1 - Keep all juice and smoothies away from light. The water soluble vitamins, B and C, are light sensitive, so if you want to keep all the goodness in your juice, store it in a protective carton, keep it away from sunlight or just drink it straight up! 

2 – If you boil your vegetables, add your greens to already boiling water. Wait for the bubbles before you add any vegetables that grow above ground (e.g. peas, broccoli, corn), this will help seal the vitamins in the food. Vegetables that grow below grow (e.g. potatoes) contain more starch and should be added to the pot as soon as you start to heat the water.

3 - Use only a small amount of water for cooking vegetables and pop the lid on the pot to stop steam and nutrients escaping.

4 - Use the leftover water for cooking for soups, sauces, and gravy to recycle any water soluble nutrients that have leached into the water.

5 - Steaming, microwaving and stir frying are good options for cooking veg as it gives the nutrients little chance of escape.

6 - Use fresh, frozen, dried, canned fruit and vegetables. While buying fresh is great, if the fresh options are sitting on your counter or in the fridge for days they will be losing all their goodness. Many frozen options are frozen as soon as they’re picked and can retain their goodness until you’re ready to use them. Just be careful of any added ingredients, especially sugar in tinned and dried foods.

7 - Avoid cutting away the best bits. Potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers, for example, can be simply rinsed thoroughly and used as they are e.g. discarding potatoe skins loses all that lovely fibre in the skin and vitamin C hiding just beneath it.

8 - Avoid cutting if you can! Cut fruit begins to lose nutrients, particularly anti-oxidants when exposed to air. Store foods in their skin and uncut where possible! If you do need to cut them, choose large chunks and store in an airtight container in the fridge.