I was having a conversation with a pediatrician the other day, and he mentioned that some studies have shown that vegetables lose a certain amount of nutrition after they have been cooked and pureed.
Anyone have the straight dope on this, or possibly a link that would educate me on such things? I’ve been making baby food my my 6-month-old for a few weeks now, and I’d like to have the straight dope on this.
Thanks, in advance.
According to Harold McGee in “On Food and Cooking” some vitamins are heat-sensitive and will break down by cooking. Particularly B and C vitamins. The length of cooking and surface area exposed to the cooking liquid all affect the rate of loss. Additionally, many vegetables contain enzymes that break down vitamin C. These enzymes are released during the disruption of the cell walls that takes place during cutting and chopping (or pureeing) and continue until the enzymes are heated to near boiling. To minimize the loss of these nutrients, the preferred course would seem to be keep the chopping to a minimum before cooking, cook as quickly as possible, and puree afterwards.
It should be noted that store bought baby food is also cooked. In fact, it is likely cooked to a further degree than you can reproduce in your kitchen.
I own a copy of that book, and love McGee. I am ashamed to say I didn’t even think to pull it off the shelf.
Your explanation is consistent with what I know to be true about raw vs. cooked foods, and your suggestion is exactly what I have been doing. As a matter of fact, I asked my Dr. friend what the difference was b/t my food and commercial baby food.
Thank you very much for the help and additional confidence. I was hoping not to find a bunch of links to some recent study that would shoot my cooking all to hell.
With cooking, in some cases more nutrients are made available.