Nutrition question RE: Vegetables & Fruit?

Do cooked fruits and vegetables lose their vitamin & nutrition content when cooked?

Some do while others have vitamins which are more accessible when cooked, like lycopiene in tomatoes only is available if they are cooked.

Cooking destroys some cancer-fighting nutrients, yet enhances the absorption of others. For example, by cooking your dark green leafy vegetables, studies show you may be destroying half of the antioxidant carotenoids. At the same time, cooking may double carotenoid bioavailability, such that in the end your body might wind up with the same amount.

Cooking vegetables increases the content of one type of fiber (soluble), which may help prevent cancer by decreasing insulin levels, but cooking decreases the content of another type (insoluble), which may help prevent cancer in a different way (by binding and excreting carcinogens).

Cooking may reduce cancer risk by destroying some of the pesticides present in non-organic produce, but cooking also destroys enzymes that may have beneficial effects. Wait, though, the American Dietetic Association just reviewed raw foods diets (October 2004) and concluded that one's stomach acid destroys the plant enzymes anyway so it doesn't matter if cooking destroys them first. Yes, but digestion starts in the mouth, not in the stomach.

Raw garlic (in homemade salsa, guacamole, pesto, etc.) may be healthier than cooked because of an enzyme called alliinase, which produces a DNA-protecting compound called allicin when chewed in your mouth. One minute worth of microwaving, though, completely inactivates this enzyme, such that when you then chew it you absorb little or none of the protective allicin compound.

The same thing happens in broccoli. There's an enzyme (called myrosinase) that produces special compounds whenever the plant's cell walls are ruptured (i.e. when you chew) that rev up your own liver's ability to detoxify carcinogens. But cooking inactivates the enzyme, such that people chomping down on steamed broccoli only seem to get about a third as much of these special cancer-fighting compounds.

At the same time, cooking one's broccoli seems to increase the bioavailability of other cancer-fighters (called indoles) which help your body control hormone levels. Bottom-line, we should eat a combination of both cooked AND raw vegetables, which is exactly what the Columbia researcher found:

"It is clear from this review that both raw and cooked vegetables are inversely related to [in other words protective against] several... cancers. Although more of the studies showed a statistically significant inverse [protective] relationship between raw vegetables and cancer than either cooked or total vegetables, the literature is too varied to compare definitively... In the meanwhile the public should be encouraged to increase their vegetable intake and to consider eating some of them raw."

a bit. here's a tip. if your cooking something like broccoli, you'll notice the water after you drain them is green. that is some of the nutrients.

to best maintain the nutrients, put them in a put with just an inch of water in it, then put a lid on it. this steams them rather than boils them preserving the nutrients for your enjoyment.

i heard somewhere that tomatoes are healthier if they are cooked..............i might be making that up.LOL. I don't think that veggies and fruits loose their nutrition when being cooked it just depends on what your cooking with it or put on top of it.

some nutrients will cook out into the water if you over-boil your veggies. Instead bake or steam them, until still crisp and they will retain all their good qualities.

they will lose a little bit of their nutritional value but not a whole lot. either way it's good that you're eating them....cooked or raw.

Just ever so slightly, but not enough that it makes a big difference.

from wat ive heard, they dont. but dont believe me though. those are just the rumors