to cook or not

by Judith A
(California)

Q Dr. Oz and many other doctors say cook some vegetables and have others raw. Cook to break down enzymes, raw for better health for some foods, who is right? I never over cook anything, so, where am I in all of this?

To many anwers with no solutions. Not going to give kids all raw food are we? It seems no one really has an answer for good health, because every human being has a different make up. Coconut oil use to be the culprit, now, do we ingest it raw, or processed? Because now, suddenly, it is good for everything. So, I think we just have to guess, and if we guess right, we win...No one really has the right answers for everyone. We have to do our home work, and if we don't, no one has an answer for that either. thanks.

A You’re correct Judith; many doctors do say to cook some veggies to more easily assimilate the nutrients, and many other doctors would say cooking veggies is not necessary and certainly not natural. One thing is for sure our species would not be here today if we could not survive and thrive on a raw food diet.

Research does show that lycopene from tomatoes is easier to assimilate when the tomatoes are cooked; however I might have 3 large tomatoes with an equal amount of easy to assimilate lycopene to those that are cooked, say in a sauce. When those tomatoes are cooked to make the sauce many other nutrients are lost. Also lycopene is available in many other foods such as watermelon.

Light steaming can make broccoli and cauliflower easier to digest as well, but so does blending them into a raw soup or eating them as sprouts.

24 year raw fooder Dr Rick Dina teaches a class on the science of raw food nutrition which is a marvelous study on the viability of the raw food diet. A healthy raw food diet that is, not a lot of prepared and processed gourmet stuff.

I think for most people a diet of 75 to 80 % raw and 20% cooked is probably best. And providing that their diet is a healthy one, they can enjoy vibrant health. Cooking destroys enzymes and life force of the food, so light steaming is best when you do cook.

You’re also right that perspective on different foods changes over time; here sometimes common sense can go a long way in helping to avoid pitfalls. By following a natural diet raw fooders are able to avoid much of this confusion because these types of foods are not in their diet to begin with.

I have met a number of children who are 100% raw and are very healthy, bright, and physically active. All I can say is that the raw diet has done amazing things for me and a multitude of other people around the globe.

The best measure of health is how you feel. If you feel great then your current diet is probably serving you well.

As you say we must all be diligent and take good care of our own health. Look to the people that are getting the results you want and see what they're doing.