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Best Cooking Method

Which are the gentlest cooking methods for preserving nutrients and which vegetables have more antioxidants cooked than raw.

March 14, 2011 |
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Supplementary Info

Best Cooking Method, 4.6 out of 5 based on 13 ratings

Sources Cited

Howard LR, Castrodale C, Brownmiller C, Mauromoustakos A. Jam processing and storage effects on blueberry polyphenolics and antioxidant capacity. J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Apr 14;58(7):4022-9.

Jiménez-Monreal AM, García-Diz L, Martínez-Tomé M, Mariscal M, Murcia MA. Influence of cooking methods on antioxidant activity of vegetables. J Food Sci. 2009 Apr;74(3):H97-H103.

Acknowledgements

Transcript

You may remember back in volume 2 I compared the effects of different cooking methods on the phytonutrients in broccoli. well last year food scientists outdid themselves.... They looked at 20 different vegetables, six different cooking methods, and then, looked at three separate measures of antioxidant activity. That’s over 300 separate experiments to figure out, what’s the best way to cook our vegetables.
First, though, let’s figure out the worst. In terms of loss of antioxidant content. Baking, boiling, frying, george foreman, nuking, or pressure cooking? The worst is boiling.
What’s the second worst? The pressure cooking. When we use these wet cooking methods some of the nutrition is lost into the cooking water. It may be less than you think though. Averaged over those 20 vegetables, boiling only removes about 14% of the antioxidants. So if you really like boiled broccoli, fine—just eat one more floret. Seven florets of boiled broccoli has all the antioxidant power of 6 florets of raw broccoli. So the best way to eat your veggies is really whichever way will get you to eat the most of them…with the exception of frying—that just adds way too many empty calories.
What’s the gentlest cooking method, though? Out of these remaining four, which preserves antioxidants the best? It was the microwave, preserving 97.3% of the antioxidants.
But that’s on average across 20 vegetables. There was one vegetable whose antioxidants get clobbered now matter how you cook it; up to 75% of the antioxidant power gone. Which is the one vegetable really best to eat raw? Artichoke hearts? Asparagus, beets, broad beans, broccoli, I hope we don’t have to eat raw brussel sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, celery, eggplant, garlic, greenbeans, leeks, corn on the cob, onions, peas, bell peppers, spinach, swiss chard, or zuccini? The most vulnerable vegetable is bell peppers. Do try to eat them raw.
On the other hand there were three vegetables that weren’t affected by cooking at all—you could even boil them and lose no antioxidants. Can you guess at least one of them? The three were… artichokes, beets, and onions. Boil away. Asparagus actually gets honorable mention here. Unaffected by all but frying, so you can boil asparagus too.
Final question, and perhaps the most interesting. There are two vegetables that no matter what you do to them they increase in antioxidant value. They become healthier. Which two are they? First the honorable mention: green beans. With the exception of boiling and pressure cooking, they actually increase in antioxidant power when you cook them, so microwaved green beans are actually healthier than raw green beans. But which two vegetables always increase in value no matter you cook them? carrots, and celery. So when we make a nice vegetable soup we’re actually boosting the nutrition.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

For some context, please also check out my associated blog posts: Breast Cancer Stem Cells vs. Broccoli, The Best Foods: Test Your Nutrition Knowledge, and Acai to Zucchini: antioxidant food rankings.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/oceanic/ Oceanic

    So informative. I am surprised steaming was not included.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Oceanic–I was surprised too! I do have some videos that cover steaming, though. Check out all my videos on cooking methods
      .

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/RohitMehta/ Rohit Mehta

    What about boiling vegetables in a soup (where you eat rather than throw away the vegetable water)? I would think that provides superior antioxidant retention.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/tokyovegan/ tokyovegan

    Hi, Dr. I just discovered your site a couple days ago and am really getting a lot (of ammunition for whole-food plant based diet) out of it. My friend just asked me whether garlic was good for you (she likes to eats it roasted) and whether there’s such a thing as getting too much, so I turned to you, but surprisingly couldn’t find anything. Do you have an opinion on garlic?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/TanTruong/ Tan Truong

    Wow, I can cook pretty much any vegetable without fearing too much loss of nutrients! I’m so shocked about cooking carrots increasing in value about carrots and celery. I put carrots in my pasta.

    I’m curious what the raw food vegans would think of such studies.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      Raw food vegans have just as bad science as the paleolithic diet advocates! It’s all very cherry picked and involves a lot of half truths.

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/TanTruong/ Tan Truong

        I’ve experienced what you’re describing. I’d still air on the opinions of the raw vegans though. Of course, I have more in common with them, but I try to be as impartial as I can.

