Q: We make vegetable soups on a regular basis, but wonder if were getting all the benefits derived from these vegetables by boiling them in a large pot? Generally we use about two quarts of water.

Answer :Helen M. Rasmussen, PhD, senior research dietitian at Tufts USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, says that as long as you use the water in the soup, youre not losing any nutrients (other than those damaged simply by heat).