Ayurveda gives immense importance to the metals used for cooking food daily. While some metals have a positive impact on your health, others may even harm.

· Copper is known to be the best cooking metal for rice and is known to have anti-bacterial properties in it. For the same reason, it is said that drinking water in a copper vessel is known to have medicinal properties in it and can improve the digestive system, slow down ageing and can heal the wounds faster. You will be surprised to know that copper can detoxify your body and increase hemoglobin. It might be a popular metal used for cooking, but beware of cooking or eating anything acidic as this may impact the taste of the food.

· Silver has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties in it. It is said to be cool in nature and is thus considered good for those with pitta personalities. It’s said that eating and drinking in silverware can calm down your temperament and improve your complexion. It can also improve your metabolic system and immune system.

· While it is okay to serve food in brass, the metal easily reacts with salt and acidic foods, when it is heated. Hence, cooking in such utensils must be avoided.

· Stainless Steel is known to be the ideal metal for cooking any kind of food due to its non-reactive properties. Eating or drinking in this metal is considered to have a safe impact on your health. It’s a metal alloy made of chromium, nickel, carbon and silicon and has aluminum or copper coating at the bottom for heating purposes.

· Aluminum is an ideal metal used for baking purposes. It is best to use scratch-resistant anodized aluminum cookware, as cooking into it will not release the aluminum in the food. Uncoated aluminum cookware can impose a greater risk and hence cooking and serving food in it should be avoided.

· Cast Iron is another cookware that’s highly popular in everyone’s kitchen. The reason behind this popularity is that it can withstand high temperatures and is mostly used for making food that requires slow cooking. It’s an excellent way of including iron in your body and for the same reason, most of the green veggies are cooked in iron vessels. But you must not store food in it as it gives an acrid taste to the food.

· Non-stick with Teflon coating makes any cookware easy to use and clean. However, several reports have suggested that non-stick cookware must be avoided as it can cause cancer when used at a high temperature.

· Due to its non-reactive properties, Glass is good to use for storing or baking any food.

Source: Internet and other

The views expressed in this article should not be considered as a substitute for a physician’s advice. Always make sure to seek a doctor or a professional’s advice before proceeding with the home treatment plan.