If you're like me, you've heard that cooking vegetables deteriorates their vitamin and mineral amounts. However, just recently, I've read a couple of articles stating that when you cook vegetables, the loss of these vitamins and minerals is smaller than I thought (I was under the impression that over 50% of the vitamins and minerals were lost, but this is not the case). And the rule of thumb is: the less water and time you use, the less loss. Therefore, steaming seems to be the best go-to cooking method mentioned in these articles. What's more, cooking some vegetables increases the amount of antioxidants in the dish, and antioxidants, as you know, are good for your body. Still, different vegetables act different when cooked, and keeping it straight can be, well, time consuming. I guess the point is, eat your vegetables however you like them, but just be sure to eat them!
2.07.2012
bp's science: don't worry about cooking vegetables (v.1)
If you're like me, you've heard that cooking vegetables deteriorates their vitamin and mineral amounts. However, just recently, I've read a couple of articles stating that when you cook vegetables, the loss of these vitamins and minerals is smaller than I thought (I was under the impression that over 50% of the vitamins and minerals were lost, but this is not the case). And the rule of thumb is: the less water and time you use, the less loss. Therefore, steaming seems to be the best go-to cooking method mentioned in these articles. What's more, cooking some vegetables increases the amount of antioxidants in the dish, and antioxidants, as you know, are good for your body. Still, different vegetables act different when cooked, and keeping it straight can be, well, time consuming. I guess the point is, eat your vegetables however you like them, but just be sure to eat them!
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4 comments:
Thanks for this, Ash. Very helpful! and something I'd always wondered about too.
I've also read that if you cook/boil/steam veggies, if you can also use the water/runoff from the process in the recipe, this can also help you recoup some of the loss.
And, man, that lycopene's all the rage lately, eh?
I remember having a similar vegetable conversation with you and Jess when we were freshman. Jess remarked that it doesn't matter to him because he just drinks the water he cooks the veggies in.
Haha, unfortunately I have not been diligent in keeping that habit.
This was such an applicable post for me. I've been thinking a lot about this lately and it sounds like I can worry a bit less now. And I've been known to cook rice in "veggie water" I wonder if that helps me at all?
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