Guest guest Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 Study shows how to save the nutrients in vegetables Provided by Myrtle Beach Sun News on 10/13/2004 by Ellen Kanner Even if you don't adore your veggies the way I do, you have got to appreciate their phytochemical fineness. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and their cruciferous kin are packed with indoles and isothiocyanates - fancy names for excellent antioxidants. They can stop, even reverse, cellular damage in the body; they are nature's cancer-fighting superheroes. So it just doesn't make sense to go boiling the heck out of them. According to a report last year in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, boiling blasts more than half the protective phytochemicals out of broccoli. The same researchers found that microwaving wiped out a whopping 97 percent, but the Harvard Health Letter set the record straight: It turns out the broccoli in question was nuked using more than half a cup of water. The Harvard folks said a couple of tablespoons is plenty for fresh vegetables (frozens ones don't need any) and would drastically reduce the nutrient loss. Or go low-tech and steam your veggies. That preserved nearly 90 percent of their protective powers in the broccoli study, and besides, it's fast and inexpensive. For a few dollars, you can get a collapsable steamer insert that fits snugly inside a saucepan. The veggies go on top, water - an inch or so - on the bottom. Turn the burner on high, clap on the lid, and a few minutes later, you have properly cooked vegetables - vibrant and still a bit crunchy, with their nutritional goodness intact. If losing even an iota of indole flips you out, you can eat raw cauliflower for the rest of your life. Or you can use the cooking water from your vegetables in soups and sauces. Easiest of all is taking the long view. Up your nutritional odds - put more produce on your plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 23, 2004 Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 These days, I've been buying broccoli slaw & mix it in with everything. Love it. The stuff is raw though. Does anyone believe eating this raw broccoli is inadvisable? freebird5005 wrote: >Study shows how to save the nutrients in vegetables >Provided by Myrtle Beach Sun News on 10/13/2004 >by Ellen Kanner >```snip ``` >Or go low-tech and steam your veggies. That preserved nearly 90 percent of their protective powers in the broccoli study, and besides, it's fast and inexpensive. For a few dollars, you can get a >collapsable steamer insert that fits snugly inside a saucepan. The veggies go on top, water - an inch or so - on the bottom. Turn the burner on high, clap on the lid, and a few minutes later, you have properly cooked vegetables - vibrant and still a bit crunchy, with >their nutritional goodness intact. If losing even an iota of indole flips you out, you can eat raw cauliflower for the rest of your life. >Or you can use the cooking water from your vegetables in soups and sauces. Easiest of all is taking the long view. Up your nutritional odds - put more produce on your plate. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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