Is A Raw Food Diet Really Better?

Condé Nast Digital StudioSarah-Jane Bedwell, SELF magazine

Recently, I was asked this question about raw diets: I know some people who have started following raw diets because they say that cooking foods breaks down enzymes and vitamins. I was aware that a few vitamins are delicate and can be destroyed by heat, but I wasn't aware that cooking food could dramatically lower nutritional content. Are vitamins heat sensitive, and what is your opinion on the raw vs. cooked debate?...

...Great question! The raw foods diet is a popular fad right now, and while many times it is true that the more heat and water vegetables are cooked in, the more nutrients are leached, this is not always the case.

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In fact, many veggies such as tomatoes increase their nutritional profile of important nutrients, like the antioxidant lycopene, through the cooking process. Also, when veggies are steamed, which uses very little water and only a short time in heat, veggies don't lose very many nutrients at all, and many times, like in the case of broccoli, steaming can increase the cancer-killing properties. A study done by some researchers at the University of Illinois found that when broccoli was heated (through steaming) the number of sulphoraphanes (a compound in broccoli that fights cancer) was increased.

So while I do recommend cooking vegetables in as little water and as little time in heat as possible (no boiling!) and eating lots of raw fruits and veggies, I do not believe that the entire diet needs to consist of raw foods only. I do believe that we all need to eat more fresh fruits and veggies, but the National Cancer Institute has shown in their studies that just eating the fruits and veggies are important--in any form--because people who eat more fruits and veggies (5-9 servings/day) cooked or raw, organic or not, are the ones less likely to have cancer.

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I think that anytime you take that to the extreme and only try to eat raw, it is not a very realistic way to live. Even if you could maintain this strict lifestyle, it would be very hard to do it while enjoying other important aspects of a healthy life, like social situations involving eating out or eating at someone else's house. While raw food diets certainly have some good premises and probably wouldn't cause harm, I do not think it is necessary to only eat raw foods to be healthy. And personally, I am looking forward to my grilled vegetables for supper tonight on this summer evening!

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