Preparing Some Soup? Follow This Tip From Nutritionist To Retain Its Nutritive Value (2024)

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Preparing Some Soup? Follow This Tip From Nutritionist To Retain Its Nutritive Value? ›

To make sure that you don't drain out the nutrients from the soup, she suggests that one should use the same water to prepare the soup in which the vegetables were boiled. This, she says, will ensure that you are not wasting anything while making the soup, especially the essential nutrients and minerals.

Tightly covering the utensil when cooking or storing leftovers preserves nutritive value, particularly Vitamin C. When sauteing before boiling in soup, avoid using rancid fats since these affect Vitamins A and E. Soup is a good to way get needed water-soluble vitamins and minerals.

Some suggestions to retain the maximum nutrition in the foods you cook include: Store foods properly, such as keeping cold foods cold and sealing some foods in airtight containers. Keep vegetables in the crisper section of the refrigerator. Try washing or scrubbing vegetables rather than peeling them.

Cooking methods that expose plant foods to high temperatures and/or water for long periods of time (e.g. boiling) may be the most detrimental to nutrient content, whereas other cooking methods such as steaming or microwaving may help to retain nutrients, particularly those that are water-soluble.

Heat does not destroy all vitamins, no. Heat reduces the potency of some water-soluble vitamins. Others are lost in the cooking liquid, but in the case of soups and stews, that cooking liquid is the broth, which you will consume with the soup, so most of the vitamin content is available to those who eat that soup.

Steaming, microwaving and stir frying are better options than boiling. The good news is that many foods we usually eat raw are rich in vitamin C and the B vits (such as watercress, peppers, spinach, tomatoes and lettuce), so a balanced diet will provide you with plenty of them.

Nutrients like vitamin B and C are lost when foods are boiled or soaked in water and the water is thrown away. Nutrients like vitamin A are lost when fats are used for cooking foods. Loss of nutrients in vegetables begins from preparation onward and is greater during the cooking process.

The nutritionist explains that when we boil the vegetables for the soup, the nutrients get lost in the water. When we make the soup using the same water, the process ensures that there is no loss of nutrients.

What soups have the most nutritional value? ›

Most soups are loaded with disease-fighting nutrients. In fact, studies show that chicken soup in particular can help prevent the common cold, especially if you load it up with fresh garlic, onions, celery and carrots. (They all contain powerful immune-boosting chemicals.)

Nutrients may be lost by chemical breakdown or by being leached into cooking waters. Cooking may enhance or degrade the availability of different nutrients. Cooking may therefore affect the nutrient value of food either beneficially, or negatively.

Nutritional value or nutritive value as part of food quality is the measure of a well-balanced ratio of the essential nutrients carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins in items of food or diet concerning the nutrient requirements of their consumer.

Stir-frying or stewing

If you prefer softer vegetables, cook them in stews or soups so any water-soluble vitamins are retained in the broth. You can even keep liquid from boiled veggies to use later as stock.

Broth-Based Soups With Veggies and Protein

Think chicken and vegetable, turkey and black bean chili, or lentil. The liquid will fill you up for relatively few calories, while the fiber from the vegetables and the protein from the chicken or beans will help keep you satisfied until your next meal or snack.