Cooking techniques to maximize nutritional value: tips and tricks

What are the best ways to prepare food? Discover the benefits of different cooking techniques

The nutritional value of food is almost always altered by the kind of processing it undergoes. Eating cooked food helps facilitate the digestion process and makes it easier to absorb many nutrients. However, it may as well reduce the levels of some vitamins and minerals. Vitamins can be destroyed due to factors such as heat, air, and light. Through lixiviation vitamins and minerals are also lost. Therefore, knowing how to handle and cook products will help retain the nutrients present in the food. If you want to know how different cooking techniques affect the nutritional value of food, keep reading!

Before cooking:

• Vegetables should be well rinsed just before using them.

• Peel the vegetables skin as thinly as possible, and only when necessary. Many vegetables have a higher concentration of nutrients just below the skin.

• Cut veggies into large pieces or cook them whole to preserve water-soluble vitamins and minerals.

• Use (when available) the outer layers and leaves of vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage. Those have a higher concentration of Vitamin C and carotenoid than the ones in the interior.

• Avoid losses due to leaching by not soaking vegetables in water for long times.

• Prepare salads just before serving.