5 Vegetables That Are Healthier Cooked - Benefits Of Cooked Vegetables
Vegetables provide lots of nutrients that help the body to function properly.
Raw vegetables are all the rage among many
health-conscious people. But cooked vegetables are not always nutritionally
inferior.
Many essential nutrients in vegetables are bound
inside thick cellular walls. Cooking breaks down these walls and releases the
nutrients. This increases their bioavailability. Cooking also softens cellulose
fiber, which makes vegetables easier to digest.
5 Vegetables That Are Healthier Cooked
Here are five veggies that are actually healthier
cooked than raw:
ALSO: How does kale fight cancer?
1.) Broccoli.
Cooked broccoli contains higher levels of healthy
carotenoids than raw broccoli. The level is 32% higher in boiled broccoli and
19% higher in steamed.
When cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli,
cauliflower, and cabbage are cooked, they form an organic compound called
indole. According to research in The Journal of Nutrition, indole helps kill
precancerous cells before they turn malignant.
2.) Carrots
Boiling carrots until tender increases the
concentration of cancer-fighting carotenoids by 14%, according to a study
published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry.
Boiling also boosts levels of the carotenoid lutein
by 11%. Lutein plays an essential role in eye health and preventing diseases
such as cataracts and macular degeneration.
READ ALSO: These Vegetable Drinks Will Restore Your Health - Dr Appiah
3.) Asparagus.
A study in the International Journal of Food Science
& Technology found that cooking dramatically raises the levels of five
antioxidants that help fight heart disease and cancer. (How Asparagus Improves The Immune System)
Cooking increases:
Quercetin by 98%
Rutin by 32%
Beta-carotene by 24%
Lutein by 25%
Zeaxanthin by 25%
4.) Spinach
Raw or cooked, spinach is one of nature’s
superfoods. But cooked spinach contains more absorbable calcium and iron.
That’s because high temperatures break down oxalate. This is a compound in
spinach that blocks the absorption of calcium and iron.
Quickly cooking spinach in boiling water, then
placing it in cold water to halt cooking, reduces oxalate by 40%, according to
one study.
Since about 75% of all kidney stones are composed
primarily of calcium oxalate, high blood levels of oxalate are a major risk
factor for this problem.
5.) Tomatoes
Cooking tomatoes releases high amounts of one of the
world’s most powerful antioxidants: lycopene. It has been linked to lower rates
of cancer and heart disease.
Lycopene is the red pigment that gives tomatoes
their color. When tomatoes are cooked for 30 minutes, levels of absorbable
lycopene go up by 35%. Overall antioxidant levels increase by 62%.
Among people who follow a strict raw food diet, low
lycopene levels are common, according to a study published in The British
Journal of Nutrition.
Cooking does decrease vitamin C from tomatoes by up
to 29%. But the trade-off may be worth it. Lycopene is considered a more
powerful antioxidant. READ ON THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF TOMATO
Note This Also:
Don’t
fry vegetables. Steam, boil, or microwave them.
Carotenoids and other healthy compounds are lost to the cooking oil or
destroyed by the higher temperatures used in frying.
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