Cooking, boiling or roasting increases the nutritional benefits of most of the daily consumed food.
Sometimes it is good to turn off the stove/gas and enjoy certain fruits and vegetables in their purest form i.e. raw.
However, there are foods that lose their benefits and hampers your health by making it difficult for digestion or losing out on nutrition when processed. Check them below!
1. Onion and Garlic
Onion contains allicin and quercetin, which helps in prevention of cancer, reduces your blood pressure and restraint your hunger. Eat adequate amounts of onion to get rid of any fungal infection or inflammation in your body. Onion also helps you in fighting viruses like common cold. Studies have proven the fact that heating or microwaving onions can reduce the effectiveness of the same.
Likewise in garlic also, boiling the same reduces the antibacterial properties of garlic. Also a cooked garlic is somewhat inferior to a raw garlic. It loses its effectiveness by around 25%.
2. Broccoli and Kale
Broccoli’s are high in fiber, vitamin C, calcium among many other nutrients that prevents cancer, diabetes, inflammation etc. Studies have shown that our bodies can absorb the nutrients of broccoli faster when eaten raw than cooked. Also boiling or frying broccoli depletes its vitamin C levels.
Bitterness in kale can be reduced by cooking it, however by doing so you are also reducing the nutrients mainly its antioxidants and vitamin C. Steaming can be an option of reducing the bitterness and keeping the nutrients intact.
3. Berries and Nuts
Everybody likes munching on dried berries, however, the drying process altogether saps out all the essential vitamins and minerals. Raw berries are full of antioxidants and any sort of baking, cooking reduces the polyphenol and calorie levels.
Nuts are a great source of fat, iron, magnesium and helps you in maintaining a balanced diet. Nuts helps you in lowering your cholesterol levels and promotes better heart conditions. Always go for raw nuts rather than salted or fried ones.
4. Juice and Chocolates
There is juice available to buy in the nearby departmental store, however the same will never have health benefits that you can find in a fresh glass of juice. Artificial juice contains all sorts of colour, preservative, sugar additives and many other harmful contents that lowers its nutrition.
Raw chocolate is very potent because of its antioxidants and helps you feel good instantly and also lowers your blood pressure. Factory made chocolate is mixed with sugar, oil and other ingredients that makes it a reason to develop diabetes other than anything else.
5. Coconut and Apple
Coconuts are rich in fiber medium-chain triglycerides that are processed by your body in an alternate manner to long-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids go straight to your liver and are used as a source of energy. Raw coconut water is more beneficial than normal water. However, processed coconut does not retain its nutrients and may not give you the same health benefits.
Raw apples are a good source of carbohydrates and protein among other necessary nutrients. Baking or dehydration of apples leads to depletion of large quantities of nutrients from it and also increases the sugar levels in it.
