Is Raw Food Superior to Cooked Food?

[Guest guest]

Dr Wahls MS News

December 9, 2008

Issue # 2

Progressive multiple sclerosis and micronutrients – is raw food superior to

cooked food?

I am often asked whether raw food is superior to cooked food for micronutrient

availability for patients with MS. The basic guide I provide is that food taken

directly from the plant is the very best for you. If you cook food, the lower

temper in steaming or a very low (180 degree) roast is the next best. The other

key item is to eat any fluid or juice from the cooking (which is where all the

water soluble nutrients have gone.

Micronutrients are critical for brain health. Unfortunately the average western

diet is deficient in most vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino

acids which have recommended daily allowances. The reason for this is the

reliance on cheap sources of calories in grains which have most often had the

germ and husk of the grain removed.

Very few vegetables are consumed. The animals are increasingly raised in high

density farm factories with minimal exposure to green grass or sunshine. The

consequence is that the meat has minimal omega 3 fatty acid, vitamin and mineral

content.

Are nutrients lost with cooking? That depends on high the cooking temperature

and how long. Immediately fresh and still raw when you eat the food means that

cooking has not leached any of the micronutrients out of it. But some of the

micronutrients may not be available to you because our bodies can't digest all

of the cell walls in plants. If you cook below the boiling point and drink all

the juice – the food is generally more digestible and you have not lost much

of the micronutrients. However – some of the compounds that are very helpful

to us will gradually be lost with prolonged cooking. Cooking above the boiling

point of water, particularly frying tends to oxidize many of the compounds in

food. When that occurs many of the anti-oxidants in food have become oxidized

– and therefore their anti-oxidant benefit to us is gone.

Bottom line – Raw retains the nutrients in the food. Cooking gently makes the

nutrients more available because the food has been partially digested by

cooking. Frying oxidizes many of the helpful compounds. Prolonged high

temperatures cooking likewise can breakdown micronutrients. My advice is to

increase your micronutrients through more vegetables and fruits. Eat them raw or

cooked according to your personal preference. But if you cook, always drink the

juice. Never throw it away.

Terry Wahls, MD

www.terrywahls.com

Up from the Chair

The Primer Never Written

[Guest guest]

Excellent info. Dr. Wahls hasan email sign up on her site.

terrywahls.com.

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