Cooking for Optimum Nutrition

We may believe we eat a healthy diet that gives us the vitamins and minerals we need. However we could be destroying nutrients in our food simply because of the way we cook them. This article will examine methods of cooking, and look at ways of keeping the essential goodness in our foods.

Boiling versus Steaming
One of the most popular ways of cooking vegetables is to boil them, however this method of cooking can destroy up to 70% of their vitamin C content and around 40% of their B vitamins. If you really want to boil your food, you can minimise nutrient loss by using as little water as possible, not cutting the food too small, and by boiling for the minimum amount of time. However to ensure you get maximum goodness from your food, it would be better to switch to a different method of cooking such as steaming.

One of the best ways of cooking and preserving food’s nutrient content is to steam. Steaming foods not only cooks them quickly, but also they maintain their firmness, colour and flavour. Water-soluble vitamins such as the B vitamins and vitamin C do not disappear into the water, as with boiling.

A good old stew
Making soups and stews is a good way to maintain nutrient content. The liquid is served with the food allowing us to still benefit from the vitamins and minerals that have been transferred into the water. Stews and soups are also generally cooked at a low temperature which minimises the nutrient loss.

To fry or not to fry?
Frying foods is another popular method of cooking, yet even though it cooks foods quickly, the extreme temperature can deplete essential nutrients. In addition to this, oils used have a burning point, which when reached can create free radicals. Free radicals attack our cells, and have been linked to the development of cancer. Also frying inevitably increases the fat content of our diets, which can contribute towards health problems such as; high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.

Fried foods however are tasty making it a popular cooking method. One way to minimise the risks could be to stir-fry which uses a minimal amount of oil. Using a wok and constantly moving the food around ensures an even distribution of heat. A spoonful of water can also be added, which stops the oil burning and produces steam to help with the cooking. Stir-frying however will still drain foods of their nutrients, and it may be better to steam foods for a while and finish them off in the wok, to get that fried flavour.

Cooking for the family
The traditional Sunday roast has been traced back to the industrial revolution, when meat was left in the oven to cook before church and was ready to eat upon the families return. It still remains an important meal of the week for many families.

One of the common mistakes people make with roasting is to turn the oven temperature up too high. This can allow oils to reach their burning point and increase their carcinogenic potential. The longer food is cooked the greater the vitamin loss, and roasts are often cooked for longer than needed. By cooking at a lower temperature and not for longer than necessary, nutrient loss can be reduced. Boiled vegetables are often an accompaniment to the meat; however the water the vegetables are cooked in often contains more vitamins than the vegetables themselves. Using the water to make your gravy ensures you still get these vitamins.

Another meal which can bring family and friends together is the barbecue. Food cooked on barbecues is subjected to extreme heat, which not only destroys essential nutrients, but also when foods appear cooked they can be raw on the inside. For this reason barbecue food is often overcooked and slightly burnt on the outside, which can produce more damaging free radicals. To ensure food is properly cooked it is a good idea to part cook them before putting them on the barbecue.

What about microwaves?
Research suggests that microwaving foods can help retain a fairly high level of vitamins and minerals. Microwaves work by agitating the water molecules contained within the food, and this movement heats the food. Potentially dangerous micro-organisms thrive in temperatures between 5°C and 60°C, and another advantage of microwaving is that the food spends less time in this temperature zone, as it can be thawed, cooked and served quickly.

A major drawback of microwaving is that the food doesn’t heat evenly, which means there can be cold spots where bacteria can thrive. To prevent cold spots food should be stirred at least once during microwaving, or if they are unable to be stirred they should be left to stand so the heat can distribute more evenly.

It should be noted however that while microwaving may be a useful cooking method for keeping the nutritional value of fresh foods, they are often used for heating up ready made meals which can have an unhealthily high salt, sugar, and fat content.

Raw foods
Eating raw foods is the ultimate way to ensure you get all the nutrients from food. One of the biggest advantages of eating raw foods is that they are full of enzymes, which help break down proteins and are important for every function of the body. If any food is heated above hand hot temperature it loses these essential enzymes. By only eating cooked food we put extra pressure on our bodies to produce these enzymes.

However by complimenting our diets with raw foods we can help our bodies function more effectively. Supporters of eating raw foods often call them living foods, as cooking destroys the foods life-force. They believe there can be many benefits to not cooking, including increased energy, better skin, better digestion, weight loss and a reduced risk of heart disease.

The good news is that there is an abundance of raw foods we can choose to include in our daily diet, from fresh fruit and vegetables, to nuts seeds and grains. Eating raw foods doesn’t need to be a chore; a few simple changes can benefit our health greatly. We can eat a salad with main meals, choose fruit for breakfast, eat nuts and seeds as a snack in between meals, or make our own juices.


To cook or not too cook?
By cooking food essential vitamins, minerals and enzymes, will be destroyed. In addition some cooking methods increase the possibility of producing potentially harmful free radicals. However we can minimise the depletion of nutrients by changing the way we cook. The main rules to making the most of foods natural goodness are:

• Cook for the minimum amount of time.
  
• Cook at lower temperatures.
  
• Steam or microwave instead of boiling foods.
  
• Stir-fry instead of fry.
  
• Add raw foods to the daily diet.
  

“Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”
Hippocrates