Boiled, steamed, microwaved or raw? (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News)What is the best way to cook vegetables? It’s one of the most common questions asked by readers, so I decided to explore whether boiled, steamed, microwaved or raw is better.
Unfortunately, as you’ll see in today’s Well column in Science Times, there isn’t a simple answer. How you prepare a food influences the nutrients and phytochemicals that end up on your plate. The challenge is finding the right balance between healthful preparation and delicious eating.
To read the full column, click here. And post your comments below.
Healthy living doesn't happen at the doctor's office. The road to better health is paved with the small decisions we make every day. It's about the choices we make when we buy groceries, drive our cars and hang out with our kids. Join columnist Tara Parker-Pope as she sifts through medical research and expert opinions for practical advice to help readers take control of their health and live well every day. You can reach Ms. Parker-Pope at 
The easiest and most pleasurable way to eat well is to cook. Recipes for Health offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day. 
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Does anyone out there know if one recovers (m)any of the nutrients lost in, say, boiling broccoli, if one then re-uses the broccoli water to cook rice? Since rice absorbs the cooking liquid, seems like the nutrients that aren’t destroyed by heat should still be in the water and then pulled into the rice. Besides that possibility, it reduces energy/water waste (if your turnaround time from draining broccoli is fast, it only takes a short time to boil the water once the rice is in) and increases flavor…
— NMNNo matter how you cook your vegetables, you should peel them first, just like Europeans do it. There are several reasons for removing skins. These reasons extend well beyond taste and aesthetics:
- Skins (peels, pericarp) protect veggies from the environment, and, correspondingly, they collect the majority of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and so on. You really don’t want these substances in your plate regardless of cooking technique;
- Skins are the most likely source for fungi — “multinucleate organisms that live by decomposing and absorbing the organic material in which they grow, comprising the mushrooms, molds, mildews, smuts, rusts, and yeasts.” (Random House Unabridged Dictionary). Reasons for avoiding these “pleasures” are self-explanatory;
- The outermost layer of the plant skin — the tough outer layer — is called exocarp. It’s made from cellulose that doesn’t ferment even when assaulted by intestinal bacteria, and is the most likely source of intestinal irritations and obstructions, particularly in toddlers, whose internal organs are so tiny.
- Exocarp contains paraffin waxes, coloring pigments, limonin (bitter substances intended to chase away bugs and animals), some enzymes, and steroids. All of these substances a strong allergens and irritants, especially (again) for children.
- The folds of skin may still contain dirt (i.e. sand). It’s difficult to wash out and it may harm oral mucosa and teeth.
- Finally, you want to avoid seeds for the same reasons you want to avoid skins — they don’t digest for similar reasons, and may congregate and cause intestinal obstructions. When children’s appendixes are removed during surgery, they often contain undigested seeds. Also, seeds may damage anal canal during defecation, and cause pain, bleeding, and hard-to-heal anal fissures.
All of the same rules apply to most fruits as well.
Hope this bit of information will give you a better prospective on what comes in, and what comes (or doesn’t) out…
Konstantin Monastyrsky, author of Fiber Menace
http://www.FiberMenace.com
P.S. This information doesn’t apply to Anonymous M.D.: Dear Sir/Madam, you may keep your skins on. Leave it to psychotics among us to remove ‘em…
— Konstantin MonastyrskyFROM TPP — I’m going to post your comment, however I do take issue with these ad hominem attacks on another reader. For future reference and for other readers, I’m going to start deleting entire comments that contain personal attacks. There’s no point, and they aren’t interesting or helpful to readers.
It is interesting that the article talks about salt making vegetables taste better. That seems to be a cultural thing. I am not American and I tested this out once with friends. I made us all dinner (and it was vegetarian so there were lots of veges) and told them I wanted them to tell me if they got the one without the salt. They knew why I was asking (because I’ve never added salt to my food in my life) so they weren’t just being polite when they all said they had the “tasty” salted dinner. In fact NONE of them had salt added. I think Americans expect salt to be necessary for taste and therefore when they control the adding of salt they have a sort of anti-placebo effect, if it doesn’t have salt it doesn’t seem to taste as good. But if you didn’t know it didn’t have salt you’d never know the difference.
Unless of course you always add huge amounts. Even I can taste the difference then. I started adding salt when I followed American recipes and found I could not taste the difference, so I just stopped adding it.
The same goes for MSG. Since where I come from MSG was banned years ago, I never knew what MSG-laden food tasted like. I could not taste a significant difference when I started eating MSG-laden Chinese take-out in the US. So I think that you could cut it out and no one would ever notice. And you’d be much healthier!
