WHEN vegetables are cooked under certain conditions some of the B and C group vitamins can be reduced or destroyed.
The B and C vitamins dissolve in water meaning if any of these vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, courgettes, mushrooms, potatoes, spinach etc) are cooked in water by blanching or boiling, most of these vitamins will be lost when the water is thrown out.
It’s a different story if your final dish is soup where you drink the water.
You can retain more of the B and C vitamins in vegetables if you steam or microwave where possible as there is less contact with water. Vitamin C is heat sensitive with microwaving seeming to be the best method in retaining more of it when cooking broccoli, courgettes, potatoes and spinach. You can also get vitamin C from berries, kiwi fruit and oranges where no cooking is needed.
Vitamins B and C help reduce tiredness, help with energy release and boost collagen which keeps our bodies strong. Cooking any of these previous vegetables can also increase levels of vitamin E and K especially in the green ones.
Steaming asparagus, broccoli and spinach is a good approach. Vitamins E and K help keep our bones strong and fight against inflammatory disease. Make sure you achieve your five fruit and vegetables per day to keep the doctor away. At present, where we live, only around three in ten adults achieve five per day which is nowhere good enough.
• Lee McCusker (BA; MSc; MSc; MSc; ANutr; SENr) is a registered nutritionist from Belfast and can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Email: attentive nutrition@gmail.com
