Article: The Best Way to Cook Vegetables
I am often asked, "what's the best way to cook vegetables?" and my honest answer is, "anyway that we will eat them." And while that is truly the most important thing, we need to be putting more vegetables on our plates, there are ways to optimize the benefits of vegetables through cooking.
Vegetables are packed with phytochemicals that have health benefits (diagram below), and we can augment these benefits based on how we prepare them.
Fun fact: phytochemicals refers to the properties of certain molecules in plants that interact with our body. Some of these molecules are anti-oxidants, but the terms are not interchangeable.
Typical methods of cooking vegetables include: blanching, boiling, baking, sautéing, steaming and microwaving. Which is best and what do we need to know?
Not all cooking methods are created equal when it comes to preserving the nutritional integrity of vegetables. Opt for methods that involve minimal heat and water exposure. These techniques help retain the maximum amount of vitamins and minerals, ensuring your vegetables remain a powerhouse of nutrients. Let me explain:
Boiling leaches antioxidants from vegetables. For most vegetables, boiling can cause water soluble vitamins, like our B vitamins and vitamin C, to be leached into the cooking water. This means that after boiling, a vegetable would contain less of the good stuff than before we started. Boiling is typically not our best option.
Blanching. Tossing vegetables into boiling water for 1-2 minutes and allowing their colors to really pop is certainly a better option than boiling. While there is less time for vitamins to leach into the cooking water, the exposure to high heat can still inactivate some vitamins like vitamin C, except for in broccoli (2).
Steaming. This is my favorite option. I keep a pot with a metal steamer basket on the stove at all times, filling it with just enough water so that it quickly boils, steaming my frozen vegetables. While appropriately steaming vegetables can still cause some of the vitamins to be lost into the cooking water below, this is a much better option than boiling or blanching.
Baking. Some vegetables retain their antioxidant capacity, like artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, and pepper (3). Some vegetables lose up to 50% of their antioxidant capacity, like carrots, Brussels sprout, leek, cauliflower, pea, and zucchini (3). And others actually improve: green bean, eggplant, maize, Swiss chard, and spinach (3).
Pan sautéing. This appears to be similar to baking but less effective than microwaving depending on the level of heat used.
Microwaving might be the best and easiest option. Had I not reviewed the data, I would have never believed this. In a paper by Lee et al (2018), they found that microwaving spinach, carrots, sweet potato, and broccoli was the best way to preserve the vitamin C in these foods, with steaming coming in at a close second (2). This is because microwaving veggies allows for low heat and minimal contact with water: two things that generally help to preserve the nutrients in vegetables.
As always, what do I think? When we think about vitamins, antioxidants and phytochemicals... these are all found in plants. Which means that we should all be eating more plant foods. When we look at the big picture, adding more plant foods to the diet is the best first step. Boiling them isn't our best option and we shouldn't snub our noses at the microwave. The best cooked vegetable is the vegetable that you will eat.
References
Antioxidant-rich natural fruit and vegetable products and human health. Jideani et al. International Journal of Food Properties. (2021) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10942912.2020.1866597
Effect of different cooking methods on the content of vitamins
Influence of Cooking Methods on Antioxidant Activity of Vegetables. Jimenex-Monreal et al. Journal of Food Science. (2009) https://www.naturaleater.com/science-articles/133-cooking-methods-vegetable-antioxidants.pdf
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