When you cook it, you kill it- Not true for all veggies. Heating food destroys its nutrients and natural enzymes, but not in all cases.

One of the biggest benefits for eating veggies raw is higher vitamin content. Some nutrients, like broccoli🥦, cabbage🥬, cauliflower, onions are water-soluble as vitamin C and folate start to break down when they’re exposed to heat. Eat raw vegetables like  instead of cooked vegetables, and you’ll get more of vitamins A and C. These vitamins are heat-sensitive. Raw food diet can  boost immunity, clear up allergies, enhance memory, and improve arthritis and diabetes. Raw veggies are really a good source of natural fiber, and consuming enough fiber each day has several health advantages.

Cooked veggies has lot of advantages. Some nutrients become more bioavailable when cooked. For example, Mushrooms🍄 retain more antioxidants when cooked. Carrots🥕 have more bioavailable beta-carotene – a source of vitamin A – when they’re cooked. Raw potatoes🥔 contain a lot of resistant starch, which can cause gas and bloating that decrease during cooking. Orange🍊 vegetables contain  carotenoids, absorbed when cooked. And lycopene, an antioxidant that makes tomatoes🍅 red, is best absorbed when cooked. When these vegetables are exposed to heat, both nutrients are released from cells and become more available for our body to absorb. Although cooking does not reduce fibre content, it can break down tough fibres within vegetables which make them easier for you to chew and digest. For people who have a higher risk of food-borne illness, it is safest to vegetables that are cooked.

So eat your veggies raw and cooked via a range of healthy methods – steaming, roasting, grilling and so on as dry cooking methods also retain more nutrients. Avoid boiling or over-cooking. Fried foods also often contain trans fats, which are unsaturated fats that are linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

And when it comes to preserving the antioxidants in your vegetables, steaming is better than boiling.

Washing your veggies and keeping it away from utensils and surfaces that have been in contact with bacteria 🦠 🧫

Anamika Anand
Fitness Expert