Vegetables are the staple of any diet, but cooking them incorrectly can actually impact their overall nutritional value.
From steaming to stir-frying, there are plenty of ways to cook up veggies. However, one expert says a popular method should be avoided at all costs.
A food science professor says that boiling vegetables should be avoided as you end up losing important vitamins and minerals during the process.
Dr Keith Warriner, a professor at the University of Guelph's food science lab, told Global News that through boiling veg, you will end up losing vitamins through "leeching".
The refers to a process whereby nutrients such as vitamin C, folate, and niacin, are pulled out into the boiling water and most likely wasted. This is particularly true if you end up boiling your veggies for a lengthy amount of time.
He has urged people to consider how they can preserve nutrients such as "protein, antioxidants. vitamins, polyphenols" by amending their cooking process of choice, resulting in the most nourishing meal possible.
Warning foodies to try another cooking method instead, Dr Warriner explained: "You're going to lose a lot of the nutrients in the water unless you use it for soup."
Global News then went on to cite a 2013 study where University of Illinois scientists cooked vegetables using three different methods: steaming, boiling, and stir-frying.
It was discovered that steaming - for just three to four minutes until your veg is lovely and vibrant - is probably the best way to retain as many healthy vitamins and enzymes as possible.
Stir-frying could also be a good option, as long as you keep the stir-frying time to a minimum and don't use too much heat. Using an oil with a higher smoke point, such as avocado, almond, corn, canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil can also help in this instance.
Dietitian Susan Macfarlane advised the publication that one easy and effective way to stir-fry veg is to briefly steam, before stir-frying quickly.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our newsletter here.