      • http://www.facebook.com/diane.krstulovich Diane Krstulovich

        I think seeing the results is the most persuasive. And trying them for yourself. Whatever you eat (not counting animals) is digested in a few hours to a couple of days.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/jim-artmeier/ jim.artmeier

      It’s a mixed bag. Cooking carrots breaks the cell walls and allows carotenoids and other nutrients to escape and become biologically available to us (we can’t digest cellulose plant walls). However the cooking destroys the vitamin C content. So it’s good to have them both ways. I juice them in a Vitamix, and it is the best of both worlds – it can shear the cells apart freeing internal nutrients without destroying heat-labile nutrients

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

        The vitamin c content is reduced, but not destroyed. We could just eat one more of the cooked vegetable to make up for the loss, plus we could eat more of it since its pre digested. But you are correct in it being a mixed bag, many phytonutrients in the cruciferous greens are deactivated when cooking, while others are enhanced.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670735069 Tan Truong

        I also blend my carrots in the Vitamix, but as part of the pasta sauce; I blend it to powder, LOL. The kids I have over know about it and don’t mind since it’s hardly noticeable.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/vegan-for-life/ Vegan for Life

    I use a pressure cooker to steam small beets. I routinely take off the thin skins with my hands, before eating them. Nutritionally, is it better to leave them on?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/lcvegn/ lcvegn

    Did the study (or any others you’re familiar with) analyze the cooking methods for other nutrient loss/gain aside from antioxidants? Is antioxidant preservation the best metric to use when determining an optimal cooking method? Thanks!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/francequebec/ FranceQuebec

    I am surprised that the microwave isn’t singled out as a bad cooking method because I often read or hear stuff mostly on the internet according to which microwave destroys the nutrients in food and thus such a cooking method should be avoided. You might have heard yourself advice against micowaving infant milk (1 960 000 occurrences with “infant”, “milk”, “microwave” from search on Google). Would you be kind enough to explain this discrepancy?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      The chief reason it’s not a good idea to thaw breast milk in a microwave is that they heat unevenly and scald your baby.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

      To add on to Dr. Greger’s comment, there has been little evidence that microwaving foods in general makes them bad to eat. The word “nuking” is tossed around with microwaving but X rays have nothing to do with microwaving. All cooking methods provide certain nutrient loss (to an extent). Boiling specific plant foods, especially bell peppers and green leefies causes a significant drop in antioxidant content unless you drink the liquid, more so than microwaving.

      We should eat vegetables whichever way entices us to eat the most. If for example we lose some nutrients from boiling broccoli, just eat an extra floret to make up for the loss. Not only that, but you can eat more florets because the heat is basically pre digestion.

      A very informative video on this is here: http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/raw-food-nutrient-absorption-2/

      Don’t get me wrong though, eating raw food is essential for optimal health. There is nothing more nutritious than a big raw, dark leefy green salad!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/geoffrey-levens/ Geoffrey Levens

    Well fer cryin’ out loud! The nutrients aren’t “lost” by boiling or pressure cooking, they are just displaced into the water. Easy fix for that, consume the water!!! I always do that. Why the heck would anyone not eat the cook water???

  • Michael Greger M.D.
  • Michael Greger M.D.
  • Michael Greger M.D.

    For some context, please also check out my associated blog post Breast Cancer Stem Cells vs. Broccoli!

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.halbin Michelle Lee

    I’m sorry but the microwave is by far the worst method of cooking then all the others. Perhaps it shows the nutrients stay put because there was no way of escaping (who was this study funded by, btw?) but that doesn’t address the point that the very cellular structure has been altered and damaged and therefore your body will not absorb or digest the nutrients not to mention all the RADIATION that is emitted. Germans built microwaves in WWII to supply warm food during the war. Since many came down with blood cancer (leukemia) overnight they including Russia banned them. I love most everything on your website but I really hope you don’t endorse the use of microwaves. 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBX_B8WQEwM

    • Toxins

      There is no evidence that if someone was to follow an optimally healthy
      lifestyle and diet that the use of a microwave to heat some of their
      foods is going to cause any major health problems or is related to any
      of the main reasons why American die prematurely.

      Microwaves and X rays are not the same thing. The food is not contaminated with mutagenic radiation after cooking.

      If you could provide evidence from peer reviewed medial journals (not opinions on youtube) then I will gladly take note of this issue more in depth.

  • Margaret

    Hey! I love raw brussels sprouts, thinly sliced, in my deliciously crunchy salads! You should try them!

  • bee

    I dont understand how microwaving is healthiest!  Everything Ive ever researched said it was the most damaging way to cook foods and may be cancer causing.  

    What is the best way to cook beans and starches, if boiling and pressure cooking is not healthy?

    I thought that water-based cooking produced the least carncinogens….baking and anything that browns food makes carcinogens.

    I’m not understanding the science behind the video….

