Does cooking meat destroy nutrients?

(Erin Macfarland ) #1

I was reading through some of the writings from the Bear and he mentions that “boiling goat or other meat for 1-2 hours” will destroy the nutrients. What does this mean for using a sous vide or crock pot? I seem to be cooking all meat in my sous vide since getting it for Christmas, am I left with a delicious steak or roast that is void of nutrition??

(Guardian of the bacon) #2

Lot of difference between boiling and cooking in sous vide at 130F

I’ve been doing a lot of sous vide cooking as well, I’m not appearing malnourished yet.

(Erin Macfarland ) #3

Ha! That’s funny…I guess i interpreted his comment to mean that meat that’s cooked for a long time loses its nutritional value. Maybe he meant cooked for a long time at a high temp?

(Guardian of the bacon) #4

I just went by what he said…“boiled”

(Guardian of the bacon) #5

I know when you boil veggies a lot of nutrients go out with the drain water.

#6

Just use the water as broth or gravy and the nutrients that leach out of the meat will be there.

Proteins do break down somewhat (unfold) when heated, but that just makes them more bioavailable. Cooking at super-high temperatures can damage proteins even further though. Boiling and sous vide are the best thing, besides raw. :wink:

(Erin Macfarland ) #7

Interesting you say cooking makes them more bioavailabile (obviously not over cooking!) but he was talking about raw meat as being the most nutritious.

#8

@erdoke is a big fan of raw meat. Perhaps he can explain the differences in cooked vs. raw.

(Perhaps it’s the raw fat that’s better? )

(Gabor Erdosi) #9

I’ve never looked into differences between nutritional profiles of raw and cooked meat. What I do know is that eating beef tartare (raw minced beef, raw egg yolks, spices and added lard, butter or duck fat based on taste and on meat type) is more satiating/satisfying that eating cooked meat. Kids regularly ask when it will be on the menu again. Unfortunately, sourcing meat is not that easy for this purpose, or we are just too picky/concerned.

(Guardian of the bacon) #10

I can imagine you would want the highest quality.

(Sascha Heid) #11

Look up Pottengers cats. Im not posting a link to certain article about it because i dont want to take sides, make your own choice. You can also get his book online.
He basically compared 5 generations of cats feeding them different ratios of raw vs cooked meat and milk. It was a very large experiment done over 10 years (1932-1942) including 900 cats.
The differences where significant to say the least.

(Erin Macfarland ) #12

I am familiar with these studies, very interesting and reason to include a variety of cooking techniques!

#13

I have a friend who eats raw bison or beef liver which she purees in Cuisinart. Her kids love it! They also eat raw fish eggs which are very nutrient dense including Vit. K2. I tried a small spoonful of her liver raw “pudding”. Too bloody and of iron for me. I like making liver pate but keeping the meat pink.

(Alex Walker) #14

Roasting and broiling provide better vitamin retention than braising, and stewing destroys the most vitamins. The smaller the pieces, the bigger the surface area where vitamin loss occurs. Longer cooking times destroy both harmful bacteria and useful vitamins in meat. But we have to cook the meat before eating, we can’t eat raw meat at all.

#15

I know a couple of people @Brenda and @erdoke who eat raw meat.

Also, any studies pointing to which vitamins are degraded by cooking would be helpful. I know stewing leaches nutrients and minerals into the cooking water, but drinking the broth solves this.

(Gabor Erdosi) #16

In fact, I feel the most satisfied after eating beef tartare (with raw egg yolks and spices).

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #17

Only my second day of my steak challenge, I craved raw meat badly. I ate an 8 oz grassfed NY strip with only salt. A few hours later, a grilled 15 oz corn finished NY strip. That was all I needed for the day.

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Carnivore diet - nutrients damaged by cooking?
#18

Mmmmmm…raw meat.

I know of three little ones who prefer raw beef over cooked. They don’t live with or near me, so it’s not my influence. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I know… parasites. :smile:

(Raphi) #19

To oversimplify but keep a useful rule of thumb, cooking food makes some nutrients less available (either by destroying them or changing their form) and some more available (by changing their bioavailability). On average, cooking will help you digest and absorb more nutrition.

Leaving cooking aside for a moment, remember that cooking is not the only factor affecting micronutrient availability. Take Vitamin C for instance. The more glucose you have the more it outcompetes vitamin C uptake (increasing the need for it too) http://breaknutrition.com/ketogenic-diet-vitamin-c-101/. So by reducing you glucose load you reduce your vitamin C needs - no need to even cook differently to achieve that! :slight_smile: