I've been researching the benefits of eating raw fruits and vegetables versus those of eating cooked fruits and vegetables.
Findings:
Sources in favour of eating raw, on average referenced nothing, and one listed various world scriptures as references instead. To be fair, it did talk about studies done by various doctors around the world, but referenced none. Another seemed interesting, but again no reference to actually studies. It did include a link to a site with a multitude of personal testimonials and similar hard-to-put-stock-in articles. They all seemed very fad and trend diet oriented or came off as a bunch of hippies talking about what our ancestors used to eat and why we should eat just like them.
On the other side of the fence, this article supplies references for its claim that cooked veggies (and meat, for that matter) are better when cooked at low temperatures and for a long time so long as you eat everything including the water it was cooked in. The idea is that the cell walls are broken down with heat and the nutrients are easier absorbed. There was still an emphasis on how our ancestors ate, but more from an historical perspective instead of a getting-back-to-nature perspective.
Two of the most balanced articles:
one and two that I found rested on the conclusion that a mix of raw and cooked foods is the best way to go. The second provides details on nutrients, cooking times and methods for specific foods.
Being a fan of the middle ground, this is where I am apt to side as well. There seem to be upsides and downsides to the extremes at either end and without concrete proof that one or the other is bad, a balanced approach is likely the best way to go.
Some considerations:
-certain vitamins leech into the water easier and at lower temperatures than others.
-cooked vegetables and fruit have less fibre.
-use the water from boiling vegetables for soups and sauces.
-cook at low heats
-"the wisdom of the ancients" is not an adequate reference for a claim about health (we don't let blood for fevers, or diagnose women with hysteria anymore, now do we?
I would love to hear what others have to say on this topic and to know where they got their information. My research is obviously not complete and I will admit that I got bored after about two hours. =]
