Can the cooking process eliminate food nutrients? & bull; hello healthy

Cooking is a way to enjoy food. Without this process, many foods are less delicious to eat. In addition, cooking also aims to kill microorganisms, such as bacteria and germs, that are in food, so that food is healthier to eat and will not cause disease.

However, behind the benefits of the cooking process, it turns out that the heat generated by cooking has an effect on the nutritional content of these foods. Not all nutrients are sensitive to heat, but some nutrients will decrease in number due to heating during cooking.

The heat used when cooking has an effect on food

The heating produced by the cooking process can affect the vitamins and fats in food. Certain vitamins, especially water soluble vitamins, are very sensitive to heat generated during the cooking process. Fat can tolerate higher heat temperatures than other nutrients, but when fat meets the smoke points of the heating, the chemical structure of fat can change.

Changes in the chemical structure of these fats pose health risks, unpleasant odors, altered tastes, and reduced vitamin content. Therefore, you should limit your consumption of fatty foods cooked in cooking oil at very high temperatures.

What nutrients are reduced when cooking?

Although not all, there are some nutrients that can be lost during the cooking process, especially those that produce excess heat.

Water soluble vitamins

Water soluble vitamins, especially vitamin C and vitamin B, are very sensitive to heat. Both of these vitamins are found in many vegetables and fruits. So, cooking vegetables that contain both vitamins can reduce the vitamin content in vegetables, especially if they are cooked with water.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is very sensitive to heat, water and air. A study published in the Journal of Zhejiang University Science in 2009 showed that cooking methods affected the vitamin C levels in broccoli. Broccoli cooked by boiling is the one that removes the most vitamin C content, while broccoli that is cooked by steaming is the most able to retain the vitamin C content in broccoli.

Chuli Zeng's 2013 study that tested the vitamin C content in spinach, lettuce, and broccoli when cooked shows that boiling these vegetables can remove more than 50% of vitamin C content. This study also concluded that raw vegetables have the highest vitamin C content compared to cooked vegetables, and the cooking method by means of steaming is the best method for maintaining the vitamin C content in these vegetables.

Vitamin B

Especially vitamin B1 (thiamine), folic acid, and vitamin B12 are the most unstable to heat. This B vitamin may have been lost, even before going through the cooking process. If stored in an inappropriate place, vitamin B in food can be lost.

A 2010 study published by the Journal of The Pakistan Medical Association showed that boiled milk for 15 minutes led to a 24-36% decrease in the amount of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, and folic acid. This is what may cause milk that has undergone a heating process at the factory to be enriched with various types of vitamins and minerals.

Fat soluble vitamins

Fat soluble vitamins are very sensitive to heat, air, and fat. Fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A, D, and E, can be reduced in quantity in food when cooked in hot oil. Because these vitamins are fat-soluble, they dissolve in the hot oil that is used to cook them. In contrast to vitamins A, D, and E, vitamin K is more stable to heat and does not break down easily. In order not to lose a lot of vitamins A, D, E and K in food, you can cook these foods with high heat and water.

Omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 fatty acids, which are abundant in fatty fish, are not resistant to high heat. Research shows that frying tuna can reduce the omega 3 fatty acid content by 70-85%. Meanwhile, cooking tuna by grilling it will only eliminate a small amount of omega 3 fatty acids in tuna. Likewise, boiling fish can retain more omega 3 fatty acids than frying it.

So, it can be concluded that the cooking method can affect the nutrient content in food. Every food ingredient must be cooked with the right cooking method so that not much of its nutritional content is lost.

How do you maintain the nutrient content in food even though it is cooked?

Some suggestions that you can follow so that the nutrient content in food does not disappear too much during cooking are:

• Start with the storage method. Store food items, such as vegetables, in a good place. It's best to avoid storing vegetables in hot places, especially for vegetables that contain lots of vitamin B and vitamin C. You can store them in a cool place or you can also store them in an airtight container.
• Before cooking, simply wash the vegetables instead of peeling them. Vegetable peels contain several types of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber which are essential for our bodies. It is also best not to remove the outer leaves of vegetables, such as cabbage, unless the leaves are wilted.
• Cook the vegetables with a little water. You should also consume the water used to boil these vegetables, don't throw them away. Or, it is better to cook vegetables by steaming method, using microwave, or roast it, rather than boiling it.
• Cut food after cooking rather than before cooking. This can reduce the nutrient content lost during the cooking process.
• Cook food quickly, not too long. The longer the vegetables are cooked, the more nutrients will be wasted.