Health is a very important value for everyone. When there are problems in this zone of life, other successes do not give joy, they do not taste as we would like them to. However, when it is with us, then we are able to do everything, we have energy, we can take up daily challenges, we can live! Therefore, you need to take care of them and live consciously. The basic way to achieve this effect is the right diet. It is essential to eat large amounts of vegetables and fruits in your daily diet. Do they contain valuable vitamins and many other nutrients needed by the human system? However, you need to know how to eat them so that the body gets as much of what it needs to function properly. And here comes the crucial question! Which vegetables are better raw or cooked? How should they be prepared so that our body will repay us and give us health and beauty?
Why should we eat raw vegetables and fruits?
A raw food diet has tremendous benefits for humans. Thanks to this approach, we care about providing the most important ingredients, without which the proper functioning of the body is impossible. Eating raw is an effective way of providing the human system with large amounts of fiber, which improves and regulates the digestive process. We should also remember that the peel of vegetables and fruits contains the greatest amounts of vitamins, therefore, some gifts of nature should be eat with the skin.
What other essential ingredients will be found in our body when we eat vegetables and fruits raw? Chlorophyll is an extremely desirable component. We can find it in green vegetables, especially those characterized by a dark color.
We may feel that some vegetables cannot be eaten in the state provided by Mother Nature. In this group, we would probably include cauliflower, broccoli, beets or courgettes. Meanwhile, we can eat them raw without any problems. However, it will be necessary to prepare them properly in advance. In this case, it is worth cutting and shredding such vegetables. Thanks to this, it is easier for us to chew them, and consequently the body will digest them better and obtain valuable ingredients and vitamins.
There is another point worth noting. Remember that vegetables that contain fat-soluble vitamins, i.e. A, D, E and K, must be eaten in the company of the mentioned component. This action will make the vitamins absorb better, so as a consequence we will get more nutrients.
What happens to vegetables when cooked and processed?
When we heat-treat products, we can be sure that the process affects their nutritional value. On the one hand, this is related to modifications in the content of minerals and vitamins, sometimes also in carbohydrates, fat and proteins.
Cooking helps to rinse out the valuable components contained in vegetables and fruits. We can distinguish here vitamin C, group B or potassium. These compounds pass partially into the water, but also to some extent they degrade, obtaining a biologically inactive form.
The even worse situation is frying as the processing method. Such action usually results in a large increase in the energy value and filling vegetables with dangerous compounds, such as oxidized derivatives of polyene fatty acids.
Are there any situations where short heat treatment is needed?
As discussed previously, the raw food diet has countless benefits. It should be emphasized, however, that not all vegetables are easy to digest raw. In some cases, a short heat treatment will be needed. It is especially recommended for people struggling with digestive system problems. Raw broccoli or zucchini can be difficult for people suffering from thyroid disorders. IN in their content, there are compounds that limit the absorption of iodine. Moreover, in the case of some vegetables, the thermal process leads to an increase in the concentration of certain compounds beneficial to the body. A good example is carrot and tomato. Here, heating increases the levels of lycopene and beta-carotene.
It should also be mentioned that the world of nature has also given us vegetables that require thermal processing. This group includes potatoes, sweet potatoes and legumes, such as beans, lentils, and green beans. Unfortunately in this case we have no choice!
When we have to cook, we should remember to follow certain rules. The form of heat treatment is important. First, the process shouldn’t take long. Very often, scalding or blanching vegetables will be enough.
Confrontation – raw carrot and boiled carrot!
The above presentation is very good to illustrate. This will make it easier to consider the question of choosing between a raw diet or cooked vegetables. Take a carrot as an example. Salad from this vegetable contains a whole range of valuable vitamins, primarily B1, B2, B6, C, E, H, K, PP, and also calcium, copper, iron and phosphorus. We can also find beta-carotene in the vegetable, which is a provitamin for vitamin A . It is a component that has a great effect on our eyes. Thanks to this, we obtain a beautiful skin tone. Magnesium and phosphorus help our skeletal system. The bioactive substances in raw carrots play an important role in the treatment of cancers such as leukemia.
On the other hand, thermal treatment causes the glycemic index of the product to increase. Therefore, if we eat cooked carrots, blood glucose levels increase rapidly. Of course, cooking also leads to the loss of the nutrients presented above, but not all of them. In this case, the technological process makes an interesting process take place, namely the increase in valuable beta-carotene. This component is tightly packed in the fibers of the plant. Human digestive juices are not able to release the compound in the optimal amount. Hence, much of it is not converted to vitamin A.
Raw carrot came out of the above confrontation unscathed, because in this case we keep all the vitamins and the increase in blood sugar is not as fast as after cooking. However, it is sometimes worth choosing cooked carrots, because in this case we will provide the body with a much higher concentration of beta-carotene.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that a raw diet is much more beneficial because it provides more valuable vitamins and minerals. However, there are certain cases or groups of products that must be heat treated. In such a situation, try to limit the cooking time. What’s more, if we don’t have to, let’s take care not to exceed the temperature of 42 degrees Celsius. In addition, the form of processing also matters. Steam cooking is most beneficial. Double vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes and broccoli are also mentioned. In raw form, they provide fiber and lots of vitamins. When we heat the products, we get larger amounts of other ingredients. In the kitchen, diversity and a reasonable approach are important!
