Almost everyone needs to eat more fruits and vegetables, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at its Fruits & Veggies Matter website, because fruits and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. The way you prepare and cook fruits and veggies has an impact on how many of those nutrients make their way into your body.
Preparation
Wash all vegetables and fruits in distilled water before cutting or eating them, advises the University of Maine Extension Service. The university lab washed blueberries with plain, distilled water, and with three chemical fruit and veggie washes purchased at the market. The results? Water did a better job of removing pesticides and microbes than any of the commercial washes. Soak unpeeled and uncut vegetables and fruits in distilled water for two minutes before eating them raw or preparing them for cooking.
If you cut vegetables or fruits before cooking, cut them in large pieces to reduce the amount of surface area exposed to air. Exposure to air, heat and light degrades nutrients, so the less area exposed, the more vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals you preserve. Do your peeling and cutting as close to cooking time as possible to avoid losing nutrients to the air and light.
Cooking Containers
Choose appropriate pots, pans and dishes for cooking vegetables and fruits. Aluminum may react with the acids in tomatoes and fruits, for example, and leach aluminum into your food, especially if the pot is worn and pitted. The Food and Drug Administration notes that the amount of aluminum consumed through normal use of aluminum in cooking is safe. Copper, on the other hand, is dangerous if it comes into direct contact with food. If the linings of your copper-bottomed pans become scratched, discard them.
If you choose to cook in the microwave, use cooking containers that carry a "microwave-safe" label, says Harvard Medical School. The FDA requires manufacturers to test the amount of plastic chemicals that leach into food during cooking and only approve containers that meet stringent standards. Do not reuse microwaveable containers from restaurants or frozen meals--they are only approved for one use. On the plus side, vegetables and fruits are less likely to be contaminated than higher-fat animal products.
Methods
The less time your fruits and veggies spend in contact with heat and water, the healthier they'll be, says the University of Massachusetts Extension Service. Steam them, stir-fry them or microwave them with minimal liquid to preserve nutrients. If you do cook them in water--boiling corn on the cob, for instance, or potatoes for mashing--save the cooking water and use it in soups or sauces. Cover cooking pans to keep the steam in, and avoid letting vegetables or fruit stand in cooking water after cooking. Cook in small batches to limit nutrient loss from lengthy heat exposure.
Recipes and Ingredients
Avoid smothering vegetables in cheese and other high-fat, high-calorie sauces. Instead, bring out the flavor with a squeeze of lemon juice, or cook them with spices and herbs. Experiment with flavored oils or dress cooked vegetables with fruit vinaigrette to enhance flavors. Reduce sugar in fruit recipes. To enhance fruit's natural sweetness, substitute fruit juice for water or add flavorings, such as vanilla and cinnamon.
Storage
Proper storage preserves nutrients. Drain cooking liquids, and pack leftover fruits and vegetables in the smallest container possible. Choose opaque containers with tight-fitting lids to prevent air and light from eating up healthy vitamins and minerals.
References
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Best Ways To Wash Fruit and Vegetables
- Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom: How To Protect Nutrients in Food
- UMass Extension: What Is the Best Cooking Method To Preserve the Nutrients in Fruit and Vegetables?
- Dietary Managers Association: Food Protection Connection: Cookware, Chemicals and Hazards
- Harvard Medical School: Microwaving Food in Plastic - Dangerous or Not?
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