[Evermont]

(link) ...Nicoletta Pellegrini and colleagues note that although many people maintain that eating raw vegetables is more nutritious than eating cooked ones, a small but growing number of studies suggest that cooking may actually increase the release of some nutrients. However, scientists are seeking more complete data on the nutritional properties of cooked vegetables, the researchers say.

In the new study, the researchers evaluated the effects of three commonly-used Italian cooking practices — boiling, steaming, and frying — on the nutritional content of carrots, zucchini and broccoli. Boiling and steaming maintained the antioxidant compounds of the vegetables, whereas frying caused a significantly higher loss of antioxidants in comparison to the water-based cooking methods, they say. For broccoli, steaming actually increased its content of glucosinolates, a group of plant compounds touted for their cancer-fighting abilities. The findings suggest that it may be possible to select a cooking method for each vegetable that can best preserve or improve its nutritional quality, the researchers say.

[ant hill]

Geez, I thought that as soon as you start to cook the vegetable, Nutrients will start to diminish the value of antioxidants and the like.

[caswellhb]

Oh come on!!!!!! School chemistry here. Heat acelarates the dispersal of nutrients. Why are these people trying to blind us with science? Look at heat plus o2 plus water in most foods.

Heather.

[ant hill]

Originally Posted by caswellhb

Oh come on!!!!!! School chemistry here. Heat acelarates the dispersal of nutrients. Why are these people trying to blind us with science? Look at heat plus o2 plus water in most foods.

Heather.

Hey Heather, Remember the Tomas Dolby single blinding me with science.

[caswellhb]

I do Peter. Good grief, I am showing my age!!!!!!!!!

Heather.

[Evermont]

Like Peter, and many other people as the article says, I had been under the mistaken perception that cooking (heat) reduces the nutrient density of plant food.

I had recently intensified my focus on nutrition (and exercise) and came across a single mention to the contrary. It was a work by Dr. Andrew Weil where he mentioned that cooking carrots actually makes more of the nutrients bioavailable. He didn't explain it really. It left me to wonder about how it works, what the details are for other vegetables, etc.

I shared this because it interests me greatly and I thought other might benefit from it.

Does anyone here know where I can find detailed, reliable knowledge on nutrient content of all manner of plant foods given various cooking methods?