Five Things You Need to Know About Cooked vs. Raw Vegetables

Raw veggies vs. cooked veggies – have you ever wondered which kind was better for you? Here’s the good news: It turns out, the answer is both.

Raw foods bring the crunch, and incredible flavor – think of crisp lettuce leaves, brilliant berries, and so on, with no nutrient loss from the heat of cooking. But in some foods, such as carrots, some nutrients are not as bioavailable in the raw state. Cooking modifies the physical and chemical properties of foods. It causes degradation or leaching of certain nutrients and phytochemicals, but also softens cell walls and other food matrix components, facilitating the extraction and absorption of others.

Every day, we should eat a combination of raw and cooked vegetables. Let’s examine some important points about how our bodies absorb nutrients from food.

1. Some nutrients can’t stand the heat (or light, or oxygen)

Water-soluble vitamins. Vitamin C appears to be the nutrient most vulnerable to cooking temperatures. About 30 percent of vitamin C in leafy greens is destroyed by cooking (if cooking water is consumed, as in cooking a soup or water-sautéeing).2 Other nutrients degraded by heat are folate, other B vitamins, and phenol antioxidants. In contrast, minerals and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are more stable during cooking.

Myrosinase. Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, kale, bok choy, and cabbage, contain valuable nutrients called glucosinolates. These are converted to cancer-fighting isothiocyanates (ITCs) when the plant cells are broken up by chopping or chewing. Unfortunately, heat deactivates the enzyme (myrosinase) that drives this conversion – but there’s an easy way to get ITCs from cooked cruciferous: chop or blend the veggies before cooking them.

Add some extra chopped raw cruciferous to the cooked. Chopping (preferably blending) the raw cruciferous vegetables conserves the most ITCs. Once the vegetables are chopped, steaming – compared to stir-frying, boiling and microwaving – resulted in the smallest glucosinolate losses in broccoli. And since the myrosinase is deactivated by heat, you can produce more isothiocyanates from the remaining glucosinolates after cooking by adding some raw cruciferous (such as shredded cabbage or arugula) to the cooked greens.4

Degraded during cooking: Heat-stable:

Vitamin C Minerals

B vitamins Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K)

Phenol antioxidants Carotenoids

Myrosinase Isothiocyanates (ITCs)

Action item: Eat a large green salad, containing a variety of raw vegetables (including cruciferous), with a nut- and seed-based dressing at least once a day.

Sources: The effect of cooking on the phytochemical content of vegetables

Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. Part 1. Vitamins C and B and phenolic compounds

USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors Release 6 Effects of different cooking methods on health-promoting compounds of broccoli

2. Carotenoids become more accessible when vegetables are cooked

Raw carrots have natural sweetness and deliver a satisfying crunch, and fresh tomatoes are tasty in salads, but to get maximum nutritional benefit, bring on the heat too. Carotenoids, such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lycopene are not only heat stable, but actually more absorbable once foods are cooked. Carotenoids are inside the plant cells, embedded in the matrix of the food, and some of the cellular structure must be mechanically disrupted (such as by blending or heating) to make the carotenoids extractable by the digestive system.5 Vitamin E fractions from plant foods have also been reported to be more bio-accessible after heating.6 A study on raw foodists found that lycopene status was low without eating any cooked foods.7 Of course, carrots, tomatoes, and other carotenoid-rich foods contain more nutrients than only carotenoids, so a combination of raw and cooked is ideal.

Related: Greater Intake of Colorful Fruits and Vegetables Linked to Longer Life

3. Adding healthy fats aids carotenoid absorption from raw vegetables

Higher fat intake in the study on raw foodists was associated with better plasma carotenoid status – adding fat is an effective way to improve carotenoid absorption from raw vegetables.7 One study measured alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lycopene in the blood after subjects ate salads topped with fat-free dressing, or dressings containing either 6 or 28 grams of fat. Carotenoid absorption was negligible from the salad with fat-free dressing, and high from the fat-containing dressings.8 So not merely to enhance carotenoid absorption, but other phytonutrients as well. Though I do not recommend adding oils to salads, it is important to use some nuts and seeds with the vegetable-based meals either eaten separately or as a key ingredient in the salad dressing or sauce. It's not only carotenoids, using nuts or seeds enhance absorption of other phytochemicals too,

Shop: Salad Dressings

Sources: Dietary factors that affect the bioavailability of carotenoids

Effects of various heating methods on glucosinolate, carotenoid and tocopherol concentrations in broccoli Long-term strict raw food diet is associated with favourable plasma beta-carotene and low plasma lycopene concentrations in Germans

Carotenoid bioavailability is higher from salads ingested with full-fat than with fat-reduced salad dressings as measured with electrochemical detection

4. What about frozen vegetables and fruit?

Frozen foods leave some people cold – they associate them with lackluster taste and low quality. But there’s good news. Yes, the blanching step of the freezing process means frozen produce has lower levels of vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin than fresh. But because frozen vegetables are picked fresh and frozen soon after, a large proportion of the nutrients are preserved.

Compare this with fresh produce – it loses some nutrients during storage, and produce that has been shipped a long distance will likely have less nutritional value than the same produce bought locally. And once the food is frozen, nutrient losses due to storage slow down substantially. For frozen fruits, there is minimal loss of polyphenol antioxidants (such as flavonoids) because fruits are not blanched before they are frozen.

Source: Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. Part 1. Vitamins C and B and phenolic compounds

5. Soups retain nutrients

Soups are satisfying! They’re also a great way to cook fresh and frozen vegetables and retain more nutrients. While some nutrients are not destroyed by heat, they can still be lost in the cooking water if you are boiling or steaming your vegetables. That’s why making a big pot of soup is an excellent way to cook your vegetables – just make sure they’re not overcooked.

The bottom line

A good general guideline to maximize nutrient quantity and variety is to eat a large variety of raw and gently cooked vegetables – large daily salads plus vegetable-bean soups or stews, or vegetables cooked in a wok with water, steamed for only a few minutes, or baked at a low temperature.

Action item: Suggested healthy cooking methods for vegetables

• Steam greens in a wok alternating covering and stirring.

• Steam greens in a steamer for 10 minutes or less

• Halve artichokes up middle and steam for 18-20 minutes

• Cook carrots and parsnips in soups and stews

• Bake winter squash at a low oven temperature (325°F) for 1 hour

• Wok or steam mushrooms, or add to soups and stews

• Puree raw cruciferous greens, shallots and onions before adding to soups and stews