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Cooked Or Raw: Better Way To Eat Your Vegetables And Fruits

By Modupeoluwa Adekanye
15 August 2019   |   3:00 pm
Many people eat enough fruit and less eats enough vegetables every day. So, which is the better way to eat fruits and vegetables? Cooked or raw? The answer depends on the food. Heat can destroy vital nutrients in fruits and vegetables, but not always. Cooked tomatoes have three times more lycopene, which reduces the risk…

Vegetables. Photo/ Betterhealthchannel

Many people eat enough fruit and less eats enough vegetables every day. So, which is the better way to eat fruits and vegetables? Cooked or raw? The answer depends on the food.

Heat can destroy vital nutrients in fruits and vegetables, but not always. Cooked tomatoes have three times more lycopene, which reduces the risk of heart attack.

Carrots and zucchini should be boiled or steamed, not fried. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower have the most benefits when raw. Fruits are better consumed raw, since they’ll pack a punch of vitamin C.

For vegetables like onions and red pepper, it is okay to eat them raw. Just slice and eat: You get less of the hunger-busting phyto nutrient allicin when you cook onions and for red pepper, their vitamin C breaks down when roasted, fried, or grilled above 375 degrees.

However, for vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, they are better when cooked.  When you eat tomatoes cooked, your body absorbs more of their cancer-fighting lycopene. When spinach is cooked, you will most likely absorb more calcium, iron, and magnesium and for mushroom, whether you sauté, boil, grill, or roast them—brings out more muscle-building potassium.

So before cooking your vegetables, find out which is better taken raw and which should be cooked so you do not end up losing nutrients that are meant to be beneficial to your health.

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