Preparing your veggies: not all methods are created equal

Did you know that in order to gain the maximum amount of nutritional value from your veggies they have to be cooked in a certain way? Leah Zerbe and Emily Main from Organic Gardening break down the different methods for preparing your vegetables, explaining which methods are most and least beneficial for nutrient retention. Here's what they said:

Microwave: the best method to use in order to maintain the maximum amount of antioxidant preservation (except for cauliflower, which loses half of its antioxidants this way).

Griddling: just like the microwave, griddling allows vegetables to maintain their antioxidants while being cooked. Be cautious though of the nonstick griddles, for the chemicals used on these can be toxic.

Baking/roasting: this method is good for some vegetables and bad for others. Go ahead and bake your artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, and peppers to maintain nutrient levels, and definitely use this method with green beans, eggplant, Swiss chard, and spinach, all of which have their nutrient levels increase when prepared this way. When it comes to carrots, Brussels sprouts, leeks, cauliflower, peas, zucchini, onions, beans, celery, beets, and garlic though, opt out of this method, for their antioxidant levels will decrease.

Frying: try to stray away form this method, as nutrient levels decrease from 5-50%.

Pressure cooking and boiling: not the best methods, seeing as how vegetables (with the exception of carrots) lose antioxidants when prepared this way.

Steaming: definitely a great way to prepare your veggies, but since many of their vitamins and nutrients are fat soluble (meaning you benefit from them most when they're eaten with fat), to really benefit from this method, add in a bit of olive oil to let your body most effectively absorb their nutrients.

Sautéing: similar to microwaving, by preparing your vegetables with high heat in a short period of time, their nutrient levels remain relatively in tact, with the oil you use to sauté them with helping your body to absorb their nutrients.

To check out the article yourself, click the link here.