While adding more raw vegetables to your diet is definitely a good thing to do for overall health and well-being, going raw all the way isn’t always best. As with many things in life, balance is essential. While it is true that heating food can destroy certain vitamins and enzymes, there are some vegetables which actually need heat to release their plant goodness.
Plants have a very tough cellular structure. Heating foods, the right way, helps to break down the structure, making the nutrients more accessible for absorption. And if you thought antioxidants are lost through cooking, then some of these foods will prove you wrong.
ALSO READ: Is A 100% Raw Vegan Diet Healthy Or Not?
Here’s a list of 5 foods that are actually healthier when cooked
1. Tomatoes
When tomatoes are cooked up to 35% more lycopene, an antioxidant linked to lower the risk of heart diseases and cancer will become available to your body for absorption.
2. Carrots
We all have heard that carrots are good for the eyes. They contain high levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant the body uses as a building block to make vitamin A. However carrots are though veggies and don’t let go their nutrients that easily. Lightly steaming or boiling carrots will help you to break through its tough barriers and boost the availability of its nutrients.
3. Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts contain goitrogens or sulfur compounds, which can seriously mess up your thyroid hormone production. However, when cooked up to 66% of goitrogens become unstable and harmless. So if you have thyroid issues, cruciferous vegetables should be avoided or cooked
FYI: broccoli contains sulforaphane, an antioxidant which potentially fights cancer cells and heart diseases. Cooking and steaming broccoli keep this valuable nutrient intact, boiling, however, reduces sulforaphane by 70%.
4. Some Leafy Greens
Leafy greens such as spinach and kale contain oxalic acid which inhibits absorption of calcium and iron. Slightly cooking your greens reduces the amount of oxalic acid enabling your body to absorb more iron and calcium.
FYI: the calcium levels in cooked spinach are found to be 3 times higher than when eaten raw.
Does this mean the end of spinach and kale in your green smoothies? Have no fear 😉 Spinach and kale rock both the raw and cooked world as it comes to nutrients. While nutrients like vitamin A, calcium, iron, fiber, and protein may be less available to you when eaten raw, raw leafy greens are much higher in folate, vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, and potassium.
ALSO READ: Why You Should Add Some Healthy Fats To Your Juices, Smoothies, Or Salads
5. Mushrooms
Raw mushrooms are tough to digest and may contain harmful toxins. Some mushrooms can’t even be eaten raw at all. So cooking your mushrooms not only breaks down cellular walls to release nutrients, but it is also the safer option if you’re not a mushroom expert.
Take Home Message
To set things straight, you can of course still enjoy these 5 foods raw as well in salads, juices, and smoothies. Even raw they will provide you with an abundance of nutrients. I just wanted to share with you that raw will not always give you the most nutrients and that we shouldn’t fear cooking some of our vegetables.
For some, you will indeed lose some nutrients while cooking, but when they are a part of a healthy well-balanced diet, which also includes plenty of raw foods, there is no need to worry about losing a few percentages here and there. You’ll get plenty of everything anyway 😉
Thanks for reading. I hope this information was helpful. Until next time!
Amy Goodrich
Crazy cat lady, life and food lover, certified biologist, and holistic health coach.
