Cooking has always been crucial to the human diet. Not only does it help us digest food, it softened our food so that out jaws and digestive systems can break these items down more efficiently. For example, in the Macrobiotic Diet, you usually ‘over” cook vegetables and grains so that your body does not waste extra energy in breaking food down and all the nutrients are being taken in.

The Raw Diet on the other hand, believes that cooking your food kill it’s natural vitamins and minerals. This diet gets rid of processed foods, eliminates trans fats and is a diet that is rich in fiber. But are all veggie better to eat raw?

Best Raw Foods to eat and Why:

-Nuts- Eaten raw can help lower the LDL (bad) cholesterol but roasted over 170 degrees can actual do the opposite.

-Broccoli- The plant cell walls contain an enzyme called myrosinase, which gets that liver going!

-Garlic!!- Yes my friend, eat raw garlic! One of my favorite things in the world!

-Raw Fruit Juices- Pasteurized store brought juices not only kill bacteria but they also destroy most of the vitamins and minerals

-Cacao- Eaten raw is brain food!! And they great thing about it is that you can make your own healthy chocolate treats without adding sugars and dairy.

-Chai Seeds- Eating 4 TB of Chai seeds supplied your body with the same amount of calcium as 3 glasses of milk. Need I say more?

-Kimchi- Don’t cook your cabbage, ferment it and help support our digestion and overall health.

Foods that Give More Nutrition when Cooked:

-Spinach- A fresh summer spinach salad is light and refreshing yes, but cooking it has shown to boost antioxidant levels and absorb more calcium in your body.

-Tomatoes- Cooking these luscious little bites increase lycopene by 35 percent. Lycopene is what make this fruit red in color and is linked to the prevention of multiple cancers.

-Carrots- An heirloom carrot snack is perfect on a summer afternoon in my option, but cooking those beauties boosts its beta-carotene levels by 30%!

Myth Busting:

Myth:

Cooking kills destroys the enzymes in plants.

Truth:

So does digestion. There are very few enzymes that can with stand the stomach acids.

Myth:

The more raw food you eat, the less food you actually have to eat.

Truth:

You still need the same amount of calories. It’s not the next step to the “Air” Diet. You still need to eat.

Raw vs Cooked