Chook Me!

Does the nutritional value of vegetables decrease if they are mixed into a casserole or pasta dish?

I ate chicken with marinara pasta sauce, spaghetti, and an assortment of grilled vegetables were mixed into the pasta. Is it ok to count those vegetables as part of my daily intake or is the fact that it was served with other ingredients mar it's nutritional value?

Public Comments

1. Nope. They're still vegetables, no matter what they were mixed with.
2. Vegetables are vegetables, whether you eat them plain or with other stuff. There IS a nutritional difference between raw and cooked vegetables (they lose some of their vitamins and nutrients while cooking) and peeling vegetables also often removes many of the nutrients.
3. Your question is an interesting one. cooking can destroy some nutrients but also can make others available to humans that digestion alone can not release. Casserole isnt really the issue, its heat and time, and cooking is about creating a desirable result not just making fuel so yes it may reduce for example the value of a carrots nutrition but a lovely braised carrot is delicious in a different way to a raw one. Many people only eat cooked food - plenty of kids wont touch salad, and as a rule given enough food to fill our bellies most of the time we can afford to be suboptimal on our intake - sacrificing some nutrient for taste is a working compromise. enjoy food S
4. The grilled part would affect it more than the mixing it with other things part. Altering the food can decrease the nutritional value but adding other things to it will not. Although eating a lot of junk food and adding veggies to it doesn't justify the junk food lol.