Raw Food vs Cooked Food

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

http://www.rawfoodhowto.com/raw-food-vs-cooked-food.cfm




ENZYMES: The tiny and enormous difference between raw and cooked foods

Virtually all chronic degenerative diseases are caused or aggravated by digestive problems. After the most extensive study on nutrition ever undertaken by the government, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs concluded in its 1978 report entitled "Diet and Killer Diseases," that the average American diet is responsible for the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, stroke, etc. Many of the most common health complaints revolve around a 20-foot, mucus-lined tube that directly interfaces us with our environment. This is no mystery: This is the gastro-intestinal tract, affectionately abbreviated "GI." The job of the GI is to alchemically transmute the food we eat into our flesh, blood, actions, thoughts and feelings... with a little help from our friends the salivary glands, the pancreas, the liver, and most importantly RAW FOOD -- all of which provide (now we're getting to the point) ENZYMES.

[HandyMom]

I've heard that some vegetables release the most nutrients when lightly steamed or cooked. Anyone ever heard that? I would not want to eat potatoes raw, for example.

[frugalandsimple]

I've heard that some vegetables release the most nutrients when lightly steamed or cooked. Anyone ever heard that? I would not want to eat potatoes raw, for example.

Steaming or cooking veggies is actually better for you because the cooking process not only breaks the cell wall, liberating minerals to our bodies, it actually enhances and activates many vitamins. Some vitamins do leach into cooking water. Cooking with little or no water (for instance, steaming or braising) reduces vitamin loss in vegetables. However, the vitamins aren't lost or destroyed, but merely transferred to the cooking water. Using that water for soup stock, or drinking it, insures that you ingest all the nutrients, and in a highly absorbable form. The key is incorparting both raw and cooked vegetables in your diet to get the nutrition you need.