How To Cook Veggies Without Losing Nutrients

We eat food for the nutrients (and the enjoyment, let's be real here!), so what's the point of consuming fresh, nutrient-dense veggies if we're going to boil the life out of them?

Stop boiling and start cooking vegetables in a way that preserves all their goodness with these tips and tricks:

Peeling: Don't!

Studies have shown that eating veggies with the skins on means you're consuming more fibre (keeping you fuller for longer) and more nourishment.

Many vegetable species store nutrients and antioxidants in the cell walls of their outer layers.

For example, a cooked potato with the skin intact can contain up to 175% more vitamin C, 115% more potassium, 111% more folate and 110% more magnesium and phosphorus than a peeled potato.

Cook them right.

Boiling veggies results in the water-soluble nutrients leaching out of our food and into the water that gets poured down the drain.

Don't panic though - there are lots of other ways to cook those veggies: steaming means minimal leaching whilst achieving a similar end result. Sautéeing involves cooking your vegetables over high heat with a small amount of oil.

Roasting is super simple - bung it in the oven and forget about it (but don't actually forget…!).

Roasting veggies releases their natural sugars, enhancing the flavours and creating a delicious caramelized effect.

Eat them raw.

Some veggies are best consumed as is, where is. Ok, don't tuck into a lettuce in the middle of the supermarket, and we always recommend washing produce before munching! Greens such as lettuce and broccoli contain the highest amount of vitamin C when eaten raw.

Eat your veggies fresh.

Leaving produce in the fridge for too long doesn't do anyone any good (except maybe the worms in the compost bin).

Aim to eat leafy greens within a few days for optimum nutrient density. If you don't think you'll get through your veggies before they go bad, consider preserving or freezing them, locking in all that goodness!

Eating raw veggies is quite the fad: less cooking means less processing, which means healthier diet… right?

Not always!

In most cases, raw veggies are great, but some are actually better for you when cooked:

• Spinach: this leafy green is loaded with goodies, but also contains high levels of oxalic acid, which reduces the body’s ability to absorb iron and calcium. The heat from cooking spinach releases the bound calcium, making it more readily absorbed.
• Tomatoes: Cooking, of any method, greatly increases the levels of the antioxidant lycopene (released as the cell walls break down from heat). Lycopene is linked to lower rates of chronic illnesses, including heart disease and cancers… so it's probably worth cooking your toms!
• Asparagus: ok, the season has been and gone… but let's remember for next spring: cooking will break down the cell walls of any and every vegetable. In the case of asparagus, cell wall breakdown leads to the release of vitamins A, B9, C and E, making it more readily absorbed by our cells.