Contents:
- Medical Video: How Does Cooking Affect Nutrients in Veggies?
- The heat used when cooking has an effect on food
- What nutrients are reduced during cooking?
- Water soluble vitamins
- Fat soluble vitamins
- Omega 3 fatty acids
- How do you maintain the nutrient content in your food even if it's cooked?
Medical Video: How Does Cooking Affect Nutrients in Veggies?
Cooking is a way to enjoy food. Without this process, many foods become less tasty to eat. In addition, cooking also aims to turn off microorganisms, such as bacteria and germs, which are in food, so that food is healthier to eat and will not cause disease.
However, behind the benefits of the cooking process, it turns out that the heat produced by cooking influences the nutrient content in these foods. Not all nutrients are sensitive to heat, but some nutrients will decrease in number because of heating during cooking.
The heat used when cooking has an effect on food
Heating produced by the cooking process can affect vitamins and fat in food. Certain vitamins, especially water soluble vitamins, are very sensitive to the heat produced during the cooking process. Fat can tolerate higher heat temperatures than other nutrients, but when fat meets the smoke point of heating, the chemical structure of fat can change.
This chemical structure change in fat raises health risks, bad odors, changing taste, and reduced vitamin content. Therefore, you should limit the consumption of fatty foods cooked in cooking oil at very high temperatures.
What nutrients are reduced during cooking?
Although not all, there are some nutrients that can be lost during the cooking process, especially those that produce excessive heat.
Water soluble vitamins
Water soluble vitamins, especially vitamin C and B vitamins, are very sensitive to heat. Both of these vitamins are widely found in vegetables and fruits. So, cooking vegetables containing both vitamins can reduce the vitamin content in vegetables, especially if cooked with water.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is very sensitive to heat, water and air. A study published by the Journal of Zhejiang University Science in 2009 showed that the cooking method affected the levels of vitamin C in broccoli. Boiled broccoli is the most eliminate vitamin C content, while steamed broccoli is the most able to maintain the vitamin C content in broccoli.
2013 Chuli Zeng study that tested vitamin C content in spinach, lettuce, and broccoli during cooking shows that boiling these vegetables can eliminate the vitamin C content by more than 50%. The study also concluded that raw vegetables have the highest vitamin C content compared to cooked vegetables, and the method of cooking by steaming is the best method for maintaining vitamin C content in these vegetables.
Vitamin B
Especially vitamin B1 (thiamine), folic acid and vitamin B12 are the most unstable to heat. This vitamin B may be gone, even before going through the cooking process. If stored in an improper place, vitamin B in food ingredients may be lost.
A 2010 study published by the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association showed that boiled milk for 15 minutes caused a decrease in the amount of vitamins B1, B2, B3, and folic acid by 24-36%. This is what might cause milk that has undergone a heating process in the plant to be enriched with various types of vitamins and minerals.
Fat soluble vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins are very sensitive to heat, air, and fat. Fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A, D, and E, can be reduced in number in food if cooked in hot oil. Because this vitamin can dissolve in fat, this vitamin is then dissolved in the hot oil used to cook it. Unlike vitamin A, D, and E, vitamin K is more stable against heat and is not easily broken. In order not to lose too much vitamin A, D, E and K in food, you can cook these foods with high heat and water.
Omega 3 fatty acids
Omega 3 fatty acids, which are contained in many fatty fish, apparently can not stand high heat. Research shows that frying tuna can reduce omega 3 fatty acids by 70-85%. Meanwhile, cooking tuna by roasting will only remove a small amount of omega 3 fatty acids in tuna. Likewise, boiling fish can maintain more omega 3 fatty acids than frying them.
So, it can be concluded that the cooking method can affect the nutrient content in food. Every food ingredient must be cooked with the right cooking method so that the nutritional content is not much lost.
How do you maintain the nutrient content in your food even if it's cooked?
Some suggestions that you can follow so that the nutrient content in the food does not disappear too much when cooking is:
- Start with the storage method. Store food, like vegetables, in a good place. It's best to avoid storing vegetables in hot places, especially for vegetables that contain lots of B vitamins and vitamin C. You can store them in a cool place or you can also store them in an airtight container.
- Before cooking, simply wash the vegetables instead of peeling them. Vegetable skin contains several types of vitamins and minerals, and fiber that is important for our body. It is also recommended that you do not remove the outer leaves of vegetables, such as cabbage, unless the leaves wither.
- Cook vegetables with a little water. You should also consume the water used to boil the vegetables, not even throw them away. Or, it's better to cook vegetables with steamed method, use microwave, or roast it, rather than boiling it.
- Cut food after cooking rather than before cooking. This can reduce the nutrient content lost during the cooking process.
- Cook food in a fast time, not too long. The longer the vegetables are cooked, the more nutrients will be wasted.
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