Consuming Cooked vs Raw Vegetables

Have you ever focused on the differences between cooked and raw vegetables you consume? Both cooked and raw vegetables offer unique advantages so it is important to add both in your diet. The added advantage of cooking vegetables is that cooking them can break down tough fibers which make some nutrients easily accessible for absorption while eating them raw has the advantage that soon nutrients which are lost by cooking remain intact while raw.

Let us see how cooking some of the vegetables are beneficial for you and how they impact your health. Below are some examples:

• Consuming cooked spinach rather than raw spinach. Cooked spinach enhances iron absorption and reduces oxalate content. When oxalate content reduces, it makes it easier for the body to absorb iron. Thus, cooking spinach lets you unlock its full nutritional potential.
• Cooked tomatoes, compared to raw tomatoes, facilitate greater absorption of the heart-healthy compound lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant compound that protects cells from damage. It helps to neutralize harmful free radicals in the body. And thus, promotes a healthy heart. By cooking tomatoes you can have more of lycophen hence leading to overall good heart health.
• Eating cooked carrots instead of raw carrots increases the absorption of beneficial carotenoids. Carotenoids are antioxidants that help you overcome oxidative stress in the body and are good for inflammation. Cooking carrots easily lets you absorb them. 

Hence, to maximize the absorption of the compounds present in the vegetables it is important to cook them. This will help you to utinize these beneficial compounds more effectively.