Steam, don't nuke - Vital signs: news and trends for your well-being - how to cook vegetables - Brief Article

Natural Health, Feb, 2004

Stay out of hot water and microwaves to preserve the nutrients in vegetables.

In a study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, researchers tested four methods of cooking broccoli: microwaving, boiling, high-pressure boiling, and steaming. Microwaving zapped up to 97 percent of the flavonoids, antioxidant compounds that reduce the risk of lung cancer and heart disease. Conventional boiling killed 66 percent; high-pressure boiling nixed 47 percent; but steaming caused a flavonoid loss of less than 10 percent.

While results will vary based on each food's chemical makeup, "with steaming, the vegetable isn't in contact with water, so there's no direct leaching of antioxidants," says lead author Cristina Garcia-Viguera, professor of food science and technology at Campus Universitario de Espinardo in Murcia, Spain.