Doesn't it seem like when it comes to nutrition or more opinions than facts to go around?

Every day we hear new theories about diets, supplements, and the best foods to eat.

My role is to take the mystery out of good nutrition and look at the science.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast.

I'm your host and Dr. Michael Greger.

I'm here to bring you an evidence-based approach to the best way to live a healthier, longer life.

We know this lesson.

Great fresh ingredients out there to use in our favorite recipes, but what's the best way to cook them?

So they retain their nutrients.

Today we start with the best way to cook greens.

The main purpose of cooking vegetables is to make them more edible, palatable, and digestible.

The downside though is that cooking may adversely affect the levels of nutrients,

especially the heat-sensitive and water-soluble ones.

But even if you boil greens for 10 minutes, the drop in antioxidant capacity, for example,

which is a rough proxy for a phytonutrient retention, isn't that much?

Yes, there's a significant drop in each case of 15-20% drop, but most of the antioxidant

power is retained even if you boil lettuce for 10 minutes.

The single nutrient that drops the most is probably vitamin C.

Colors start out so vitamin C packed that even colored greens boiled for 10 minutes have

twice as much vitamin C compared to even raw broccoli.

The vitamin C in spinach really takes a hit, even just blanching for 5 minutes can cut vitamin

C levels more than half, with more than 90% dissolving away into the water after 15 minutes.

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