The Microwave Maintains the Nutritional Value of Your Food The Best

What?  This might seem shocking for some of you, admittedly I too thought this and thought the microwave was “bad” for you; I had the assumption that the microwave “robbed” my food of it’s valuable nutrients.  It wasn’t until I was having a discussion about preferential cooking methods with one of my clients that I decided to do some digging.  In this post I want to share with you what I found.

Quickly before I share what I found, I wanted to define nutritional value so that we are all on the same page.  Nutritional value is a qualitative descriptor of the foods you eat, and refers to the types and amounts of nutrients it contains; in particular micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, and the macronutrients profiles of proteins, carbs, and fats.  The minute said food has reached it’s nutritional value peak – if you will – it’s value then decreases after that and all cooking methods will then decrease the nutritional value further; in different ways, some more than others.

So what are some of the different cooking methods?  To name a few there are:

  • Baking
  • Broiling
  • Frying
  • Grilling (Barbeque)
  • Roasting
  • Microwaving

So how is the nutritional value affected by these different cooking methods – and in general?

  • Any cooking method that results in the loss of fat during the cooking process will decrease the amount of vitamin D, E, A, and K; these vitamins are fat soluble.
  • Any cooking methods that use water or water-soluble liquids as a medium for cooking will promote the loss of water soluble vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, Folate, B12, Biotin and C) and minerals – the main ones being Potassium, Magnesium, Sodium, and Calcium.

The above two points result in the physical loss of nutrients.  The below two results in an altered chemical structure that deems the nutrients no longer effective and, well, nutrients.

  • Heat.  Heat will breakdown many vitamins, in particular vitamins B and C are quite sensitive. More heat = more “loss” through degredation.
  • UV (ultra-violet) light.  More exposure = more “loss” through degradation.
    •  A Foutyfact for you:  All light has some UV in it,  some more than others; UV light is the reason we get sunburns.  Some types of glass (pyrex for example) don’t allow UV to pass through it and therefore will protect said food inside it.
    • For those Chemistry Nerds out there, the UV light is absorbed by the double and conjugated bonds in some of the vitamins which then causes an altered chemical structure.  Had to nerd out there, I needed to put my years of university studies to use somehow.

So given the above, the cooking method that best retains nutrients, and therefore would promote the highest nutritional value of the food, is one that: cooks quickly, uses lower temperatures, and uses as little liquid as possible.

So by in large, with most foods, this is often the Microwave.

Very important distinction:  I’m not saying certain microwavable foods, like Minute Rice, have a higher nutritional value.  Rather, I’m talking about the microwave as a cooking method.  Said differently, with all foods created equal at the start, by using a microwave as your cooking method you will preserve the nutritional value the most – situationally and based on the above criteria.

  • Most of the foods that you associate with using in the microwave have a low nutritional value, as they are already pre-processed and therefore their inherent nutritional value is a lot lower.  To use Minute Rice as an example again, Minute Rice less nutritionally valuable than home-made rice.

To see a more in-depth look at each cooking method and how they stack up against each other, as well as how to minimize the loss of your nutritional value with those cooking methods, Click HERE; it’s a good compliment blog post, written by me too.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.

Till next time,

-Mike

References:
https://www.allaboutweightlossblog.com/what-cooking-method-gives-you-the-most-nutritional-value-from-your-food/

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