Raw or Cooked?

Last night I spoke about my book at the O-U Center in Jerusalem. It was a lovely group of people, including old friends and new faces.

Here is one of the questions I was asked:

"Is it better to eat vegetables raw or cooked?"

We know it’s good to eat lots of vegetables, but is one way of preparing them better than another? How can you best preserve their nutrients?

First of all, vegetables have to taste good. Otherwise you wouldn’t want to eat them at all. That may mean adding herbs, salt, olive oil or salad dressing to perk up your vegetables. Full-fat salad dressing and avocado added to vegetable salad actually increases the absorption of many nutrients in salads. Add nuts and seeds for a similar effect.

Raw foods are not necessarily better than cooked. Cooking breaks down the thick cell walls of plants, making their nutrients more "accessible". For instance, cooked tomatoes (as in sauce) have a much higher content of the antioxidant lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

Every preparation method has its pros and cons.

Raw carrots are high in polyphenols but low in carotenoids. Boil them and you lose most of the polyphenols while increasing the carotenoids.

Broccoli retains most of its vitamin C when microwaved or pressure cooked. Steam or boil it and you’ll lose more of the vitamin.

When carrots, zucchini and broccoli were tested, they retained more of their nutrients when boiled, compared to steamed, fried or raw.

And don’t store your vegetables and fruits for very long. They lose nutrients over time in the refrigerator and the freezer.

What’s the best strategy?

Eat a wide variety of vegetables.

Include vegetables and fruit in every meal.

Vary your cooking methods.