Following the previous article, we will continue to introduce common cooking methods and their impact on food nutrition.

Steaming is a way to cook food by using steam. The history of using steam to cook food dates back more than 5000 years. 

Although they are both heated with water, steaming is different from boiling. In the process of steaming, there will be water vapor and high-temperature heating at the same time, but because the vegetables are not in direct contact with hot water, the water-soluble vitamins in the food can be retained.

In the previous article, we know that broccoli, spinach and lettuce lose more than 50% of vitamin C after boiling. However, if the broccoli, spinach and lettuce are steamed, their vitamin C content is only reduced by 9-15%. More than that, steamed foods contain lower extra calories.

Some people may have a question. Since cooking causes nutrient loss, why don't we eat it raw?  The reason lies in hygiene and digestibility. We all know that hygiene is important, but the digestibility may not be considered by many people. 

Although eating raw seems very natural and healthy, in fact, eating raw will greatly reduce digestion and absorption of many foods. Taking the egg as an example, the digestion and absorption rate of the uncooked egg is only 51.3%, while the digestion and absorption rate of the boiled egg is greatly increased to 91%. 

In summary, although cooking can cause nutrient loss, but cooked food is more hygienic and beneficial to body absorption. So what we can do is choose a better way of cooking.

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