    • Toxins

       There is little to no scientific evidence showing that microwaves are harmful when ingesting microwaved foods despite what may be said on the internet. Boiling beans and starches is a very healthy method and does not cause significant nutrient loss in these foods.

      The science behind the video is in regards to antioxidant content. The best cooking method for preserving the antioxidants seems to be microwaving (although I would guess steaming would be even healthier.)

      • stacy

        Thanks, Toxins!

        So how did the microwave/radiation scare come in to play, then?  How do microwaves work…I thought it emits radiation, which spins the cells, thus creating heat?

        If this study was in regards to antioxidants, then what is the best cooking method to preserve macronutrients and micronutrients?  For instance, the more something is heated, the more likely it is to denature proteins and such

        So, it a microwaves sweet potato healthier than a steamed or baked sweet potato?

        • Toxins

           Radiation is a term referring to waves. Radiation can be used  to describe light waves, uv rays, x rays and microwaves as well. The microwaves, from what is so far known, does not have mutagenic properties when exposed to cells. Microwaves and x rays are not the same.

          These losses in macronutient content is fairly small and is not significant enough to cause an overall dietary impact.

          • stacy

            Good to know..thanks for debunking that! I gave away my microwave 2 yrs ago bc of the supposed health risks associated with it.

            To reheat leftovers, is microwaving the best method?

            Are microwaved sweet potatoes healthier than baked or steamed, then? And what about rice and veggies—does microwaving STILL trump all other cooking methods?

            Dr Fuhrman seems against microwaving, for he seems to recommend steaming or water sauteeing. Any thoughts on these issues?

          • Wouter

            A lot of people just seem to get scared, because some other people use the term radiation when they discuss the microwaves in a microwave. However microwaves are indeed a form of radiation, it has no link to radioactive radiation: the think people automaticly think about.
            Light is also a form of radiation, so is WiFi, heat (infrared), FM and AM radio.
            Radioactive radiation has either extreme high energy (gamma-ray) (microwave doesn’t even get close to 0,001% ) or consists of actual subatomic particles that can collide with DNA and cause damage.
            Microwaves just transport energy to heat up stuff relatively fast. (Actually wireless chargers for your phone also use microwaves, but another wavelength.)

  • mikeysbro

    I have heard from various sources like the following ;
    http://www.ontariotenants.ca/health/articles/2003/gm-03j17.phtml

    that the flavonoids are all most all destroyed by cooking in microwaves compared to   other forms of cooking. Flavonoids being a symbiotic componet in fruits, vegetables, and herbs that help form a symbiotic relationship with other componets inside the fruit, vegetable, or herb that help humans utilize various vitamins(ie bioflavonoids). In addition, these flavonoids(effectiveness) would be destroyed in whole herbs. If the flavonoids etc are damaged or destroyed largely by microwave cooking, would that not also destroy the effectiveness of the vitamins (in that vitamins or flavonoids are only one or two componet/s of many contained in a fruit, vegetable, or herb that are dependant upon flavonoids for proper function in the human body)? 

    Could one say that destruction of flavonoids would reduce the synergistic relationship within the plant and in the human body rendering whatever microwaved food/herb either decreased in activity or destroyed almost entirely…? curious..

  • Ladderpower

    This is very interesting that cooking doesn’t destroy some anti-oxidants. High temps do however destroy enzymes so if one is wanting to increase the amount of live enzymes in their diet cooking would be something to cut back on.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lauren.r.ard Lauren Rae Layton Ard

    So, you think I’m better off not eating vegetables at all than eating sauteed vegetables? Your videos have shown olive oil to be pretty harmless (though full of empty calories), so if it entices me to eat tons more vegetables, is it really that horrible? For me, a little bit of oil goes a long way in my enjoyment of vegetables, whether on a salad or sauteed.

    • Toxins

      Oil has more of an impact than just empty calories.

      Dr. Vogel conducted a study that compared different fats and oils (olive oil, canola oil, and salmon) and how they impaired our endothelieum cells. Our endothelieum cells are within our blood vessels lining their walls. They keep clots from forming and keep our blood running smoothly. It also helps our blood vessels dilate and contract when needed. The participants of the study ate a meal containing 3.5 tablespoons of olive oil and the examiners measured their arterial damage after 3 hours. “Contrary to part of our hypothesis, our study found that omega-9 (oleic acid)-rich olive oil impairs endothelieum function postprandially.”

      They also make note that “In terms of their postprandial effect on endothelieum function, the beneficial components of the Mediterranean and Lyon Diet Heart Study diets appear to be antioxidant-rich foods, including vegetables [and] fruits”

      Fruits and vegetables can be attributed to making our cardiovascular system healthy, not oil.

      http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/36/5/1455

      It was even noted that “In a clinical study, olive oil was shown to
      activate coagulation factor VII to the same extent as does butter. Thus, olive oil does not have a clearly beneficial effect on vascular
      function.”

