When you’re trying to increase your intake of nutrients, eating real foods is the way to go. They contain a variety of nutrients difficult to find in a single supplement, including plant compounds, vitamins and minerals, as previously mentioned. However, it is also significant to know how to prepare our foods. Here Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE, HealthLine.com, reflects on how cooking affects the nutrient content of foods:

“Eating nutritious foods can improve your health and energy levels.

Surprisingly, the way you cook your food has a major effect on the amount of nutrients in it.

This article will explore how the different cooking methods affect the nutrient content of foods.

Nutrient Content Is Often Altered During Cooking

Cooking food improves digestion and increases absorption of many nutrients (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).

For example, protein in cooked eggs is 180% more digestible than in raw eggs (3Trusted Source).

However, several key nutrients are reduced with some cooking methods.

The following nutrients are often reduced during cooking:

• Water-soluble vitamins: Vitamin C and the B vitamins — thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), folic acid (B7) and cobalamin (B8).
• Fat-soluble vitamins: Vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Minerals: Primarily potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium.

Boiling, Simmering, and Poaching

Boiling, simmering and poaching are similar methods of water-based cooking.

These techniques differ by water temperature:

• Poaching: Less than 180°F/82°C.
• Simmering: 185–200°F/85–93°C.
• Boiling: 212°F/100°C.

Vegetables are generally a great source of vitamin C, but a large amount of it is lost when cooked in water.

In fact, boiling reduces vitamin C more than any other cooking method. Broccoli, spinach and lettuce may lose up to 50% or more of their vitamin C when boiled (4Trusted Source, 5).

Because vitamin C is water-soluble and sensitive to heat, it can leach out of vegetables when they’re immersed in hot water.

B vitamins are similarly heat sensitive. Up to 60% of thiamin, niacin and other B vitamins may be lost when meat is simmered and its juices run off.

However, when the liquid containing these juices is consumed, 100% of the minerals and 70–90% of B vitamins are retained (6).

On the other hand, boiling fish was shown to preserve omega-3 fatty acid content significantly more than frying or microwaving (7Trusted Source).

Grilling and Broiling

Grilling and broiling are similar methods of cooking with dry heat.

When grilling, the heat source comes from below, but when broiling, it comes from above.

Grilling is one of the most popular cooking methods because of the great flavor it gives food.

However, up to 40% of B vitamins and minerals may be lost during grilling or broiling when the nutrient-rich juice drips from the meat (6).

There are also concerns about polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are potentially cancer-causing substances that form when meat is grilled and fat drips onto a hot surface.

Luckily, researchers have found that PAHs can be decreased by 41–89% if drippings are removed and smoke is minimized (8Trusted Source).

Microwaving

Microwaving is an easy, convenient and safe method of cooking.

Short cooking times and reduced exposure to heat preserve the nutrients in microwaved food (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source).

Studies have found that microwaving is the best method for retaining the antioxidant activity in garlic and mushrooms (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

About 20–30% of vitamin C in green vegetables is lost during microwaving, which is less than most cooking methods (5).

Steaming

Steaming is one of the best cooking methods for preserving nutrients, including water-soluble vitamins that are sensitive to heat and water (4Trusted Source, 5, 6, 17Trusted Source).

Researchers have found that steaming broccoli, spinach and lettuce reduces their vitamin C content by only 9–15% (5).

The downside is that steamed vegetables may taste bland. However, this is easy to remedy by adding some seasoning and oil or butter after cooking.

Try this easy recipe for steamed broccoli with suggested additions to improve the flavor.”

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Read More … Article Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cooking-nutrient-content#section8