# Vitamins in Soup

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 14, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484 "2012-08-14T17:07:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484/1 "2012-08-14T17:07:18Z")

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My HS science teacher claimed that when you cook fruits and vegetables, all the vitamins go out of them and into the liquid. Which would mean that if you were eating soup and concerned about vitamins, there is no reason to specifically eat the vegetables in the soup, as long as you’re eating the soup itself.

OTOH, most of what my HS science teacher said (which was not in the textbooks) was completely bogus. So what’s the story here?

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**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484/2 "2012-08-14T17:13:30Z")

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I doubt that _ **all** _ leech into the water. Otherwise, wouldn’t we suffer from nutritional deficiency if all we ate were \*cooked \*vegetables?

What other claims did your HS science teacher make?

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484/3 "2012-08-14T21:24:57Z")

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Some water soluble vitamins will be dissolved in the water, but not all and none of vitamins A and D (the fat soluble). Microwaving preserves more vitamins, as does steaming. So you do lose some of the vitamins by cooking in water, but not all.

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**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484/4 "2012-08-16T00:04:45Z")

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also E and K are fat soluble

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**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484/5 "2012-08-16T14:20:44Z")

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> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> Some water soluble vitamins will be dissolved in the water, but not all and none of vitamins A and D (the fat soluble).

It’s not only a question of water vs. fat solubility. Heat destroys a certain percentage of both water- and fat-soluble vitamins. Boiling vegetables, as in a soup, lowers the vitamin C content of the food about 50 %, but about 10 % of vitamin A, as well. Folic acid is another water-soluble vitamin that is massively destroyed by boiling. Other vitamin Bs are also affected, although not as much as folic acid.

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vitamins-in-soup/631484/6 "2012-08-16T16:36:28Z")

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OTOH, cooking food makes it a lot easier to digest, and it’s possible this helps more nutrients get absorbed.