is it true that if you cook vegetables...?

Question

most of the vitamins and minerals they contain evaporate out and make the vegetables useless for health enrichment?

Answer 1

Yes, but if you steam them, the nutrients are still fresh! The nutrients are in the color!

Answer 2

Not quite. It's actually much more complex than that. The A and C vitamins are "water soluble." That means if you cook vegetables with those vitamins in them in water, the combination of water and heat will eventually remove the vitamins. Now, the vitamins are not all gone, but are now in the water. So if you love very soft vegetables, save the water you cook them in for a soup. Vitamin E and some others are not harmed, or removed.

If you prefer less soft veggies, you can steam them, and you won't lose much at all.

There is something to destroy everything, so if you want to preserve the vitamins and minerals in your food, I recommend you start buying books about health food and juicing. That will start you on the path to learning about nutrition in our food.

Answer 3

The cooking method as well as the amount of time you cook a vegetable will affect the nutrient content, especially the water-soluble vitamins such as B vitamins and vitamin C.

The longer you cook a vegetable, the more heat-sensitive vitamins are lost. Also vitamins which are water-soluble leach into the cooking liquid if the vegetables are cooked in water. Use cooking methods that re-uses the cooking liquid such as soups, or uses very little liquid such as steaming or microwaving to preserve nutrients.

Answer 4

It depends on the veggie and how you cook it. Many veggies are wonderful raw but some you can't access everything well unless it's processed in some way.
Boiling veggies is not a good idea, generally, unless you drink the water afterwards! Lightly steaming them or roasting them is the best, for health enrichment.
Where you get your veggies can be much more important though. CSA (community supported agriculture) groups are a great way to get your food from a local farmer where you can trust his farming methods. Veggies that you buy at the store, non-organic, can have many, many times less vitamins and nutrients than local, organic produce.

Answer 5

Yes. Steaming vegetables is the better way to go. You get to keep all that good stuff that most people boil out then run right down in the drain. Eating raw vegetables is another good way to go. Theres lots of recipies out there for raw vegetables too. So, if you dont like them, just spice them up.

Answer 6

Yes, you are better of cooking them in a microwave. Some vegetables I cook, then drink the water I cooked them in. Hasn't done me any harm, Raw vegies are the way to go for health enrichment.

Answer 7

Yes. The best way to cook them and keep the most amount of vitamins (and flavor) in them is to steam them.

Answer 8

Heres where a good pressure cooker comes in handy. Cabbage is lovely cooked in one of these. Just be sure to watch your minutes and do not overcook.
Pressure cookers are so very safe now. And easy to use.

Answer 9

"That's Correct dude, SPECIALLY when you boil them in hot water! It's best that if you do boil them...make sure you NEVER throw away the water but consume them w/ the veggies your'e cooking. Vegetables are best if eaten raw...or steamed, that way, they don't lose any of their nutrients & Potency"....

Answer 10

that is not true at all. when you boil a vegetable, you break down the cell walls. when the cell walls break down, the release certian nutients that help you resist the cold or the flu much better.