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Raw food has made a huge comeback today thanks to its various health benefits and the emergence of the raw food movement, but cooked food still remains a firm favorite thanks to the variety it offers to the discerning palate. Our taste buds are more accustomed to foods that have been seasoned and made tastier by cooking, but the question that arises is whether cooked food is less nutritious than uncooked food.

There have been many debates over the years regarding this subject, but the consensus has generally been that a majority of foods lose their important nutrients due to cooking. Heat can destroy certain vitamins, minerals, and enzymes as well, although certain nutrients, particularly phytonutrients such as lycopene, which is present in tomatoes, tend to get absorbed better when cooked.

It has been largely observed that the cooking process destroys large amounts of vitamin B and C and even folic acid. This is also the case with oils and fats that can get rancid when they are oxidized. There’s also the danger of oils becoming carcinogenic they are heated and re-heated for frying purposes. So, what are the steps you can take to prevent cooked food from losing its nutritive qualities?

If you remember certain basic principles while cooking, chances are that the loss of nutrients will be rather minimal.

• Vegetables – Excess loss of nutrients occurs when vegetables are cooked in water along with salt and when the water is discarded. It’s better to cook vegetables in minimum water so that the nutrients do not get leached into the water. Another good idea would be to steam the vegetables, as this retains some of the nutrients. Also avoid cutting vegetables into small pieces and keeping them exposed for a while, as this can result in the loss of vitamins.
• Rice – Washing rice excessively could mean that you end up with hardly any of the thiamine and nicotinic acid present in rice. It’s also not such a good idea to discard the excess water left over after cooking rice either. Ideally, it’s better to cook rice in just enough water so that the water gets absorbed rather than discarded.

• Loss of vitamins – Loss of vitamins in vegetables usually occurs when vegetables have been cooked for too long or have been cut and exposed for a while before cooking. To prevent loss of vitamins from food, it’s advisable to keep the vessel covered with a lid and use minimum water.

To prevent loss of nutrients in your food while cooking, it’s best to remember that overcooking is never a good idea. Not only does it cause loss of nutrition, but it also destroys the taste of food. Try and include raw foods in your diet, but when you have to cook food, ensure that you do so the right way so that you can still get all the nutrition you need.

Sarah Tobin promotes SweetFry, the recipe sharing community for amateur cooks, bakers, chefs, bartenders, wine and beer markers to share, store and rate recipes. Weekly and monthly recipes contests. 1000’s of recipes to try.