Do slow cookers (like Crock-Pots) destroy nutrients?

Nutrient in foods are typically susceptible to damage from six diferent types of
conditions: (1) high heat, (2) prolonged exposure to any heat, (3) exposure to light, (4)
exposure to air, () immersion in !ater, and (") passage of time since being har#ested or
slaughtered$ %ome foods are afected by all six factors$ &thers are afected primarily by
t!o or three factors$
%lo! coo'ers coo' food o#er #ery long, extended periods of time$ (hirty minutes of
coo'ing time in a con#entional o#en might con#ert to four to six hours of lo!)heat
coo'ing in a slo! coo'er$ *nd it is not unusual to coo' a meat)containing food for an
entire !or'day (eight hours or so) in a slo! coo'er$ &f course, that+s one of the great
appeals of slo! coo'ers)the idea of putting your dinner into a slo! coo'er in the morning,
before you lea#e for !or', and ha#ing it ready for you !hen you get bac' home in the
late afternoon or early e#ening$
&ne of the secrets to slo! coo'ing in#ol#es the use of lo! heat$ *lmost all slo! coo'ers
ha#e a setting that 'eeps the food under the boiling point of 212,-.1//,0, usually around
2//,-.13,0$ 2n #irtually all other methods of heating food, heats higher than this are
in#ol#ed$ %teaming, blanching, boiling, simmering, broiling, ba'ing)all of these methods
typically expose the nutrients in food to higher amounts of heat than 2//,-.13,0$
3o!e#er, all of the methods also expose the food to heat for a much shorter period of
time$ 2n my boo' and on the 4orld+s 3ealthiest -oods !ebsite (!!!$!hfoods$og), 2
recommend exposure of most foods to heat for a period of only se#eral minutes)hours
and hours less than heat exposure in a slo! coo'er$
(he only good research 2+#e seen on lo!)heat nutrient loss in#ol#es the amino acid lysine$
(!enty percent of it has been found to get coo'ed out of peanuts after an hour and a half
exposure to 1/,-."",0 heat$ *fter t!o and one half hours, 4/5 has been lost$ 2+d expect
the ma6ority of #itamins to ha#e less heat stability than this amino acid, and so 2 !ould
expect higher percentage losses of many #itamins !hen coo'ed at 2//,-.13,0 o#er six to
eight hours of time$
&ne bene7t about slo! coo'ers, ho!e#er, is that they are fully co#ered containers$ (his
sealed aspect of slo! coo'ers means that some percentage of nutrients not destroyed by
2//-,.13,0 heat)e#en if released from the food)!ould be contained in the slo! coo'er
and food li8uids or residues$ 2n other !ords, if you consume all of the ste!ing li8uid or
soup li8uid, you !ould be getting some amount of the nutrients that !ere lost from the
food but not actually destroyed by the heat$
2n comparison to frying or prolonged boiling, slo! coo'ing of foods !ould be an
impro#ement in my opinion)e#en though 2 ha#e not seen research comparing the nutrient
changes$ 3o!e#er, in comparison to the 8uic' coo'ing methods 2 recommend, 2 belie#e
that slo! coo'ing !ould de7nitely be an inferior method in terms of nutrition$ (his doesn+t
mean that the slo! coo'er meal !ould not be tasty, nor con#enient, nor not !orth
consuming, ho!e#er$
-or more information on this topic, see:
0oo'ing and Nutrient 9oss