Hey guys, this is Heather! So we've been talking about pressure cooking this
month and I've shown you how it works, and how to make recipes, how to cook
beans & grains - but crazy enough, I haven't talked about nutrition yet! And as a
certified holistic nutritionist, that is obviously one of my priorities when I'm
cooking food - to make sure that it's healthy and that it maximizes nutrients
So the good news about pressure cooking is that it is great nutrition-wise.
When we cook food, the nutrient levels change a little bit depending on the
temperature, the amount of time that it's cooked for, and whether it is in contact
with water. So if you boil a carrot, for example, some of the vitamin C is going
to leach out into the water if it's in contact, and the amount that leeches out
depends on the temperature and the amount of time that it's in there
So when we pressure cook, we're boiling at a higher temperature but a lot lower time
Interestingly Dr. Michael Greger of nutritionfacts.org just posted a review
video last week, talking about some studies on the nutrient loss during
pressure cooking. Because the problem is there aren't a ton of studies on how
much is actually lost, so it's kind of a guess for the most part. But Dr. Greger
does a great job of giving a synopsis of the studies that are out there, and
essentially the conclusion that he reaches in the video is that the
temperature increase doesn't really have too much of an effect - but the decrease
in time means that a lot more nutrients are retained during pressure cooking
versus boiling. For instance in the beet hummus recipe that I put in the vegan
electric pressure cooker cookbook, I put a headnote there that highlights
the fact that beets have their own phytonutrient called betalaine, which
has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detox powers. Betalaines degrade
with longer cooking time, so cooking beets quickly in the pressure cooker is
the best way to go! And the cool thing is you could cook beets whole in your
pressure cooker. I usually peel them and then cook them whole, and then there's
actually very little contact with water. And the other thing you can do if you
want to minimize nutrient loss is to steam in your pressure cooker - so you put
water in the bottom and then put a steaming basket and put your vegetables
in the basket. And that's actually what Dr. Greger mentions at the end of the
video, that he thinks that's the optimal way to go and he has directions for
pressure steaming greens like Swiss chard or collard greens. Now I haven't
tried that, personally I like greens a little crisper, so I will just put them
in at the end to wilt - but if you guys try his method let me know what you think!
One tidbit that I found particularly interesting and was new
information to me in Dr. Greger's video, he talked about beans at the beginning
and - I don't know, I hadn't thought about the nutrient value of beans changing
very much between boiling and steaming because a lot of the nutrients in beans
are minerals... But he mentioned a study where they looked at the antioxidant
component, and pressure cooking beans was significantly higher antioxidant content
than boiling. Which makes a lot of sense, because boiling beans takes forever and
is really quick in the pressure cooker! And another thing to keep in mind is
that these nutrient comparisons often compare the raw to the cooked value
which when a food is raw, it might have a higher nutrient value but it's not as
absorbable by our body - so we don't actually use that full content
Whereas when it's cooked, we can use more of it - so it's kind of like the net value
that you can get from your food. Anyway it's all very interesting... I hope you
enjoy Dr. Greger's video! If you don't already follow him, you definitely should
because his videos are fantastic! Thanks so much for watching, and thank you so so
much to everyone who has pre-ordered a copy of the vegan electric pressure
cooker! I've had a couple questions because there is a free gift right now
during the pre-order period for the print book where if you send me
your email I'll send you a seven-day pressure cooking meal plan - and that does
apply for the Kindle version as well, which is out now! So you can order the
Kindle version, get a little preview of what's in the book even if you don't
like cooking by Kindle, and you can pick up that seven-day meal plan! There's a
link below with all the info. Thank you so so much guys, I really really
appreciate your support and how excited you all are for this new cookbook - and I
can't wait to see what you make from it! Alright, so we'll talk again next week
Thank you. Bye guys! xo h