Canned goods nutrients

[greeflagged]

People always say canned food has no nutrients compared to freezing or dehydrating, but isn't that a bit misleading? Sure, fresh is best, but everything loses nutrients when cooked. Canning is just cooking and sealing—kind of like making soup—so I figure it loses nutrients the same way any cooked food does. Frozen might seem better, but once you cook it, doesn't it end up about the same? What do you all think?

 

[blubrry_7]

People always say canned food has no nutrients compared to freezing or dehydrating, but isn't that a bit misleading? Sure, fresh is best, but everything loses nutrients when cooked. Canning is just cooking and sealing—kind of like making soup—so I figure it loses nutrients the same way any cooked food does. Frozen might seem better, but once you cook it, doesn't it end up about the same? What do you all think?

I like both canned and frozen food. but you know, the idea that canned food has no nutrients is definitely a myth. The initial cooking process for canning does cause some nutrient loss, but it often happens right after harvest, locking in a lot of goodness. So a canned vegetable might be more nutritious than a 'fresh' one that's been sitting in transit for weeks

 

[Abdul Muhamed]

I'm in the medical field. Cooking (boiling, baking, frying) does denature some vitamins- especially vitamin C. Some fat-soluble vitamins are also reduced slightly. B vitamins will be reduced, but if one consumes the liquid they were cooked in one still retains over 90%. Minerals are not broken down by heating, but if you heat them and drain off the water, some minerals are lost. Obviously, eating vegetables raw will retain all of the vitamins and minerals and micronutrients, but any form of heating will degrade some to some extent.
Freezing will maintain most nutrients, but if you heat it up to eat it, you are still losing some. Dehydrating will degrade about as much vitamin C as cooking will. The point is, there is "some" loss of a few vitamins and micronutrients however you heat food. Cannning is no better or worse than warming it on the stove. The benefits of eating veggies far outweigh the slight loss of nutrients by cooking it. I love cooked broccoli, but If I had to eat it raw I would pass.