— kellyThe biggest complaint I have about most restaurants is that the green beans and broccoli isn’t COOKED–it’s blanched–just barely warm by the time it gets to the table-bright green. I’m not a cow. My stomach will NOT process thick vegetable walls and get those nutrients out. They are saving time by barely steaming the things, but they are not cooking them and I cannot eat the stuff. Fork tender means fork tender–something that is actually chewable and will taste like something other than a weed. We need some education back in the kitchens. Yes, you lose a few water soluble vitamins by cooking longer, but you gain in taste and the fact that more of it will wind up EATEN. Southerners have long known that a touch of butter on veggies enhances taste–and have cooked greens with a piece of meat for over a century. New Englanders cook beans with ham hock. It doesn’t take much–Americans are really awful about the “if some is good, more is even better” thing. You want just enough to enhance what you are cooking without overpowering it–the veggie is the star. This is applied chemistry in the laboratory of the home. If you don’t do it correctly, you’re wasting time, energy, and money–and who can afford any of that in today’s world?
— Georgia Peachvery interesting article but since most of us have a variety of foods and food preparations over the course of a week how really meaningful are the daily fluctuations in vitamin and mineral intake to our health and well being in the long run? Will we live a day or two longer or less by all the preoccupation with the daily microchemistry balance of each of our meals?
— Joel Fyvolent M.D.Americans more and more are spending time in such analysis instead of just enjoying their food under a pleasant environment. Joel D. Fyvolent M.D.
My answer is simply use them all. Eat a variety of vegetables in a variety of cooking methods and you’ll get both great tasting food and a good helping of nutrients.
— AndyThe New Cook
tara, what about those of us with thyroid issues? i’ve read cooking helps to diminish goitrogens do you know any more? how long to cook and how much is removed? i miss broccoli and cabbage!
ty!
— heidiInteresting stuff, especially the bit about accompanying fat consumption helping the absorption of nutrients. Mmm, avocado.
For the most part, I just try to prepare vegetables in varied ways that are simple and delicious. I’ll eat carrots raw, sauté them when that tastes best, or cook them in soup. But certain things, like beans, I’m more cautious about. From what I understand, beans require soaking to decrease phytates that block the absorption of other nutrients and limit digestibility.
Food Is Love
— DebsTara,
Thank you for your hard work, and for giving us (your readers) a chance to express our diverse views about your pertinent and timely posts.
Sorry for offending you with my remark. I was simply referring to this post from May 15th:
“OK, let’s all agree that poster #2 is psychotic. The amounts of the substances listed are tiny, far too small to have the effects listed. How can this person make such an insane leap of judgement?”
— Posted by Anonymous MD
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/multivitamins-linked-with-breast-density/
Obviously, I was that “psychotic” and “insane” poster #2. Since your editors let this offensive comment through, I assumed it would be OK to post my comparatively lame tongue-in-cheek response.
Nonetheless, you advise is well taken, and I’ll refrain from responding to insulting comments.
Konstantin Monastyrsky, author of Fiber Menace
FROM TPP — Thanks….I shouldn’t have let the earlier comment through.
— Konstantin MonastyrskyThe key to cooking vegetables is to find the method that tastes best. Has there been a study showing what method of cooking is most likely to get more of us eating vegetables?
Perhaps fried vegetables may be best because they get eaten?
— MichaelI recently joined a program called Greysheeters Anonymous (greysheet.org) which is primarily vegetables (both raw and cooked for lunch and dinner, fruit for breakfast and 4 oz of protein at each meal–meat, chicken, fish, cheese, dairy, eggs), and since December 23, have lost twenty-five or so pounds, have noticed a HUGE increase in energy, even in the evening after a full day at my busy job.
There are a few components to this simple program. One is no eating of grains or sugar, except wheat germ, and a certain number of tablespoons of olive oil or butter with lunch and dinner, and no eating between meals. The portions are weighed and measured, to make sure one gets ALL of the food to be eaten, for instance, for lunch–4 oz of protein, 8 oz of cooked vegetables, 8 ounces of raw vegetables, 1 TBLS of olive oil, and the amount is enough to make one full enough so that you are sustained throughout the afternoon, and therefore do not go roaming the halls of the workplace looking for that “afternoon pickup” of junk food.
All the food I now eat is whole food, just some is raw and some is cooked. This has been an amazing experience, to suddenly have so much energy, clarity, and peace around eating.
As a compulsive eater (addicted to sugar), I eagerly proclaimed myself up until December as “Living to Eat”, and now I just as eagerly “Eat to Live”, and am not obsessing on food anymore, because I am full from my meals, because I know what I am going to be eating for dinner tonight–4 oz protein, 8 oz of cooked veggies, 8 oz of raw veggies, 2 TLBs olive oil, and a little pudding for dessert of 1 oz wheat germ with 1 tbls butter and some flavored stevia (an herbal sweetener).
For anyone feeling that you have no way out of the compulsivity around eating, and want to lose those pounds gained over the years, this is a brilliant and healthy way to do it.
— BashaI think Michael Pollan answered this question in his book. Just eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, lots of leaves, don’t go crazy worrying about nutrients.
