Thus, in order to make meaningful comparisons, the second table below shows vitamin values correcting for the effect of any lost water content. Even then, some inconsistencies are unavoidable, since different varieties of a food may have differing vitamin contents, and differing samples may have been used. 11 Overall vitamin losses due to cooking are relatively modest. While there are a few inconsistencies in the above tables due likely to differing samples, globally we see that, on average, cooking does destroy vitamins, but the consequences are not catastrophic. Also, vitamin losses correlate with what our textbook by Kreutler et al.
Table illustrates dietary variety is as significant to nutrition as cooking.
Next, the vitamin value of a food is not only determined by the absolute amount of vitamins it contains, but also by their bioavailability, which also may be influenced by numerous factors including cooking. First of all, anti- vitamins present in some foods can be destroyed by heat. Gelatinization of starch. Effect of cooking on bioavailability of beta-carotene. The absorption and transport are quite complex and not yet well- understood.