Recent study has found that pan frying vegetables with olive oil is better than steaming or boiling when you are to conserve nutrients the most.
A research team at University of Granada, Spain has conducted a research to compare the change of water content, fat content, as well as nutrients content of different kinds of vegetables based on cooking methods. As a result, nutrition density was increased when vegetables were pan-fried. Increased nutrients include phenolic compounds, which help against diabetes and cancers. Surprising to find, steaming vegetables does not increase the nutrient content.
Director of the research, Professor Christina Sanchez, commented that “oil and certain degree of persistent temperature makes phenolic compounds in vegetables more absorbable.”
Regarding the usage of oil, FDA recommended olive oil, which is ample in monounsaturated fats that prevents heart diseases.
However, you need to be careful when using olive oil. Since many of olive oils in market is extra virgin, their low smoking points make them undesirable for certain methods, such as deep frying. Therefore, olive oil is the best when used for cold dishes and some lightly cooked dishes.
Original document available from http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?page=1&branch=NEWS&source=&category=lifenleisure.health&art_id=4056566
Translated by Heewon Kim
