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we have an abundance of food this year in our garden. Partially due to all the rain we have had. I am considering freezing the over flow. ? will this destroy the nutritional value. I realize there are varying opinions.This is a post I found which is basically contrary to other post I have read.
Does microwaving differ in its "nutrient-destruction-quotient" from boiling or steaming food?
Various websites have very different statements on this. When I complained to my girlfriend that I couldn't find a solid answer on this, she suggested asking you all.
So, the myth stated: Cooking food destroys its nutrients
And what about soup? Would boiling a potato into soup actually result in destroyed vitamins, or do the vitamins leach out into the water, so by eating the soup broth, you'd get the vitamins anyway.
On the other side, how does refrigerating or freezing food affect it's nutritional value?
thelightworks Senior Member
Registered: 02-03-08 Posted 12-16-08 12:36 AM
Basic rule of thumb: temperature changes do not destroy nutrients. sidenote: sometimes cooking converts nutrients into more digestible forms.
Ignored post by thelightworks posted 12-16-08 12:36 AM Show Post
Huxley.Wilberforce Senior Member
Registered: 08-10-08 Posted 12-16-08 01:04 AM
Some nutrients are altered by heat. Others aren't. Minerals pretty much stay the same. Vitamin C, among others, is destroyed.
Microwave ovens heat food to the same temperature as a regular oven in far less time. Since destruction of nutrients is affected by both time and temperature, microwave ovens destroy less nutrients than conventional cooking.
The degree to which any of this matters ought to be obvious: people all over the world eat mostly cooked food, without any apparent deficit of nutrients as a result. There's enough left over, even after cooking, to meet nutritional requirements.
And as thelightworks noted, cooking makes many foods more easily digestible, boosting their overall nutritional value.
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I just have to state one obvious fact here, microwaves don't just heat food- they radiate it! Obviously not a good choice, besides destroying enzymes you now have a radioactive mess that looks like food!
Microwaving is probably the worst thing you could do for your body (besides the absolute worst such as drugs or something). When I imagine microwaved foods, all I can think of is radiation; electromagnetic waves literally killing the enzymes and flavonoids thus causing cancer! Please research about the dangers of microwave cooking as it is extremely detrimental to our health, which is why it was banned in Russia.
I haven't had an appetite for cooked veggies in months because they look 'dead' on my plate. They lose their vibrant color and flavor. When you put your finger into a pot of boiling water, your body immediately reacts so that you don't injure yourself. So why would you want to cook your veggies in high temperature?
I believe that freezing can't work out for some things such as lettuce or celery because once thawed out, they end up getting soggy. But many people use freezing as a method of preserving. I personally don't use my freezer because I never really have a reason to freeze anything. But when you freeze something, the enzymes, vitamins, and minerals come back alive once thawed out.
I've seen something on the discovery chanel where these tiny frogs literally freeze themselves in the winter to hibernate. Once spring comes around, their heartbeats kick back and they hop around again.