Cooked or Raw or Both

[Durgan]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...-are-healthier

Cooking is crucial to our diets. It helps us digest food without expending huge amounts of energy. It softens food, such as cellulose fiber and raw meat, that our small teeth, weak jaws and digestive systems aren't equipped to handle. And while we might hear from raw foodists that cooking kills vitamins and minerals in food (while also denaturing enzymes that aid digestion), it turns out raw vegetables are not always healthier.

Comparing the healthfulness of raw and cooked food is complicated, and there are still many mysteries surrounding how the different molecules in plants interact with the human body. The bottom line, says Liu, is to eat your veggies and fruits no matter how they're prepared. "We cook them so they taste better," Liu says. "If they taste better, we're more likely to eat them." And that's the whole idea.

Cooking vegetables is inherently better for the simple reason that it makes so many foods more palatable (and often safer) to eat. Even if a potato loses 50% of its food value when cooked, that leaves the 50% that I would have never eaten otherwise, as I tried a raw potato once, and NEVER AGAIN! Uncooked wheat or rice anyone?

As for safer, washing alone does not destroy all the potential organisms that can be destroyed by cooking.

I certaily recognize the "whole food"ers' rights to live w/o a stove, but making silly arguments (and occasionally 'moralistic' arguments at that) that their preferences are more healthy are simply ignorant. by jaqcp

[Durgan]

Fact or Fiction: Raw veggies are healthier than cooked ones: Scientific American Fact or Fiction: Raw veggies are healthier than cooked ones. Do vegetables lose their nutritional value when heated?

The link on the first post changed since posting. It is here.

[Durgan]

Cooked food provides more energy than when it’s consumed raw - The Globe and Mail - Cooked food provides more energy than when it’s consumed raw
Researchers hypothesize that changes to the structure of proteins caused by cooking may allow more to be absorbed and digested by the consumer, rather than by bacteria in the gut. Moreover, cooking makes muscle fibres easier to chew and increases the surface area of the meat that is exposed to gastric acids and enzymes. Cooking may also kill pathogens, like E. coli and salmonella, thus reducing the amount of energy the body expends for immune defence, the researchers suggested.

Their findings support the idea that traditional calorie-counting may be an inaccurate measure of the energy content of food. That also explains why raw-food diets generally lead to weight loss, Ms. Carmody said in an e-mail. However, such diets are not without risk; the researchers noted that previous studies found raw foodists experience high rates of chronic energy deficiency and reduced fertility. “This finding suggests that, in humans, the caloric gains conferred by cooking may be not merely advantageous but also necessary for normal biological function,” says the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
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[mndtrp]

Cooking vegetables is inherently better for the simple reason that it makes so many foods more palatable (and often safer) to eat. Even if a potato loses 50% of its food value when cooked, that leaves the 50% that I would have never eaten otherwise, as I tried a raw potato once, and NEVER AGAIN! Uncooked wheat or rice anyone?

This is basically how I feel. Some veggies I eat raw, most I eat cooked. The important thing, though, is that I am eating them at all.

[nodmicks]

This is basically how I feel. Some veggies I eat raw, most I eat cooked. The important thing, though, is that I am eating them at all.

I prefer almost all veggies raw. It is just a taste and crunch issue. I thought I detested rutabaga until I tried it raw. The ones that must be cooked for me are brussel sprouts ( my favorite food in the whole wide world), asparagus , sweet potato and pumpkin.

As far as wheat or rice go I wouldnt consume them cooked or raw. Same with white potato. To me they just lack taste period.