To steam, poach or fry? It’s a question every home cook has pondered, and the truth is
there is no one set way to prepare a meal. If variety is the spice of life, then meal prep
is surely where the fun starts.
Words: ELENA IACOVOU
Photography: THINKSTOCKC
Choosing particular foods for their nutritional value
is important, but so too is the way you prepare them.
While some cooking methods affect the vitamin
and mineral make-up of foods more than others,
knowing the best way to prepare your meals can
help lock in vital nutrition, preserving rather than
destroying a food’s disease-fighting potential.
Experts say that food in its raw state is the most
nutrient dense. As soon as we begin cooking, food
begins to lose much of its nutritional content,
especially when boiled in water or fried in fat on
high heat. “As a general rule in nutrition, cooked
foods make the mineral profiles more available –
calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium essential for
energy and metabolic processes – but vitamins
that are more potent in raw foods are sensitive to
heat and water and begin to get lost during the
cooking process,” explains Gemma Clark, clinical
nutritionist (thesprout.com.au). Reports suggest that
water-soluble vitamins (C, B and folate) are heavily
destroyed by excess heat and water. Conversely,
fat-soluble vitamins (A, D and E) leach into cooking
oils but are only partially destroyed.
“This is the reason we should eat a diet balanced
in both raw and cooked foods, so we get a range of
vitamins and minerals,” says Clark. “And when it
comes to cooking we should use a variety of methods
not only to enjoy a diversity of textures and f lavours
but also because by modifying the cooking methods,
this preserves the nutrient content of our food,
keeping it vitamin rich,” she says.
Here’s a list of the most popular cooking methods
and some of the pros and cons of each.Grilling and barbecuing
Whether you’re placing food on a grill rack above a
bed of charcoal or an indoor grill, they each provide
maximum health without sacrificing f lavour. “Both
cooking methods expose food directly to high heat
and therefore don’t require added fats to cook, and as
the heat seals into the meat or vegetables it imparts
a smoky f lavour, keeping the food juicy and tender,”
says Danika Heslop, chef and nutritionist.
“If you’re cooking meat medium rare you’ll also
get more nutrients from the raw part, including a bit
from the blood profiles of the meat, such as iron andvitamin B,” says Clark. “And if you’re grilling, don’t
shy away from adding oil, even to a non-stick pan.
Good fats benefit our health but this also maximises
absorption of retained fat-soluble vitamins in lean
meats and vegetables.”
However, not everything about grilling on
a barbecue is good for you. Research from the
American Association for Cancer Research suggests
that regularly consuming charred, well-cooked meat
increases the risk of pancreatic cancer by almost
60 per cent, prostate cancer by 40 per cent and
breast cancer. The reason? When meat is cooked
at high temperatures and the fat drips on an open
f lame, the rising smoke creates a chemical reaction,
leaving deposits of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), a toxic carcinogen, on the meat, including
heterocyclic amines (HCAs) also formed during the
cooking process that may cause changes to DNA in
the body, potentially leading to cancer.
This does not mean barbecues are forbidden, it
just means it’s best to reduce the frequency of this
cooking method and make it healthier. “Use lean cut
meats with no or less fat, avoid having these foods
every single night and invest in a good stainless
steel grill rather than a cheap Tef lon, as they can
contribute to hormonal imbalances,” says Clark. For
extra safety, f lip the food often, pre-cook and finish
on the grill, or marinate the protein as this can act
like a barrier against HCAs.Pan frying
If you enjoy smoky f lavours, this is your second-best
option for a quick and healthy meal. “Because you’re
only adding a small amount of fat – oil or butter – to
your pan, this locks the heat in faster and a lot of
nutrient profiles are retained as everything is in one
pan,” says Clark. “Just make sure vegetables retain a
bite (also known as al dente), and that meat or fish
doesn’t burn.”
Research from the University of South Carolina
has linked pan-fried red meat and fish to pancreatic
cancer, mostly due to cooking in high temperatures,
with subsequent studies linking risk to heart disease
for the same reason. “To reduce such health risks,
use oils with high smoke points – the temperature
at which an oil starts to break down and produce