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9409274

      Another study looked at different oils (olive, soybean and palm oils). They had their patients eat a potato soup. The soup either had 3 tablespoons of each oil OR they fried the potatoes in the oil. They too examined the extent of damage on the volunteers’ arteries. this is what they found “All the vegetable oils, fresh and deep-fried, produced an increase in the triglyceride plasma levels in healthy subjects.”

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17174226

      This is clearly not heart healthy for the short term, and the authors even note that they do not know if olive oil is healthy for the long term. So what about long term studies with olive oil? This 2 year study looked at coronary artery lesions of the heart after consuming different types of fat. Polyunsaturated fat (omega 3/6 type of fat) Monounsaturated fat (75% of which makes up olive oil) and Saturated fat (the kind found in mostly animal products). They looked at angiograms a year apart after intervening with increasing one type of fat in each group. All 3 fats were associated with a significant increase in new atherosclerosis lesions. Most importantly, the growth of these lesions did not stop when polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats were substituted for saturated fats. Only by decreasing all fat intake including the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats did the lesions stop growing.

      http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/263/12/1646.abstract?sid=47d1d016-3c15-43f4-a013-0d10144ef8e3

      Most current studies supporting olive oil are population studies with many other factors that could be affecting the diet

  • http://twitter.com/3BumbleBie Deborah Hearne

    What do you think about Dr. Mercola’s research on why microwaves are bad? He cites current research studies. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx

  • Mike

    Any data on baking vegetables such as kale? – I like to make kale chips by baking the leaves for about 10 minutes at 300 degrees. The leaves dry out and are crunchy, but not burned.

  • HemoDynamic, M.D.

    I don’t know how I ever overlooked this great study! Thanks for the find!

  • http://www.facebook.com/ron.coley1 Ronald Coley

    Thank you Dr. Greger for all this great information! So are microwaves scientifically known to be bad to the human body?

  • RobynVilhelm

    Could you elaborate on pan frying? I eat most of my veggies fried with a bit of water at a low heat without oil, does that add empty calories as well?

  • http://www.facebook.com/diane.krstulovich Diane Krstulovich

    Wow – I actually got that right about the bell peppers. But don’t raw foods give you more ENZYMES? They seem to give so much more ENERGY! Raw food gives me power to stay busy. Cooked foods make me want to take a little nap so I can digest them. FASCINATING video in any event. Thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/glowingolder Harriet Sugar Miller

    I’m not sure I understand completely the Spanish study on anti-oxidants. Did they look at the effects of cooking on the enzymes in garlic that convert to allicin or the enzymes in crucifers that convert to isothiocyanates? Are there other important phytochemicals besides antioxidants that they did or did not consider?

  • Ken

    Regarding microwaving foods … of course it is good to look for peer reviewed research, but first of all it is best to use your common sense. A lot of this good research that Dr Greger makes available to us wasn’t available before, but that didn’t stop us from making judgment calls on what to do when lacking hard evidence. Several years ago my oncologist told me that there wasn’t hard peer reviewed evidence to support that a plant based diet would help me survive the stage 4 cancer I had. I used my common sense and am so glad I did. Several years later he is telling me that the evidence appears to be coming! Heating food by use of microwaves goes against common sense. Radiation is high-heat cooking. High-heat cooking is usually considered a poor choice for multiple reasons. Radiation is used to destroy cancer cells by applying high heat to them. People exposed to radiation in the past, not knowing it was damaging, later came down with cancer. Why on earth would anyone focused on healthy living want to use radiation to cook food? Being a whole-foods vegan is one of best choices of my life, but it takes more time and effort. I think it best to take the time to cook food without taking the microwave shortcut. Why do all the right things, but then mess it up to save a few minutes cooking?

  • Katie

    Wonderful information! I was curious, if one is making a vegetable soup in the pressure cooker, however, the antioxidants would be in the broth, and thus be consumed? Correct?

  • Jill, The Veggie Queen

    Dear Doctor,

    You are certainly not recommending that we microwave?

    I will defend the pressure cooker here because when I use the pressure cooker, I do not have any water to throw away because it all gets reabsorbed into the vegetable.

    And often I make vegetable stock in the pressure cooker in 5 minutes at pressure (not having to by cans, jars or packages) and use that to cook my vegetables which also boosts the nutrition.

    As you know, one study does not a cooking method make. I am not likely (as a Registered Dietitian or person who teaches cooking) to start recommending that people nuke their food for their health.

    I find that pressure cooking if done correctly is better than steaming because it is super steaming without air which as you know oxidizes food. And why didn’t they include steaming?

    Please tell me that is not what you are saying here…

    I

  • http://www.facebook.com/GFischer73 Gabriela Fischer

    Hi Dr. Greger,
    What about steaming???
    Thanks,
    Gaby

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