Vegetables have many powerful and healing nutrients that protects our physical and mental health and wellbeing. However, many times, we end-up over cooking our vegetables leaving them with very little nutrients, specially the health protecting antioxidants. So how do we make sure we retain the nutrients in vegetables that we are cooking.
Some basic tips:
1. First and foremost cook them on low to medium heat.
2. Cover the pot in which they are being cooked to retain the moisture
3. Avoid or extremely minimize added oils as cooking vegetables with oils (specially frying) can create certain harmful bi-products. When using oil, choose limited quantity of "superior quality extra virgin olive oil", but avoid overheating it.
4. Use spices like turmeric, ginger and other dried herbs to improve nutrient profile.
5. Adding plenty of freshly chopped cilantro / parsley (where possible) on top of cooked vegetables is another way to boost nutrients.
According to studies done on retention of nutrients, here are some tips to cook certain vegetables to maintain high nutrient concentration.
Bell Peppers:
Red bell, orange or yellow bell peppers have twice the antioxidant power than the green bell peppers. You can stir fry / grill / bake them on low heat (ideally without oil). Keep them slightly crunchy, DO NOT overcook them. Another way to consume them is by boiling them i.e. as part of the soup, make sure to consume the water as well since many of the antioxidants leach on to the water.
Mushrooms:
According to research studies, grilling is the best way to keep the nutrients present in the mushrooms. it was noted that when fried or boiled the antioxidant activity of mushrooms dropped significantly. However, when grilled in some cases there was even an increase in the antioxidant activity.
Sweet potatoes/squashes/pumpkins Boiling/steaming method is found to be the best ways to retain the antioxidant power of sweet potatoes/squashes/pumpkins, compared to roasting and steaming. According to Michael Greger of www.NutritionFacts.org, "the glycemic index of boiled sweet potatoes was found to be only about half that of baking or roasting. So, boiling (method) gives one less of a blood sugar spike." He further add that " Make sure to keep the skin on, though. The peel of a sweet potato has nearly ten times the antioxidant power as the flesh—an antioxidant capacity “comparable [to] that of blueberries,” though it really takes a hit when baked, wiping out over two-thirds, The same with the rest of the sweet potato. Baking can cause an 80% drop in vitamin A levels—twice as much as boiling. So, “from a nutritional standpoint, boiling rather than baking can be recommended for sweet potato cooking.”
Another good way to retain many of the nutrients is by blending the boiled / steamed pumpkins, sweet potatoes, squashes etc., with certain spices such as turmeric and consuming in the form of a hearty soup.
Cauliflower:
When it comes to cauliflower, boiling method was shown to reduce the antioxidant power of cauliflower. The better method of cooking cauliflower was blanching for 3 minutes and then running under cold water to stop them from further cooking. Even steaming between 3-6 minutes was found to be good. Gently roasting (not charring) can also be done to retain antioxidants.
Broccoli:
In green vegetables there is a particular type of plant pigment called lutein. It plays an important tole in protecting the eyesight and the brain function as well. Green vegetables like broccoli has 50 times more lutein than cauliflower (because it's too white). In case of broccoli, gently boiling actually made lutein levels go up but steaming method was even better as nearly doubled the lutein levels.
Leafy Green vegetables:
When it comes to leafy green such as kale, spinach, mustard greens, chard etc., high heat such as like stir-frying, can almost eliminate the lutein levels. One of the best ways to retain and in some cases triple the bioavailability of the lutein in leafy greens such as spinach is by using them in a green smoothie, pesto, or some kind of puréed spinach dish. Lightly blanching them (just enough so they still maintain their dark green color) is also a good way to consume them. When adding them to lentils/soups etc., its best to add the leafy greens after the stove is turned off and cover the pot after they are added.
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