Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagle and you're listening to the

nutrition divas quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Last week I got an email from nutrition diva listener Jen who wrote, I've spent many hours

researching how to get the most nutrition from the fruits and vegetables I eat.

I understand that vitamins can be destroyed by cooking, but I've also heard that cooking can

increase some nutrients.

And I've read that eating vegetables with certain foods can enhance the absorption of various nutrients.

Can you give me a list of the best cooking methods and food pairings for all the various vegetables? I want to get the most bang for my buck.

Well, Jen is absolutely right on all counts.

Cooking can decrease certain nutrients, especially the water-soluble vitamins like

vitamin C. And some nutrients, such as the lycopene and tomatoes, are made more bioavailable

when you cook them. And you can increase your absorption of

fat-soluble vitamins such as beta carotene by eating them with avocados, olive oil,

or other healthy fats. Similarly, fruits and vegetables that are high in

vitamin C can increase your absorption of iron from foods they're eaten with and so on and

so on. Over the years I've discussed all of these topics in various podcasts, and I could have simply

referred Jen to the show archives to dig up the details.

Or I could have spent the week compiling a database of fruits and vegetables, which

nutrients they contain, the best ways to cook each one and the best foods to eat them

with. I know lots of you would have raced to your computers to print that list out and stick it to your

refrigerator door. I didn't compile that list. For one thing, it sounded like a pretty tedious

project, but more importantly, getting nutrition from vegetables just

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