The Benefits of Eating Raw Foods
Amy tells us about some of her favourite foods to eat raw, and why!
What are the benefits of eating raw foods?
Including raw foods in your diet can help you to focus on a nutrient rich, high fibre and unprocessed way of eating. You can actually get more nutrients from some of your whole foods when you eat them in their natural raw form too.
Here are a few of my favourites!
Onion
Onions are high in phytonutrients. These are compounds found in food that typically provide many health benefits. The specific phytonutrients found in onions seem to have an anti platelet aggregation effect (1). This means that they can reduce the clumping together of platelets in the blood which can form a blockage in the blood vessel and lead to cardiovascular disease. Great! However cooking massively reduces or even destroys these phytonutrients.
Have you tried pickled onions?
Broccoli
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable and like many cruciferous vegetables it is high in a sulfur rich compound called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane has amazing health benefits including having anti-cancer effects. It has been found that raw broccoli has around 10x the amount of sulforaphane as cooked broccoli. We also seem to absorb more sulforaphane and faster, when eating raw broccoli (2).
Raw broccoli salad anyone?
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Amy has 3 more great versatile foods on her list!
Garlic
Garlic contains phytonutrients, much like onion does, that have been linked to improved heart health and lower risk of cancers. However, cooking has been found to destroy much of garlic's cancer-fighting properties (3). Cooked garlic still has health benefits but to get the best bang for your buck try it raw.
Ever tried boiled potatoes with raw garlic shavings and olive oil?
Capsicum
Capsicums are high in vitamin C, which can be destroyed during high heat cooking. Usually we find vitamin C in plenty of foods that we naturally eat in their raw forms such as kiwi fruit, berries and oranges however capsicum, we tend to cook. So, if you are not a fruit fan I would try snacking on raw capsicum.
Raw Capsium slices and hummus is a win!
Beetroot
Beetroot are packed full of nutrients including folate, manganese, potassium, iron and vitamin C. However, we’ve already heard about the effects of high temperature cooking reducing vitamin C levels in our foods. Folate is a water soluble vitamin therefore can be lost in boiling and is another vitamin that is not stable in heat. Therefore cooked beetroot tends to have lower vitamin content than it does in its raw form.
Try grating fresh beetroot into a salad!
Let’s Sum It Up
Eating raw foods can be a great way of focusing on a high fibre, nutrient rich and unprocessed food diet. Some foods are actually more nutritious when eaten raw, such as, onion, broccoli, garlic, capsicum and beetroot. This is because some phytonutrients and vitamins are destroyed in the cooking process. There are lots of tasty ways to incorporate raw foods into your diet once you find the inspiration.
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