Don’t Boil Your Broccoli!
As I’ve mentioned in reply to a comment, one cannot make a blanket claim saying that cooking and processing robs food of its nutrients. In the case of lycopene, for example, it has been demonstrated that heating actually increases its bioavailability i.e, its likelihood of being absorbed by the body.
In the case of broccoli, however, its the opposite. Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables contain anti-cancer compounds called glucosinolates and isothiocyanates in particular. It appears that these compounds, however, are ruined by boiling, according to a new research.
Boiling appeared to have a serious impact on the retention of those important glucosinolate within the vegetables. The loss of total glucosinolate content after boiling for 30 minutes was: broccoli 77%, Brussel sprouts 58%, cauliflower 75% and green cabbage 65%.
The effects of other cooking methods were investigated: steaming for 0–20 min, microwave cooking for 0–3 min and stir-fry cooking for 0–5 min. All three methods gave no significant loss of total glucosinolate analyte contents over these cooking periods.
In addition, there is also a significant loss when deep frozen veggies are thawed. So instead of boiling, consider stir-frying, steaming or nuking them in the microwave.
Tags: broccoli, cooking, diet, functional-food, health, health-food, Healthy Eating, nutraceuticals, nutrition, processed-food, raw-food, ~CancerRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Food Talk, Healthy Eating, ~Cancer, ~Fruit and Vegetables
5 opinions for Don’t Boil Your Broccoli!
Hsien Lei
May 16, 2007 at 7:19 am
Who in the world cooks broccoli or any of those veggies for 30 minutes?! Maybe only people who have no teeth….
Oscar
May 17, 2007 at 12:05 am
Aside from the fact that some of the glucosinolate will be lost by boiling vegetables over 30 min, they will also be very tender which is not good for eating.
Pat
May 17, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Boiling it for 30 min is too much indeed. I think it will make a fine vegetable soup.
I would prefer cooking it on the microwave. This way, it will not go over 3 mins with the timer set to 2-3 min.
ruth
May 19, 2007 at 1:41 am
So no boiled broccoli for baby food then. :)
Still, I wish they also tested baking. That’s all I ever do to broccoli anyway: either stir-fried or au gratin.
steve
Jan 22, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I like my brocolli boiled until mushy.
I hate the taste and texture unless mushy.
I boil it in water and eat and drink all the brocolli and all the water.
Am I loosing any nutrients for my bod?
If so why?
Is the vitamins and glucosinolate etc just transfered to the water?
thanks
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