Does Cooking Destroy Nutrition?

Advocates of raw food diets encourage the vast majority of food to be consumed a natural, uncooked state. The rationale being that cooking destroys the life-force of the food and its nutrition such as the enzymes which help digest the food.

I'm sure most health conscious people will admit the less processing in their food choices is probably a good thing, but how far do you go with going raw? Does cooking destroy a foods nutrition benefits?

Firstly, we know from a human evolution standpoint that cooking is designated as THE time point responsible for rapid human development. Cooking allowed humans to consume more energy and nutrition essential to brain development. The human brain consumes 20-25% of the body's total energy requirements. Without cooking, scientists are certain we could not have developed the brains we have now. [1] Cooking kills bad bacteria that can kill us. That health benefit aside, the act of cooking softens the starch and cellulose structure of many plant foods making their nutrition more available to our digestive system. Potatoes, pumpkins, rice and root (tuber) vegetables are impossible for our digestive system to break down and digest without cooking. While cooking does affect some nutrients it also enhances the bioavailability of many others. [2-4] For example, are tomatoes more nutritious when consumed cooked? The answer is yes. The small loss of vitamin C is far out-weighed by the increased bioavaibility of polyphenol compounds such as lycopene. Are cooked carrots more nutritious than raw?

Again, the answer is yes. Prolonged boiling does reduce the vitamin content of most vegetables. But carotenoids, such as the beta carotene in carrots, are more readily available when vegetables are cooked or processed such as chopped or puréed. It is true that some forms of cooking are certainly better than others for many varieties of food, even different vegetables. [2,3] Nowadays not many people boil the crap out of their veggies. Steaming, stir-frying and microwaving are more the norm and when kept short and to a minimum, these methods are shown in quality research to maximize nutrition from vegetables. For example, steaming or microwaving for 5 minutes or less (depending on the quantity) will preserve most vitamins and enhance nutrition of broccoli, carrots and greens. [2] However, stir-frying red cabbage might be better for antioxidant availability. [3]

Stews, casseroles and braises are not only great time savers, their slow cooking attributes trap the recipe's nutrition and many plant polyphenol's become more bioavailable. [2,4] Whether you choose to eat your veggies raw or cooked always remember, where your produce comes from and how long it took to get to you will actually determine the nutrition quality far more than any cooking method. [2] Any diet that promotes a high consumption of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and cold pressed oils is a good one. Nevertheless, I'll have my steak medium-rare, not moving.

Dr Paul Cribb is an award-winning Scientist and creator of the Metabolic Nutrition Coaching Systems the first ever science-based, research-proven, nationally accredited coaching program. More at mp-body.com

References

1.Genetic Evidence of Human Adaptation to a Cooked Diet. Carmody RN, Dannemann M, Briggs AW, Nickel B, Groopman EE, Wrangham RW, Kelso J. Genome Biol Evol. 2016 Apr 13;8(4):1091-103. 2. A review of the impact of preparation and cooking on the nutritional quality of vegetables and legumes. A D.T. Fabbri., G A.Crosby. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, Volume 3: 2-11, April 2016. 3.Cooking techniques improve the levels of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in kale and red cabbage. Daniella Carisa Murador, Adriana Zerlotti Mercadante, Veridiana Vera de Rosso. Food Chemistry, Volume 196, 1:1101-1107, April 2016. 4.Effects of different cooking methods on nutritional and physicochemical characteristics of selected vegetables. Miglio C, Chiavaro E, Visconti A, Fogliano V, Pellegrini N. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jan 9;56(1):139-47