Raw foods

karmelpopcorn

I've been reading Michael Pollan's new book "Cooked" (and I also watched the docu-series on Netflix). There is a part where he says that humans could not have evolved to where we are today without the presence of cooking in our lives. It breaks down the food so that we can do things with our day besides chewing, basically.

That said, how many raw foods do you eat? And do you think they contribute to your overall health?

I am kind of a food and nutrition geek. Most of what I eat I cook myself from healthy natural foods, but I do seem to benefit from two or three servings of raw foods, like radishes, sugar snap peas, cabbage, etc. so fibrous raw veggies especially for weight loss. I seem to get less benefit from leafy salads and fruits but I enjoy those too.

kommodevaran

I prefer a mixture of raw and cooked. I think some nutrients are lost, while others become more easily accessible.

On a usual day I eat three portions (as close as possible to 80 grams) of raw vegetables, some with every meal except dinner - cucumber, carrot, rutabaga, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, kohlrabi, romanesco. Sometimes salad or asparagus. I also eat a wide variety of fruit; 3 portions every day.
I usually eat cooked or heated vegetables for dinner (I eat starchy vegs like potato/sweet potato/corn too, but don't count them as vegetables), unless it's salad - 100 grams peas or green beans, just gently heated, or a mixture of vegetables in soup or stew, or boiled artichokes with butter, or asparagus, or oven roasted parsnips with olive oil, honey and sesame seeds.

I feel better than ever, so I think I'm doing something right.

Pearsquared

The raw foods of today are not always the same as the raw foods of the past. We have selected and cultivated plants to be nutritious yet palatable. Just how we made the big cat small, we made plants easier to chew and digest through cultivating beneficial mutations in plants (like bananas without seeds). Humans of the past did not have that luxury, so a way to get around that was cooking foods. Eating certain foods raw has benefits over their cooked versions, but the ones we eat are still pretty much easy-to-chew baby food compared to what ancient humans foraged.

Need2Exerc1se

I eat a lot more raw food in the months when there are foods to be harvested at home, and a lot more cooked foods in the cold months when most fresh food must be purchased at the store. I've never really thought about percentages but during the months where our garden is not producing I'd say <25% of fruits/veggies are eaten raw. In months where it is producing, probably around 50% are eaten raw. I prefer the taste of most vegetables cooked.

generallyme2

I'll eat any veggie or fruit raw honestly (except onions, just not a fan unless they're cooked). My favorite part of holidays and BBQs are the veggie tray and I try to get in fresh raw fruit with my breakfast every day. If I have the time and a choice though, I usually cook (roast or saute) my veggies because I'm a cold person and prefer warm food and warm flavors. I recently roasted radishes and they were SO GOOD.

Raw fruits tend to be: strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, apples, grapes, etc (2-3 servings a day). Raw veggies: salad with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers. I like broccoli, celery, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, cherry tomatoes, all raw just to munch sometimes (1-2 servings a day, but cooked 3-5 servings a day).

Whether the food is raw or not isn't really a priority for me to be honest. I've never been interested in a raw food diet and I love the flavor of cooked veggies as well as raw. I figure as long as you're eating them, the nutritional benefits are greater than not eating them at all, whether they are cooked or raw.

Shrinking_Erin

I feel better overall when I've been eating more raw foods (salads, veg and fruit). This last week has been pretty bread/pasta/meat heavy and I'm feeling it.

Need2Exerc1se

karmelpopcorn wrote: »

I am kind of a food and nutrition geek. Most of what I eat I cook myself from healthy natural foods, but I do seem to benefit from two or three servings of raw foods, like radishes, sugar snap peas, cabbage, etc. so fibrous raw veggies especially for weight loss. I seem to get less benefit from leafy salads and fruits but I enjoy those too.

When you say you get benefit from eating certain foods raw vs. others, what do you mean? What type of benefit?

karmelpopcorn

I try to eat a lot of fiber for my digestive system, and it helps with that of course, but it also seems to benefit in my Weight loss effort

Need2Exerc1se

karmelpopcorn wrote: »

I try to eat a lot of fiber for my digestive system, and it helps with that of course, but it also seems to benefit in my Weight loss effort

Got it. And I quite agree. I think upping my fiber intake was the best thing I did for weight loss dietwise.

karmelpopcorn

Yes! And I find not all veggies and fruits are created equal when it comes to their fiber benefits.

janejellyroll

karmelpopcorn wrote: »

Yes! And I find not all veggies and fruits are created equal when it comes to their fiber benefits.

You mean different fruits and vegetables have different amounts of fiber? Or that fruits and vegetables with the same amount of fiber will still impact you differently?

karmelpopcorn

Not sure. All I know if I get that feeling full benefit from cabbage, radishes, apples, etc. moreso than leafy mixed green salads, and they seem to help me digestively more too