Vitamin C is a water-soluble and temperature-sensitive vitamin, so is easily degraded during cooking, and elevated temperatures and long cooking times have been found to cause particularly severe losses of vitamin C [12].
Why cooking lowers the amount of vitamin C?
“The amount of vitamin C in foods generally decreases with cooking,” she notes. The vitamin can leach out into the water in which peppers are cooked. Heat and other chemical processes also can break it down. But we might still get more vitamin C from some cooked vegetables than raw, Carr says.
Why does cooking food usually lower the vitamin and mineral content of food?
Cooking foods, especially in a lot of water or fat at high heat, can reduce the amounts of vitamins and potassium in them, when vitamins such as C evaporate or get thrown out in the cooking water or oil. However, you don't have to eat everything raw.
What destroys vitamin C while cooking?
Vitamin C is easily destroyed by excessive heat and water, as well as exposure to air. For retention of vitamin C in cooked foods, it is recommended that foods containing vitamin C be cooked as fast as possible with less heat and small amount of water.
How does cooking affect the nutrients in food?
Heat diminishes vitamins and phytonutrients (beneficial plant compounds other than vitamins or minerals) in fruits and vegetables. The longer they cook, and the higher the temperature, the greater the nutrient destruction. Even chopping food can begin to erode some of the nutrients.
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