particularly vitamin C, that they may contain. This is particularly the case for fresh herbs. As Diana Kadouch explains: “As soon as you put them in sauces or stews, you can say goodbye to 50% of the vitamin C.” On the other hand, no problem with freezing, it hardly degrades the vitamin content. Basil, dill, parsley, so don’t hesitate to buy some so you always have some on hand.