People often ask me whether cooking vegetables destroys all their nutrients. The bottom line here is that some nutrients are more sensitive to heat and oxygen than others, so some are affected by cooking and some remain untouched.

For example, vitamin C and folic acid are water soluble and susceptible to oxidation. So quite a bit is lost when foods containing these vitamins, such as green vegetables, are cooked in large volumes of water which is discarded.

To minimise these losses and that of other sensitive vitamins and minerals, avoid cutting vegetables before cooking. Rather plunge whole veggies straight into boiling water, cut if needed and serve immediately. Better still, steam your veg or cook them with very little water in a microwave oven.

On the other hand, important food components, like fibre, lycopene in tomatoes and other antioxidants remain in the vegetables and may actually become more available to the body through cooking.

Proper cooking also increases the microbiological safety of some foods and enhances their flavour.

To make sure you get the nutrient goodness you need from your veggies, eat a wide variety of colourful vegetables (and fruits every day), prepared in different ways. Get a minimum of three servings of veg every day.