Like everyone else, I'm always learning new information. A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Dr. Mercola's Optimal Wellness Center in the Chicago area. There, I met his top nutritionist, Jim Marlowe, and he gave me a tip for cooking that was actually quite a revelation to me.

As you know, the standard cooking temperature for most foods seems to have become around 350° F. But by cooking something at that temperature, you actually damage the molecular structure of the food.

Jim explained to me that a far better temperature for cooking, the maximum temperature to set the oven on, is 225° F. The boiling point for water is actually 212° F. So it doesn't take a scientist to figure out that by capping off your cooking temperature at 225° F, you're going to do far less damage to your food, and as a result, you'll cause yourself far less damage by eating foods cooked at a lower temperature.

Ideally, you'd want to be cooking your food in a slow cooker on the low setting, because that, again, will be using a low heat. But if you have to use the oven, then Jim recommends that the cap point, the top temperature you should use, is 225° F.

Bear in mind, this does affect the cooking time somewhat. At 225°F, you'll need to add approximately 50% over and above the original cooking time, in essence, 150% of the original cooking time in total.

EXAMPLE: If a food would normally cook at 350° F for 1 hour, it will need 1½ hours to cook at 225° F.

I'm definitely going to implement this principle from now on. As a result, I'm sure my family and I will see the benefits, and I hope you and yours will as well.