— MBHThe best way of cooking vegetables may be in the form of soup — you get the benefits of cooking but the liquid in which they are cooked is retained and eaten. Plus soups are a good way to use many different types of vegetables.
Overall I agree with #5, Dr. Fyvolent … micromanaging your cooking methods to get the most favorable nutrient profile is a little ridiculous. As long as you’re not deep-frying all your veggies or boiling them for 3 hours with a chunk of lard, you’ll still get a healthy dish out of it, however you prepare it.
— TMLAgree with 5 and 6; however, it is very helpful to have a base understanding of the optimally nutritious way to cook different foods, just as we instinctively use cooking methods based on optimal taste. Does anyone boil steak?
And I’m really glad for the acknowledgment that most children avoid veggies because we serve them too plain. I long ago made my peace with the fact that my daughter loves veggies with a nice sauce, in soup, or sauteed in butter, but avoids them plain. By making them more appealing to her, my husband and I wound up eating more of them ourselves.
— francoisI’ve always heard that cooking vegetables in a pressure cooker will help retain more of the nutrients and flavor. We routinely prepare soups, stews, even pasta and tomato sauce in the pressure cooker. These dishes are certainly easy and very tasty, but are they more nutritious than dishes prepared conventionally (sauteed or simmered for longer periods)? Thank you.
— CindyMSG isn’t just common to the US–it’s an additive in virtually all food produced in most Asian countries. It’s not a danger, but some people have sensitivity to it.
And Americans and salt–some cuisines add salt in the accompanying side dishes and garnishes, like pickles or sauces. While a taste for adding salt at the table might be cultural, salt is a nearly universal flavoring.
— RachelRather than re-use the broccoli water, why not just serve it, with a side of cornbread. That’s pot likker in the South.
— RachelI eat a lot of raw fruits and veggies because I can eat all I want without putting on weight. For children, a bowl of raw veggies is a nice way to ‘veg’ out after school before digging into homework. Sauteed veggies with a ton of garlic is a favorite treat. Soups are a great way to use the juices left over from veggies too.
— swpI’m with Joel MD above. All these articles don’t serve much purpose other than to confuse and stress out the general population. I think if we stick to eating a variety of foods including vegetables, prepared in a variety of ways, we’ll have a good diet and do the best we can. For each meal I need to consider the following - fiber, fat, organic, local, method of cooking, carbon footprint, if I ate it for lunch yesterday or am going to for dinner today, vitamins, potential for needing mouthwash etc…. What happened to taste and enjoying your food? I’ve enjoyed reading about food and health but I’m on the verge of skipping all articles on the topic because they cause me more stress than good.
— ReaderIt was a surprise to me to learn that boiling is better than steaming for some veggies. I really like my veggies steamed more than I like them boiled, so this is a dilemma for me. However, it’s not really that much of one because I eat a *lot* of veggies. I figure that if I keep my consumption up nice and high, then the small differences between boiled and steamed won’t matter as much.
I like a little butter or cheese on my veggies, but not much. Sometimes I go out to eat and the vegetables are *swimming* in melted butter, and I can barely taste them. That’s not tasty to me.
However, cooking the veggies with meat is aces. I like to fry up a piece of bacon and then wilt some spinach in the bacon grease. Yum. My boyfriend and I will eat a whole bag of spinach this way, and the fat from one strip of bacon’s pretty negligible.
— RowanI’m surprised that none of the studies looked at roasting veggies. No water to leach out the nutrients, heat that will break down the cellulose, and a little olive oil to enhance the flavor. Herbs, spices, a touch of sea salt — what could be better?
— MarciaI wonder why frozen cherries lose the antioxidants?
What is happening to the fruit in the freezer? Where are these compounds going? They just disappear?
I also think that Konstantin Monastyrsky is out to promote himself and his unsubstantiated book. I don’t think that this forum is a place for him to voice all these seemingly authoritative comments with links to his website and book. Kick him off, please, to maintain the credibility around here.
— Alan MushnickHe can get his own blog.
By doing a Google search, many differing opinions and studies come up.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/Food/Cooking_Tips/Getting_the_Most_Nutrients_out_of_Cooked_Vegetables/
Is there a book out there on this topic, maybe with recipes or which vegetables should be cooked together?
— ACTI’m still wondering what to do in certain situations. The ful article states that while cooked carrots give you more one one nutrient, raw carrots give you more of another. So should i have half raw and half cooked? Or maybe just all literally half cooked so that you can an in between?
I agree somewhat with Georgia Peach, but for different reasons, since I personally like my broccoli barely ocoked at restaurants! I think that when they are fully cooked and yes, taste less like the raw veggie taste that, as stated somewhat in the full article, more people will actually eat them. And even if you’re not getting AS MANY nutrients as you possibly could with raw or less-cooked vegetables, at least if they taste better, people are more likely to eat them!
— EmilyI do love the part about using full fat salad dressings. Personally I like steaming for the minimum time necessary to get them cooked.
— Rich