Sonnalli Seygall says food cooked on a chulha is ‘super healthy’; is it true?

Sonnalli advocates eating food cooked in a chulha (Source: Sonnalli Seygall/Instagram)

But, is it true? We reached out to experts to delve deeper. Agreeing with Sonnalli, Vikas Chawla, Ayurveda Expert, Vedas Cure, said, “Food satisfies our hunger but is also a great source of carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and good fat. Our bodies require these nutrients to carry out the internal functioning of organs. One of the essential benefits of eating food cooked on a chulha in earthen pots is that due to its light flame, the nutritional components present in the food are not lost and are entirely unfiltered.”

He said that cooking on a chulha may be a slow process but is worth it as “it not only caters to our taste buds but is also plenary with the organic nutritional value of food”.

He also cited a widespread belief in Indian households, especially in agrarian and village societies, that a mud chulha purifies the air and home, killing mosquitoes and insects. “So, cooking in mud chulha keeps the stomach and home clean. There is also a spiritual essence embedded in the philosophy of using mud chulha. It is popularly believed that it creates a Sattva-inducing environment and eliminates ominous and negative energies from the house. This is why in festivals like Chatth, food cooked from earthen pots is kept as ‘prasad’ for worshippers,” he said.

Should you eat food cooked in a chulha? (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Functional nutritionist Mugdha Pradhan, Founder and CEO, iThrive, however, disagrees. “There aren’t any notable health benefits or harms of cooking on a chulha, as far as we know. This is because the food gets cooked in the utensil and usually does not have any direct contact with the flame or the source of the flame. It’s only the heat being conducted via the cooking utensil that reaches the food. And that is something unaffected by the source of the flame. It’s often claimed that food cooked on a coal flame or chulha is more flavourful, but again, unless the food is directly being cooked on the flame, such as in grilling, it’s hard to see how that could happen,” she told indianexpress.com.

Explaining the possible negative effect of this method, the nutritionist said, “One possible negative effect includes long-term exposure to chulha’s smoke which can cause harm to the lungs, especially in an enclosed space. A lot of people prefer to use clay cookware on a chulha. However, one should abstain from it since, in current times, the clay sourced for making the cookware is contaminated with heavy metals like lead, copper, and mercury, which are highly toxic.”

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