Question of the Day: Does microwave cooking destroy the nutrient density in foods?

No. Microwave ovens generally do not destroy nutrients in food. For example, cooking vegetables in water increases the loss of water-soluble vitamins, and because microwave ovens can cook foods with little or no water, more nutrients are retained. Scientists at Cornell University studied the effects of cooking on vegetables in 2006, and their results showed that spinach retained nearly all its folate (a water-soluble B vitamin) when microwaved but lost about 77 percent when cooked on a stove.