What happen when you cook vegetables?

Question

Grill, steam, sautee - how much of the nutrients do you lose? Is it still worth eating?

Answer 1

All are fine as long as you don't cook them too long, which is when you loose most nutrients.

Answer 2

Plants start losing nutrients as soon as you pick them. Your best bet is quick cooking. Steaming is pretty good, especially if you drink the steaming water (seriously). Grilling in general is not good for you... those black char marks? Very bad (that goes for black char marks on ANY kind of food).

But basically, as long as the veggies still have color and flavor, they have some nutritional value. So eat up.  

Answer 3

It's not just the nutrients, it's the enzymes to help you digest the food easily. That's why there are such people who eat only raw, or not cooked to a certain temperature, food. I'd say it's best to eat a raw food at least once a meal. However, for certain (vegan) foods mainly beans, but also some nuts you soak, you need to pre-soak them and cook them well because (of course we all know what happens) well, I can give you more information and its source if you want it for the science behind it, as I don't memorize everything I read and all the "binomial nomenclature." If you don't do the soaking, then something in the beans can actually cling to nutrients that are then wasted outside of the body.

Don't forget that grilling causes carcinogenic chemicals to form.

Hey, some veggies are better than no veggies, so have fun and eat them to your heart's desire any way!

Answer 4

Cooked, fresh vegetables will always be worth eating if cooked properly!  You may lose nutrients but can also initiate favorable reactions.  For example, boiling increases water content and water activity in starchy vegetables, breaking long, complex chains of carbohydrates, making them simpler, better for digestion and better tasting.  If you had to choose a method though, steaming is the most delicate of the three and you should retain the most nutrients.  

Answer 5

the longer you cook using any method the more nutrients are lost

cook as little as possible. steaming is best

Answer 6

Heat destroys vitamins. So you don't want to keep any vegetable over heat for long. Limit the cooking time and you will save the vitamins. It is difficult to say how many or how much of which vitamin you will lose. Also, know that vitamins are very easily destroyed by: improper storage, excessive cooking, exposure to air, heat, light, and chemical agents.

Handle vitamins carefully: cook at moderate temperatures over small amounts of water for short times.

Minerals, however, are not so easily destroyed. We don't consume all of the minerals because when cooking, minerals drop into the water and we usually throw away the water, which is throwing away minerals.