Roasted, steamed, sauteéd or raw… the end of the day, we’d take our whole, fresh veggies any which way!
But it turns out, cooking your food versus eating it raw can have an impact on the way your body can use it. Here’s a handy checklist from Authority Nutrition about the best way to eat some of our favourites.
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Foods that might be healthier raw.
- Broccoli: Raw broccoli contains three times the amount of sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting plant compound, than cooked broccoli does.
- Cabbage: Cooking cabbage destroys the enzyme myrosinase, which plays a role in cancer prevention. If you choose to cook cabbage, do so for short periods.
- Onions: Raw onion is an anti-platelet agent, which contributes to heart disease prevention. Cooking onions reduces this beneficial effect.
- Garlic: Sulfur compounds found in raw garlic have anti-cancer properties. Cooking garlic destroys these sulfur compounds.
Foods that might be healthier cooked.
- Asparagus: Cooking asparagus breaks down its fibrous cell walls, making folate and vitamins A, C and E more available to be absorbed.
- Mushrooms: Cooking mushrooms helps degrade agaritine, a potential carcinogen found in mushrooms. Cooking also helps release ergothioneine, a powerful mushroom antioxidant .
- Spinach: Nutrients like iron, magnesium, calcium and zinc are more available for absorption when spinach is cooked.
- Tomatoes: Cooking greatly increases the antioxidant lycopene in tomatoes .
- Carrots: Cooked carrots contain more beta-carotene than raw carrots .
- Potatoes: The starch in potatoes is nearly indigestible until a potato is cooked.
- Legumes: Raw or undercooked legumes contain dangerous toxins called lectins. Lectins are eliminated with proper soaking and cooking.
This article was originally published in full on Authority Nutrition.
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