uncontrolled enzyme activity, and exposure to oxygen and to light They and minerals can also be drawn out of plant tissues by cooking water These losses can be minimized by rapid and brief cooking Baked potatoes, for example, heat up relatively slowly and lose much more vitamin C to enzyme action than do boiled potatoes However, some techniques that speed cooking — cutting vegetables into small pieces, and boiling in a large volume of water, which maintains its temperature — can result in increased leaching of water-soluble nutrients, including minerals and the B and C vitamins To maximize the retention of vitamins and minerals, cook small batches of vegetables and fruits in the microwave oven, in a minimal amount of added water …And Some Enhancement Cooking has several general nutritional benefits It eliminates potentially harmful microbes By softening and concentrating foods, it also makes them easier to eat in significant quantities And it actually improves the availability of some nutrients Two of the most important are starch and the carotenoid pigments Starch consists of long chains of sugar molecules crammed into masses called granules Our digestive enzymes can’t penetrate past the outer layer of raw starch granules, but cooking unpacks the starch chains and lets our enzymes break them down Then there are beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A, its chemical relative lycopene, an important antioxidant, and other valuable carotenoid pigments Because they’re not very soluble in water, we simply don’t extract these chemicals very efficiently by just chewing and swallowing Cooking disrupts the plant tissues more thoroughly and allows us to extract much more of them (Added fat also significantly improves our absorption of fatsoluble nutrients.) ... them easier to eat in significant quantities And it actually improves the availability of some nutrients Two of the most important are starch and the carotenoid pigments Starch consists of long... we simply don’t extract these chemicals very efficiently by just chewing and swallowing Cooking disrupts the plant tissues more thoroughly and allows us to extract much more of them (Added fat... chains and lets our enzymes break them down Then there are beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A, its chemical relative lycopene, an important antioxidant, and other valuable carotenoid pigments Because they’re not very