Which Should One Eat? Raw Or Cooked Food?

A philosopher once said, “For us to have a functional world, we need to strike the balance between opposites. For us to have melodious music, we need to strike the balance between both high and low tunes and for us to have favorable weather conditions, we need both the hot and cold weather.” So also it is for every other thing in this world. In other words, for us to live and thrive healthily, we need to learn to strike a proper balance between eating cooked foods and eating raw ones. It does not always have to be cooked food all the time. Nutritionists have recommended that you should try eating certain kinds of food raw and give your body a chance to thank you.

Although, cooking foods can help enhance the taste and texture of foods. However, at the same time, it can tamper with the nutritional content of the food. According to research, some vitamins are lost in foods, majorly because the foods were cooked. Although not all vitamins are lost when foods are cooked.

Some people, including some nutritionists, believe that eating raw foods puts you at the forefront of healthiness. However, cooked foods also provide numerous nutritional benefits.

This article elaborates on the importance of both raw and cooked foods. It is important to note that certain kinds of foods have to be cooked before they become edible or good enough for your consumption. Note that recommending a raw-food diet does not give you the leeway to go around eating all kinds of foods raw, as this could be dangerous to your health.

Some types of foods have been discovered to be awesome when eaten raw, as they provide numerous health benefits and are at the same time delicious, despite their rawness.

The question now is;

Is There a Raw Food Diet? Or what Exactly Is a Raw Food Diet?

In order to make this clearer, a raw food diet is a collection of foods that do not pass through the cooking or “processing process.” it deals with foods that are eaten unheated or unprocessed. In essence, when 70% of the foods on a diet are raw, then such a diet is considered to be a raw food diet.

Raw foods diet also comprises of fermented foods, raw fruits, raw vegetables, seeds, nuts, and sprouted grains. This kind of diet works more for people who are on vegan or vegetarian diets, as most animal products cannot be eaten raw. Thus, it has to do more with eating mostly raw foods, which happen to be mostly plant-based. However, some raw foodists add raw fish, meat, and dairy products to their raw food diet.

Some researchers, as well as raw food advocates, proved that raw foods have higher nutritional contents compared to cooked foods. This is because they believe that the enzymes and healthy nutrients get eliminated through the cooking process. While some people go to the length of believing that cooking certain foods can be toxic to their health.

Although eating certain foods like fruits and some vegetables raw can provide a wide range of health benefits, but on the other hand, some problems have been associated with eating raw foods, especially strict raw foods diet.

Some people have complained about finding it difficult to follow strict raw foods diet plans. This is because the diet is quite difficult to stick to, and people who are able to follow or stick to this kind of diet are relatively small.

In addition to this, eating raw foods can expose your body to the risks of coming in direct contact with dangerous microorganisms and bacteria that could have been avoided if you cooked your foods. Also, eating a completely raw food diet that includes raw meat, raw dairy products, or raw fish can expose you to food poisoning or other food born diseases.

Cooking Foods May Destroy Healthy Enzymes in the Food

The process of digestion of food in the body involves the breakdown of these foods by the digestive enzymes in the body. These enzymes go as far as breaking down the food into tiny absorbable molecules. It is a two-way thing; your body is made of digestive enzymes that help break down foods, so also do the foods you eat-they contain enzymes that help with the digestion process. When these enzymes present in food get exposed to heat, they tend to get deactivated.  This is because enzymes are sensitive to heat and get deactivated when it comes in contact with any heat in the tune of 117 degrees Fahrenheit or 47 degrees Centigrade. This is the argument upon which raw food advocates dwell.

Cooked Foods are More Flexible and Easier to Chew

The digestive process starts with chewing the food first. It helps break down large chunks of foods into tiny bits for the body to digest them easily. Cooked foods are quite softer and easier to chew and thus aids easy digestion. However, on the other hand, raw foods end up being improperly chewed, thus leading to indigestion, bloating, and gas.

Cooking foods help break down the fiber in the foods and soften the plant cells making digestion and absorption processes easier for the body.

Eating foods like grains raw without cooking can expose you to indigestion and antinutrients. These antinutrients are compounds that reduce the body’s ability to absorb plant nutrients.

Cooked Foods Have a Higher Antioxidant Capacity, Especially Cooked Vegetables

Some antioxidants like lutein and carotene increase in some vegetables when they are cooked. The body converts beta carotene into vitamins, an essential nutrient that the body needs to function well. With beta carotene, you are on your way to ward off all kinds of heart diseases and certain kinds of cancer. The antioxidant properties of most vegetables increase by a whopping 60% after they have been cooked. Lower antioxidant contents in the body can lead to higher risks of chronic illnesses because antioxidants protect the body from free radicals. These antioxidants can be gotten in higher and sufficient amounts only when the foods are being cooked.

Cooking Eliminates Dangerous Microorganisms and Bacteria

Cooking foods can help kill the harmful bacteria in the foods. However, consuming fruits and certain vegetables raw and washing them thoroughly before eating them raw is safe enough, as long as they do not have any form of contamination.

Eating foods like meat, fish, or dairy products raw can expose you to certain bacteria that can make you fall sick.

Almost all bacteria do not survive heat higher than 140 degrees Fahrenheit or 60 degrees centigrade. This automatically means that proper cooking of foods can kill bacteria, as they cannot survive the heat required to properly cook the food.  However, if you must eat animal products raw, ensure that they are fresh enough to be consumed raw.

It Depends Largely on the Food

Science over the years has not justified whether or not foods need to be cooked or not in order to provide better benefits. This is because both cooked fruits or vegetables and raw fruits or vegetables have their own unique health benefits, which include reduced risks of chronic diseases.

The point is, whether or not you have to cook your food depends largely on the food. The following are lists of foods that are healthier when cooked or healthier when eaten raw;

Food that is Healthier When Eaten Raw

• Broccoli; eating it raw provides a wide range of compounds that can fight cancer.
• Cabbage; raw cabbage destroys a harmful enzyme known as myrosinase, which also helps in the prevention of cancer. If you must cook your cabbage, cook it for a very short period.
• Onions; raw onions contain properties that can protect and improve heart health. On the other hand, cooking onions may reduce their nutritional value.
• Garlic, the sulfur content of garlic, is a good compound that fights against cancer.

Foods that are Healthier When Cooked

Cooking the following kinds of foods before eating can help break down plant-based food compounds like vitamins A, E, and C in order to make them more absorbable.

• Asparagus
• Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Legumes
• Animal products; fish, meat, milk, eggs
• Grains

In conclusion, some foods, when eaten raw, are delicious and healthier compared to when they are cooked, while on the other hand, some foods are healthier when eaten cooked and can be dangerous to the heath when they are consumed raw.