Re: Raw or cooked, which is more nutritious


<calypso47@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:42d7d8d4$0$17237$4d5ecec7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> The raw food example is one such where the assertion is made
> that cooking destroys nutritional elements and food is best eaten raw, ...
Biochemical texts agree.

> "Many people believe that fresh fruits and vegetables always contain
> more nutrients than cooked ones, but cooked carrots have higher
> levels of antioxidants than fresh carrots. Cooking carrots in the
> presence of a small amount of oil or butter increases the amount of
> two antioxidants called beta carotene and phenolic acid.
This approach is called "the quantitative lie". One trivial example is
chosen and the implication is that it can be applied globally, when it can
not.
"Cooking carrots in the presence of a small amount of oil or butter
increases the amount of ..." is intentionally-misleading because the oil
will dissolve more of the fat-soluble nutrients and possibly make them more
readily available, but what about the other 300 nutritional chemicals in the
carrot?
Cooking does NOT "increases the amount of" nutrients. Heat can not
create molecules out of nothing.

> Cooking also increases the amount of lycopene you get from tomatoes.
Nope, it is the solubility in oil.

> Cooking breaks the plant cells open to increase the absorption of these
> antioxidants and other beneficial plant chemicals.
It also breaks cell walls to make ~10 times as much starch available,
and that is the reason for the tendency of people on a high starch diet
toward obesity.

> Adding a little
> oil or butter increases absorption of fat soluble chemicals.
But, it does not "increase the amount" as previously claimed. One can
readily add oil to a raw salad to get this solubility-effect without
cooking.

> Most of the nutrients in food (minerals, proteins, fats, carbohydrates)
> are not destroyed by heat, ...
Not "destroyed", but rather their biological activity has been severely
reduced, or eliminated, by the denaturing of proteins and protein complexes
and the oxidation of various nutrients. In addition, hundreds of
foreign/toxic Maillard Reaction products and carcinogens are created by
cooking.
http://www.ecologos.org/denature.htm

> ... and many common foods are unpalatable or unsafe if
> they are not cooked.
Irrefutable evidence that they should not be eaten.

Laurie


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