We’ve grown accustomed to take our food choices to the kitchen and alter them to our desire. Whether it is cooking them or baking them, we just want to ensure that our next meal can truly satisfy our taste buds. But taking health into account, there are certain food options that are better off as they are. Here’s a rundown of those options that are best consumed when uncooked. It is good news actually, for some that is too lazy to go over the kitchen.
1. Chocolate
Chocolate is truly the Jekyll and Hyde of health foods. Raw cacao is rich in antioxidants, can help lower blood pressure, increases serotonin to boost your mood, and even helps curb cravings — but if you pump it up with sugar, flour, oils, and other ingredients that turn your cocoa into decadent sugar bombs, you completely undo the healthy power of this beloved super food.
If you can, try to get your hands on some raw cacao nibs, which are the parts of the cacao bean that are roasted and processed into cocoa.
2. Garlic
Garlic is one of those types of foods that is almost always consumed cooked. Like onions, garlic contains the phytonutrient allicin, which can be consumed in higher amounts by eaten raw.
A study revealed that raw garlic consumed two or more times a week produced less of a risk for developing lung cancer. You can still certainly benefit from enjoying cooked garlic — you’ll just have to eat more of it if to get the same nutrition it offers in its raw state.
3. Coconut
Coconut deserves an item of its own on this list for all the incredible benefits it has to offer. Drinking raw coconut water in large amounts can replenish fluids arguably better than regular water, and the oil that comes from the coconut meat contains healthy fats that strengthen both the brain and heart.
Skip the coconut-flavored processed stuff like bars, candies, and pastries, which fill your body with too much sugar while offering little nutritional value.
4. Juice
There are tons of cans and cartons and jugs of juice you can buy directly from the store that promise all sorts of amazing health benefits; but when it comes straight down to it, nothing beats buying the raw ingredients and juicing them yourself. Store bought juices undergo processing that may strip the ingredients of their nutritional value, while also adding in other chemicals, flavors, coloring, sweeteners, and preservatives.
Juicing from raw vegetables and fruits ensures that you’ll get a nutrient dense drink that hydrates, detoxifies, improves digestion, increases energy, and even aids in weight loss. Rather than reaching for the nearest carton at your local grocery store, trying making your own juice from scratch.
Although higher in calories compared to most other foods, nuts are a primary source of healthy fats that can help you balance your diet. These essential fats actually help you lower your bad cholesterol, reduce your risk of developing blood clots, and promote good artery health.
When it comes to choosing nuts, go for a variety of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, and other types that haven’t been roasted in oil and have no added salt. Raw nuts are higher in iron, magnesium, and contain no GMO oils.
6. Red Bell Pepper
Citrus fruits are often what first comes to mind when you think of vitamin C, but red bell peppers should be just right up there. With nearly three times the vitamin C intake you need for the day, red bell peppers are also a powerful antioxidant and a great source of vitamin B6, vitamin E, and magnesium.
You may be able to get away with cooking your red bell peppers for a short time over low heat which will still maintain their sweetness, but be aware that roasting, frying, or grilling them at a temperature over 375 degrees Fahrenheit will cause their vitamin C properties to break down. Eat them raw for their full nutritional benefits.
Adding dried berries to some mixed nuts has become a popular food trend for a fast snack that’s both sweet and salty. Unfortunately, dried berries don’t offer the same nutritional benefits as their raw counterparts.
Berries that have been put through a drying process may contain as much as two or three times more sugar in them, increasing their calories and carbohydrates. Because they’ve been dehydrated, they lack certain water-soluble vitamins and minerals that made them so healthy in the first place.
Stick to fresh, raw berries to keep calories low and benefit from their nutritional value.
8. Broccoli
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable that should be a top item on your grocery list. With a seemingly endless offering of nutritional benefits, this versatile veggie is not only packed with vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and protein… it also contains sulforaphane – a compound found to fight cancer cells, lower blood pressure, improve heart health, and provide antioxidants that help with anti-aging and immunity.
According to a study from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, people who consumed raw broccoli absorbed sulforaphane more quickly and in higher amounts compared to people who consumed it cooked.
Believe it or not, the same stuff that makes you tear up when you cut onions is the same stuff you want to consume more to improve your health. Called allicin, this phytonutrient helps curb hunger, prevent cancer, promote cardiovascular health, and reduce high blood pressure. You get more of it when you eat onions raw as opposed to eating them cooked.
Make sure to include both red and yellow onions for a natural does of quercetin – a bioflavonoid that has anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial properties to help you fight off all sorts of nasty viruses, including the common cold.
10. Beets
The red beet root may be a vegetable with high sugar content, but its nutritional properties completely make up for it. Beets are high in fiber, vitamin C, potassium, manganese, and the B vitamin folate, which offers a range of health benefits that can boost your immune system, improve your stamina, fight inflammation, lower your blood pressure, and even prevent cancer.
When you cook beets they can lose as much as 25 percent of their folate (a healthy brain compound that helps reduce the risk of birth defects during fetal development).
Source: Idea Digezt
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