Why can minerals be lost from food when cooking water is discarded?

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USDA MyPlate dietary guidelines — human nutrition MyPlate, a revised set of dietary guidelines introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2011, divides the four basic food groups (fruits, grains, protein, and vegetables) into sections on a plate, the size of each section representing the relative dietary proportions of each food group. The small blue circle shown at the upper right illustrates the inclusion and recommended proportion of dairy products in the diet.

Minerals are simple inorganic elements that are not destroyed by heat during food preparation; in fact, they remain unchanged even if a food is burned completely.1

However, minerals can be lost from food through the process of leaching. When food is cooked in water, these minerals—many of which exist in the body as ions—can dissolve into the cooking liquid. If that water is subsequently discarded, the minerals contained within it are removed from the food, thereby reducing its nutritional value.1