Preparation and Nutritional Value

Cooking, baking, steaming, roasting or (deep) frying…

What kind of impact has the preparation of our meals on their nutritional values? Here are 7 trivia’s you might help you deciding on how to prep your meals.

Orange juice has more sugar than an whole orange fruit. Turing fruit and vegetables into juice leads to the loss of fibers that are responsible for satiation. What is left in the juice are sugars.
When you boil vegetables rather than steam them, they lose more vitamin C. Particular, leaf vegetables are prone to this (source: Voedingscentrum).
Braising vegetables leads to maintaining 5-10% more water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, than steaming (source: Voedingscentrum).
Leftover liquid or juice from cooking many times contains vitamins of the vegetable or fruit during cooking. It’s makes a great base for broth.
Fresh of frozen vegetables are best added to already boiling water rather than cold water that slowly heats up. This way you save the water-soluble vitamins. Use as little water as needed and with the lid on the pan. The longer the vegetables are cooked the more nutrients are lost (source: Voedingscentrum).
Don’t through freshly chopped up garlic in the frying pan. Normally, vegetables lose nutrients after being chopped up. Garlic works differently. The enzyme that e.g. enables allicins (= compound that makes garlic healthy), activates only when the cell membrane is broken, aka chopped up. Due to the heat, this activation process is prevented in a hot frying pan. Therefore, leave the chopped up garlic for 10 minutes before adding it to the frying pan. A garlic press works best! (source: Foodlog).
That one perfect method of preparing your meals does not exist. Make sure you variate between methods. This way you can enjoy all different flavors and textures and ensures you get the most nutrients possible.