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A Complete Method to Preserve Nutrients While Cooking Veggies

The way you cook your meals can impact the number of nutrients and vitamins you take in. You go out to buy the freshest and healthiest vegetables, get up to start making a healthy meal. Vegetables indeed contain many nutrients, and vitamins and cooked vegetables taste amazing. But the way you cook them can make a vital difference in the number of vitamins and nutrients you preserve. Fresh vegetables contain more nutrients than canned veggies. Frozen veggies stored in blast freezers also hold the same amount of nutrients as fresh veggies. If you are retaining nutrients, the cooked meal will give you maximum health benefits. Here’s what you can do to preserve maximum nutrients while cooking.

The Method of Cooking

The method of cooking matters so much when preparing a healthy meal. The way you are cooking food can vary the number of nutrients you preserve. The best way to cook veggies is by steaming them. It retains maximum nutrients. You can also try different methods. Grilling is also a great way to cook, but make sure you don’t overcook it. You can also bake, boil, or roast the veggies. Another way to cook veggies that will give you the tastiest result is by sautéing them. Do not boil the veggies unless you are making soup.

Limit the Water

The amount of water (if you are using it) can affect your veggie nutrient content. The more water you use, the more nutrients you lose. If you cook veggies in water, you will surely lose nutrients. Do you notice the green hue left in the water after boiling broccoli? It means that the vitamin C and B gets leached in the water. To prevent this, try to cook veggies in as little water as possible for a minimal amount of time. If you want to cool your vegetables, do not plunge them into an ice bath.

Use less Fat

It is a fact that a healthy meal contains less fat. Eating steamed vegetables is healthy, but everyone wants to add a bit of fat to have a tasty meal. Nutrients like beta carotene and vitamin D are fat-soluble. Methods like sautéing and stir-frying include the usage of fat. So, when you are tossing the vegetables, make sure you use just a little fat. You can use any vegetable oil. Cooking spray is the best option, while butter is the worst. Just a bit of oil can take your meal to the next level.

Do not Overcook

It is crucial that you should never overcook your veggies. Overcooking the veggies has many disadvantages. The main disadvantage of overcooking is losing the nutrients. It also drains the flavor of the veggies. If you cook vegetables properly, you can get peek nutrition. Overcooking will cause the loss of many crucial vitamins and nutrients. The flavor of your overcooked veggies will not taste good. Hence the rule to make a tasty and healthy meal is not to overcook. Stir-fry the vegetables for just a few minutes to get the best results. Make sure that the vegetables do not get mushy. Because the texture of the vegetable matters so much. Overcooked vegetables will lose their bright colors, and they will not look good. Overcooking will affect the texture, appearance, flavor, and nutrition of your veggies.