Cooking destroys up to 50% of the vitamins in your dishes: how to avoid it

Before we look at what we lose, let's look at what we gain.

➡️ Cooking aids digestion: it softens vegetable fibers, tenderizes meats, and makes certain legumes edible.

➡️ It also releases certain nutrients: lycopene from tomatoes, for example, is better assimilated after gentle cooking, as is beta-carotene from carrots.

➡️ Finally, it kills potential bacteria and parasites - an unbeatable health argument.

In short, cooking is not the enemy: it all depends on how you do it.

Not all cooking methods are created equal.

✔️ Vitamins C, B1 and B9 are particularly fragile: heat, water and oxygen are enough to destroy most of them.

Some studies estimate that prolonged cooking at high temperatures can reduce their initial content by up to 50%.

➡️ In concrete terms :

• Vitamin C (found in peppers, broccoli or citrus fruits) rapidly degrades above 140°F/60°C.
• Vitamin B9 (folates) in green vegetables is sensitive to both heat and cooking water.
• Vitamin B1, essential to the nervous system, quickly disappears with long cooking times.
• Minerals (magnesium, potassium, calcium) can also escape... but mainly in the cooking water.

The golden rule: gentle and quick.

The lower the temperature, the better the food retains its vitamins, minerals and natural flavor.

✔️ Gentle steaming

This is the champion of all categories.

Food cooks at between 90 and 100°C, without direct contact with water, so without leaching vitamins. Flavors remain clear and textures tender.

Ideal for: vegetables, fish, poultry, rice, wholegrain cereals.

✔️ Wok or pan-frying

Short, lively and often accompanied by a drizzle of oil: stir-frying preserves nutrients thanks to minimal exposure time.

Remember to keep vegetables crunchy: they retain their vitamins and color better.

Tip: add fresh herbs and spices at the end of cooking to benefit from their volatile compounds.

✔️ Low-temperature oven cooking

Between 195 and 300°F (90 and 150°C), this method keeps the flesh tender and limits the loss of micronutrients.

It requires a little more time, but the result is well worth the patience.

Some methods may be tasty, but they're harder on the vitamins.

❌ Boiling water : it dissolves water-soluble vitamins (C, B1, B9).

If you cook in water, prefer a short duration, and reuse the water for soup or broth.

❌ Frying : in addition to degrading fatty acids, it destroys most heat-sensitive vitamins.

❌ Microwaving too hard: long, violent cooking causes the temperature to rise in a matter of seconds, rapidly oxidizing nutrients.

Cut vegetables just before cooking (exposure to air oxidizes them).

Cook al dente: the more melting, the more vitamins have disappeared.

Cover your pans to reduce heat loss and preserve flavours.

And above all, vary your cooking methods: steam, gentle oven, quick frying pan... it's diversity that makes for a balanced diet.