Conserving Vitamins and Minerals within your Food

You may be eating a healthy, balanced diet, but did you know that a lot of vitamins and minerals are susceptible to degradation via environmental impacts such as heat and light, reducing it’s nutritious value.  Here are some tips to ensure that you are getting the optimum micronutrient content from your food:

• Buy small portions of fruit and vegetables often, keep cool and eat within a few days.
• Use frozen and canned fruit and vegetables when fresh not available, the preservation process has little impact on the nutrient content and in some cases for example peas and kale, their content is boosted[1].
• Cook vegetables for the minimum amount of time such as steaming, stir-frying and microwaving.
• If you boil vegetables, use as little water as possible, a tight lid and introduce them as quickly as possible and keep the resulting water to use as a stock as it will retain some nutrients for example iron, zinc and magnesium.
• Try to avoid peeling fruit and vegetables as a lot of micronutrients and polyphenols are contained in concentrated levels just under the skin.
• When chopping up fruit and vegetables try to produce large chunks to reduce the surface area exposed to air and don’t soak prior to cooking.
• Use the absorption technique when cooking brown rice as a lot less vitamin B1 is lost when less water is used [2].
• Protect extra virgin olive oil from light by storing in an opaque glass bottle and at a constant temperature to reduce risk of oxidation [3]

References

• 1.           Ilyasoğlu, H. and N.A. Burnaz, Effect of domestic cooking methods on antioxidant capacity of fresh and frozen kale. International Journal of Food Properties, 2015. 18(6): p. 1298-1305.
• 2.           Vidal, V., et al., Cooking behavior of rice in relation to kernel physicochemical and structural properties. J Agric Food Chem, 2007. 55(2): p. 336-46.
• 3.           Guillaume, C., F. De Alzaa, and L. Ravetti, Evaluation of chemical and physical changes in different commercial oils during heating. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health, 2018. 2(6): p. 2-11.