To Cook or not To Cook

     Recently I came across an interesting article on the HellaWella website.  It began by asking the question "What's the best way to eat vegetables?" Are they more nutritious when consumed raw or when cooked?  The premise being that vegetables boiled, steamed or roasted lose most, if not all, of their nutrients.  It turns out that not all vegetables are created equal, and raw isn't always better.

     Some vegetables offer certain health benefits when consumed raw and others when cooked.  Take broccoli, for example.  Recent studies have found that eating the cruciferous vegetable can help protect you against liver cancer.  The enzyme myrosinase, credited with cleansing the liver of carcinogens, is destroyed when broccoli is cooked.  So it makes sense to enjoy it raw.  But say you want to lower your bad cholesterol.  Some compounds in broccoli will help you accomplish this health goal, but only if you steam it first.

     The take away from all this is balance.  To keep your body healthy and in top form you need to include a smart mix of both raw and cooked veggies.  There are some foods that should never be eaten raw and others that do have a better nutritional profile when cooked.

     Tomorrow, a handy dandy chart prepared by the lifestyle blog Fix that will make it all perfectly clear and palatable.