Some Vegetables Benefit From Minimal Cooking
Is raw food always recommended? Some researchers say no.
Over the last decade there has been a big Raw Food movement. The idea behind this raw food diet is that cooked foods are bad for us, as they contribute to disease. There is some merit to this way of thinking, especially considering that heat, from cooking, can alter and destroy foods.
Excessive heat can destroy enzymes, vitamins, fats and proteins. If you’re not careful barbecuing, you can create cancerous substances on your food. And if you fry fats you can create cancer-causing particles.
But some scientists are showing us that raw is not always best for some foods. Dr. Steven Clinton, a nutrition researcher in the medical oncology division of Ohio State University says(1) that sometimes cooking releases important nutrients. Tomatoes and carrots yield more nutrients of some kinds when they are cooked. Yet, at the same time tomatoes lose vitamin C.
Further, some people with digestive problems need to cook at least some of their foods just to break them down.
The answer to the riddle of raw versus cooked is this: Eat a variety of foods. Do not fry anything. Do not cook with high heat. Eat fresh produce (grown locally and organically is best).
1) Hubbard, Sylvia Booth, “Got Vegetables? Cooking Them for Health and Taste,” newsmax.com, May 2008
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