Food experts have revealed that the way many people cook their vegetables is all wrong.
When it comes to vegetables, as with some food groups, there are many different ways to prepare them.
But Dr. Keith Wariner, a professor and food science expert at the University of Guelph, warned that boiling is the worst way to serve food because it robs it of essential nutrients.
“Food contains all the nutrients – protein, antioxidants, vitamins and polyphenols. Our job is to cook these foods safely, but we also need to preserve the nutrients as much as possible.” he said. global news.
Vitamins and minerals in vegetables are lost in boiling water through a phenomenon called “leaching,” in which the heat pulls the vegetables into the water.
Wariner noted that different foods have different sensitivities to heat. For example, cauliflower should be cooked, but should be given a certain amount of heat so as not to lose its vitamins.
“Eating cauliflower raw is not the best experience, so you have to cook it. How you cook it determines how much vitamin you lose,” he says.
Either way, boiling other vegetables still carries a huge risk of losing all the healthy aspects of the food.
“If you don’t use water in the soup, you lose a lot of nutrients,” he explained.
In addition, prolonged cooking can result in a loss of vitamin C, folic acid, and niacin, among others, all of which end up in the water in the pot rather than the food itself.
No matter how you slice it, boiling most of the time robs the vegetable of its nutrients.
Instead, food experts suggest steaming is the best option to give vegetables a similar cooking effect without losing all their vitamins and minerals.
Scientists at the University of Illinois in a 2013 experiment in which they boiled, steamed, and sautéed vegetables proved that steaming was superior, Global News reported.
The research group concluded that steaming for about 3-4 minutes preserved the bright colors and all the nutrients of the vegetables.
Stir-frying is a solid option for those who want to cook their vegetables, but again, it’s important to be careful with heat and heat exposure so you don’t lose nutrients.
Ottawa-based registered dietitian Susan McFarlane advises home cooks to also use oils with high smoke points, such as avocado, almond, corn and peanut oils.
She told the magazine that a quick hack for making the most effective stir-fries involves lightly steaming the vegetables beforehand and then quickly sautéing them.
Wariner said eating vegetables raw may be the best way to get nutrients if gourmet lovers don’t mind being served that way.
Broccoli, cabbage, and leafy greens work best without heat, he said.
Nonetheless, other vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes are actually good for heating because they contain a phytochemical called lycopene.
Lycopene is more easily absorbed by the body due to heat.
For more related content, check out the US Sun’s coverage of why one food expert said people were cooking broccoli all wrong.
The US Sun also has an article by a nutritionist on 3 foods that can help you lose weight.
