Are overcooked pasta and beans still nutritious?

Dear Long Cooker, 

Pasta and beans are easy to cook, nutritious, and delicious! Rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, beans, lentils, and peas (also known as pulses) pack a nutritional punch. Generally speaking, different pulses have different soaking and cooking times. Overcooking them can affect nutrients and vitamins that break down in water or are sensitive to heat. As for pasta, overcooking can lead to a loss of carbohydrates and other vitamins. Step away from the stove and keep reading to find out which cooking methods help to retain the most nutrients! 

Does cooking vegetables and pulses cause nutrient loss? 

There’s a kernel of truth in the popular belief that cooking your greens and beans causes them to lose nutrients. Water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin B complex and vitamin C can leach out of foods into the cooking water, which is often discarded after cooking is done. Vitamin C and folate are also heat-sensitive, meaning that they can be destroyed when foods are cooked at high temperatures.   

That said, there are bean-efits to cooking vegetables and pulses. Studies have found that steaming and microwaving vegetables can improve their appearance, texture, and taste. Some cooking methods may even help your body absorb certain nutrients more effectively. For instance, boiling carrots makes it easier for your body to absorb beta-carotene, a pigment with antioxidant properties that naturally occurs in yellow and orange foods. Steaming or microwaving sweet potatoes also helps beta-carotene absorption and preserves its antioxidant properties. When it comes to beans and other pulses, cooking can also help to break down tough proteins, making it easier for your body to digest them. 

How can you retain nutrients when cooking vegetables and beans? 

Retaining nutrients ultimately boils down (no pun intended) to cooking methods that minimize the loss of nutrients due to high heat or large volumes of water. In general, cooking methods that use low heat and only the necessary amount of water prevent nutrient loss. It’s also a good idea to cook green vegetables for shorter periods of time—by blanching or stir-frying them, for example. Retaining cooking water for soups, stocks, or gravies can also help to reintroduce some nutrients that were lost during the cooking process.  

Different pulses need to be soaked and cooked for different amounts of time. Lentils and split peas don’t need to be pre-soaked and can be cooked directly. On the other hand, dry beans with thick skin (red kidney beans, for instance) contain components that can cause digestive discomfort unless they’re removed through soaking and cooking. Canned beans are often already pre-soaked and boiled, making them ready to eat and likely still nutrient dense. 

Does overcooking pasta cause nutrient loss? 

Similar to vegetables and beans, water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B and folate can be lost when pasta is overcooked. Overcooking pasta can also reduce its carbohydrate content. When pasta is boiled, starch molecules in the pasta absorb water and swell. If the cooking process goes on for too long, these starch molecules can burst. Solid matter from pasta leaches into the cooking water, leading to loss of carbohydrates and other nutrients.  

Besides nutrient loss, cooking time can affect the glycemic index of pasta. As it cooks, the starch in pasta swells and breaks down, making it easier for the body to digest. This means that overcooked pasta is digested more rapidly and may raise blood glucose levels faster than al dente pasta.  

Is it safe to reheat pasta? 

Rest assured—it’s tortellini safe to reheat cold pasta. In fact, cooling and reheating carbohydrate-rich foods can increase the amount of resistant starch in them, which helps to regulate blood sugar levels. When carbohydrates like pasta, potatoes, and rice are cooked and then cooled, the starches in them become more tightly packed together. This essentially turns them into a type of fiber. Since resistant starch can’t be digested in the small intestine, it stops blood sugar levels from spiking and crashing after a meal. Some emerging research also suggests that even when starchy foods are cooled and then reheated, they contain more resistant starch than freshly cooked foods.  

How you like your pasta and beans comes down to personal taste and preference—but if you’re hoping to retain as many vitamins and nutrients as possible, it may be a good idea to go easy on the stovetop. 

Bon appétit!