After cooking fish, does microwaving it deplete it of its nutrients or more specifically omega 3 fatty acids?

Question

After cooking the fish on a grill outside, then storing in the fridge, then microwaving the fish deplete it of its nutrients and more specifically omega 3 fatty acids? Is it better to eat vegatables raw or cooked?

Answer 1

Hi there,

There are many nutrients that are damaged/depleted with repeated heatings (various vitamins such as vitamin C; omega-3 fatty acids; etc).

Now, in the case of omega-3 fatty acids, they are good for us because they are highly "unsaturated" (polyunsaturated). However, the same reason that they are good for us is the SAME reason that these fatty acids can be easily oxidized (aka damaged).
(This is why you can't cook with omega-3 oils- they oxidize and burn.... this is also why fast food places use unhealthy trans fats or saturated fats in their fryers= they don't oxidize easily.)

With repeated heating and cooling and storage time, the omega-3 fatty acids will oxidize and will no longer be in the "healthy-for-you" form.

However, the amount available in most fish is fairly low (unless you are eating fatty fish like sardines and mackeral) anyways so I wouldn't be super concerned about the loss of omega-3s.
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As for veggies, it's not as simple as a straight YES or NO as to whether you should eat them raw or cooked. It depends more on what you want from them- certain nutrients and phytochemicals are MORE bioavailable after cooking (i.e. lycopene from tomatoes) but certain nutrients are also degraded by heating (vitamin C, etc). ALso, it is dangerous to eat some things raw (raw soybeans contain enzymes that can be bad for you and heating the soybean inactivates those enzymes).

So, it's a balance!!
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Great questions! Happy eatings :)

Answer 2

As far as I know microwaving food does not deplete it of nutrients and to the contrary, microwaving can preserve food nutrients that can otherwise be lost say in boiling vegetables and other types of cooking especially when cooking in liquids.

Answer 3

I found no proof that microwaves deplete Omega 3. If you are worried, you can eat Omega three in capsules.

Answer 4

I don't have an answer to your question. I will say this...microwaving already cooked fish will make the fish "rubbery."

Answer 5

yes

Answer 6

i dont know u should ask a black person cuz they love cat fish

Answer 7

yes duh.. steamed is always the best way to go when cooking food. me, personally, i dont care.