Vegetables

Heather75
Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hi all. I prefer to eat most vegetables raw, but was wondering if there was any advantage to cooking them. Are they nutritionally better for you in their raw state?

Just curious. Thank you!

Replies

  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
    It really depends on the type of vegetable and how you cook them. Some vegetables gain nutrition as they cook but most vegetables are highest in nutrition when they are raw. While they are highest in nutrition when they are raw, your body is better able to process the nutrients when they are cooked. Vegetables will retain the majority of their nutrition if they are steamed, baked, microwaved or stirfried. It actually takes a whole lot of cooking to destroy or remove the nutrients. If you do prefer raw veg, make sure you chew really well.

    Also try to eat your fruit and veg when they are fresh because they lose nutrients as they age, for this reason frozen veg is often higher in nutrients than fresh (although not as tasty in my opinion!) because they are snap-frozen after picking and don't sit on shelves losing nutrients.
  • dclarsh1
    dclarsh1 Posts: 83
    I know tomatoes are better for you cooked, but I've never heard of a difference for any other specific vegetable.
  • spob
    spob Posts: 206
    The one vegetable that I know must be cooked in order to release nutrients is brocolli. The food value when raw is virtually nil. Tomatoes (I know they are a fruit) but they to are more nutrient packed when cooked. I think raw is a great way to go though and there are some really great books out there regarding the subject!
  • medrewiske
    medrewiske Posts: 59 Member
    I havnen't done any of my own research, so this is just what I've heard, but I've heard that if you are cooking vegetables, you don't want to overcook them becasuse they can start to lose their vitamins & menerals. But the only one I can remember specifically was a part of this for sure was cabbage. They said it was better to eat cabbage when it is just starting to get soft from cooking.
    This doesn't help much. Sorry.

    I've also heard that cooking vegetables in sitting water also transfers the vitamins & minerals to the water, which is usually dumped out. This was at a presentation of cookware by Lifetime, which say you don't need to add water to their cookwear because the vegetables have water in them. But could have been a selling gimmick.

    My mother in law has those pans and when she cooks carrots in them without water they look & feel icky. Don't taste great either.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories