Barbeque season is here! With warm weather, come evenings of laughter and fun around the grill. It’s a great opportunity to relax and catch up with family and friends. It also provides us a good time to talk about the different types of cooking and the methods that build healthier bodies.
Let’s start with vegetables
When cooked, some vegetables maintain their nutritional value, others lose most of it, and some actually increase their value. Also, like meats, certain methods of cooking are healthier than others.
Fortunately, many vegetables are barely affected by cooking. For example, artichokes, beets and onions retain 97.5% of their antioxidant power when cooked. Broccoli, when steamed, only loses 10% of its vitamin C vs. raw broccoli. Of course, this can be easily made up by eating just a little bit more.
Other vegetables lose almost all of their benefit when cooked. One of those are bell peppers which have been shown to lose up to 70% of their antioxidant capacity when baked in the oven. Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts etc.) are another type of vegetable that lose most of their sulforaphane benefit when cooked. While fully explained in the post on Cruciferous Vegetables, the health benefits of cruciferous vegetables are realized when they are chopped or chewed. Cooking destroys this. However, if they are cut up and let to sit for 40 minutes prior to cooking they will still maintain their powerful nutritional value.
There is good news when it comes to cooking vegetables! Research has found that multiple vegetables benefit from cooking. Carrots, when cooked, end up with more than 6 times the vitamin A! Asparagus is another one which is found to increase its cancer fighting antioxidants when cooked. Then again, who really eats raw asparagus? Cooking tomatoes helps to break down their thick cell wall allowing our bodies to absorb more lycopene vs. eating them raw. Lycopene is associated with lower rates of cancer and heart attacks. Another vegetable to benefit from cooking are green beans. Green beans increase their antioxidant power when cooked by all methods except boiling or pressure cooking.
Mushrooms, a powerful food for our health, are also healthier when cooked. Raw mushrooms should never be eaten as they contain a toxin called agaritine. This toxin is destroyed when cooked. Additionally, cooking mushrooms allows them to release powerful polysaccharides thought to inhibit tumor growth. Mushrooms also contain high levels of ergothioneine, a powerful antioxidant. Fortunately, ergoothioneine is not affected by heat, so get cooking and eat up!
Various cooking methods affect vegetables differently. Vegetables high in Vitamin C, B1 or folate are particularly susceptible to boiling. Steaming these vegetables helps them to retain much more of their value. A 2009 study looked at popular methods – boiling, microwaving, steaming, and stir-frying. The study found that steaming retained the highest level of nutrients. Sautéing can also be healthy because many of the vitamins and nutrients in vegetables are fat soluble, meaning that the body absorbs them better when with fat.
The type of oil you use when cooking also influences your food’s health. One of the best oils for cooking is avocado (Costco sells a good one). Avocado oil has a very high smoking point. This is the temperature at which the oil will start to smoke and break down. Once oil breaks down, it starts to become more oxidized. The oxidation may cause damage to cells inside your body and can increase your risk of cancer. The higher the smoking point, the less likely the oil will begin to break down while you are cooking with it.
Smoking Points
What about meat?
Summer get togethers often include delicious meals, providing a great time to talk about cooking meat. If you eat meat, there are risks you can’t avoid. Fortunately, there are simple tricks you can use to decrease the risks to your health!
Here is where it gets heavy. Unfortunately, cooking any type of meat exposes you to Gerontotoxins. Gerontotoxins, also referred to as AGEs, accelerate the aging process by causing stiffness, inflammation and oxidative stress. This all contributes to cognitive decline and the degeneration of the heart, bones, eyes, liver and kidneys. Cooked meats have much higher levels of AGEs than cooked non-meat foods.
In addition to AGEs, cooking meat produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a carcinogen. Studies have linked this with lower IQs, lower birth weights, damage to the kidneys and liver, redness and inflammation of the skin, and an increased risk of cataracts and cancer.
The type of meat you eat also factors into your exposed level of risk. Frying bacon (and other processed foods), adds an additional danger to cooking. These release a class of carcinogens called nitrosamines. These are best avoided altogether, but if you choose to eat them, are best prepared outdoors. Also, while the cause is unknown, the carcinogens that result from cooking meat build up more in the muscles of chicken and turkey than in those of other animals. This includes eggs. You may want to consider other alternatives when choosing your meal.
Phew, that was a lot. The good news is that there are ways to decrease you risk. Moist cooking methods like boiling and steaming are better. Also, with the good weather comes the opportunity to cook outdoors! Studies have shown that the number of particles deposited into the lungs increased by a factor of ten when frying indoors vs. outdoors. Other cooking methods also benefit from cooking outdoors. Many often think of the grill when making a burger. Consider the grill, or other outdoor methods, when cooking meats you may have previously cooked inside.
Hopefully, these tips will help as you prepare your next meal. Who knows, the food may even taste better knowing your feeding yourself and your family safer and healthier food!
Happy Eating!
Health Warning
Since each of our bodies is different, it is important to first talk with your doctor before making a significant change to your diet. Also, medication can interact with food. Before adding a new food to your diet, check with your doctor to make sure there are no negative interactions with any medications you are currently taking.