Dr. Mercola August 20 2007 62,082 views
In case you haven‘t already been converted to eating as much raw food as possible, you may want to consider this very interesting fact that I learned from Dr. Mercola‘s new book, Take Control of Your Health.
If you cook raw broccoli in the microwave, with a little water added to it, it can lose up to 97% of the antioxidant benefits that the food contained prior to being microwaved. Even if you steam broccoli, it can lose up to 11% of its nutrients. I don‘t know about you, but I prefer to keep as many nutrients as possible in my food.
So, if you can eat broccoli and other vegetables raw, then obviously, you‘ll retain all those nutrients in their natural state, and all the antioxidants. Therefore, your body will benefit from foods that are in the form most ideal for it.
Practically speaking, this may seem a bit intimidating, trying to incorporate more raw foods into your diet. But here are a couple of ways you can consider doing it.
If you‘re a carb type, you can juice all your vegetables, and that‘s a great way for you to get your vegetable nutrients. If you‘d like to make the juice a bit sweeter, you can add some carrot or apple juice, but add either in moderation because they‘re not your ideal vegetables. But they‘ll both sweeten the juice nicely. You can also add beets, which are very sweet and have a beautiful flavor; they‘re lovely for carb types.
If you‘re a mixed or protein type, you may want to consider grating your vegetables into a type of raw cole slaw, to which you can add some raw cream or olive oil. That would be a very tasty way for you to get the vegetables you need in their best, raw state. That‘s the way your body benefits from them the best.
I hope you enjoyed both of those tips, and that they help you to incorporate more raw foods into your diet.
The following statement in this article is misleading:
"it can lose up to 97% of the antioxidant benefits that the food contained prior to being microwaved. Even if you steam broccoli, it can lose up to 11% of its nutrients."
The problem here is that you could lose "up to" 100% of the nutrients with either process if you steamed / microwaved the vegetable enough. Additionally, maybe I'm wrong but the research / literature I've been exposed to suggests that microwaving vegetables with minute amounts of water often fair better than even steaming. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather use a steamer myself (for other reasons), but I feel you may be off on the literature here. Please reference the source where this information on nutrient loss, etc. is coming from.
RAW is great, but don't forget that some nutrients become more available with steaming, cooking, etc. Especially for certain types of produce.
In good health,
JD
Check out this website with over 800 raw recipes. The “Energy Soup” made in a blender is a great tasting green soup that makes you feel so good and gives you terrific skin. They have lots of smoothie recipes too.
www.goneraw.com/recipes Enjoy!!
Carolyn
Can anyone post a site with information regarding the cruciferous vegetables/thyroid function problem. I have not heard about this before today. Wonderful!! I am trying my best to lose weight. I cut my grains down to a small amount of brown rice, eliminated corn, potatoes, sugar, all trans fats and processed food. I have been filling up with LOTS of homemade coleslaw, steamed and raw broccoli, cauliflower, and raw green salads and small amounts of lean protein every three or four hours. The weight loss has slowed down quite a bit, and now I am thinking it is the cruciferous vegetables that may be the cause. I have been avoiding carrots and beets because of the high sugar, and tomatoes because of my severe arthritis. I really need some help in further refining my eating program. Thanks.
Buy Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions. She explains why one shouldn't eat cruciferous vegetables raw. I would write it here but I lent my book to someone. Cruciferous vegetables ferment quite nicely.
I have been making smoothies in my Vitamix for a long time now. I usually combine organic frozen berries, frozen bananas (that I previously peeled and froze), raw kale, raw spinach, Dr. Schulzes super food, water and so that the kids like it, I add stevia powder. I use only organic produce and if I have some Kefir powder from Donna Gates, I will add that as well.
I am waiting for Dr. Mercola's nutritional typing assessment. Hopefully, it will direct me to the appropriate individualized nutritional plan. So far, I have not found the perfect plan. I have tried everything...the worst thing that I have ever done to myself was the raw diet. A few years ago I spent two weeks at the Creative Health Institute in Union City, Michigan. I bought into the raw diet 100%. During that time I met David Wolf and the Boutenko family...wonderful people. Although I became violently ill, I was detrmined to stick with the 100% raw diet. After a few weeks my weight was down to 85 pounds. When my husband took me into the hospital I was in an "acute state of acidosis". I still make smoothies and blended salads in my vita mix, but I can't stand the thought of wheat grass. I may be the only person to fail so miserably on the raw diet.
I was reading raw food "journal" on the internet by a woman trying to commit to a total raw food diet by some famous proponent, and she was getting sicker by the day--I thought she was going to need to be hospitalized soon. Regardless, she insisted on "sticking it out". I think you have to listen to your body. There's detoxification (I did this recently) then there's just plan your body needs something it's not getting! I did something similar in college to a raw food diet, my hair began falling out in clumps, my usually strong fingernails peeled and cracked, my skin was sallow. After about six months, I went back to being an ovo-lacto vegetarian (with a mix of raw and cooked foods) and all of this stopped. The detoxification I did recently made me feel sick etc for about two weeks (I blame caffeine withdrawal and yeast overgrowth), then I turned the corner. My hair glows, my fingernails are longer and stronger than ever, my skin looks the best I can remember I'm absolutely in the best physical shape I've ever been in (I'm in my 50s) I'm wearing a size four and able to work out 2 hours a day with energy, strength and stamina. I think we have to read our bodies and not go off on some prescribed diet regardless of how knowledgeable the source. Yet it's important to be open minded and try new things that make sense. I love Dr. Mercola for pointing out so many things! I especially thank him for sharing The Future of Food Video by Lily Films. I think this will have more long range implications to our connection between food and health than raw, or anything else! You can watch a 10 minute excerpt at www.youtube.com/watch You can Google for the full length version. If our food is raw but genetically modified (organics can cross polinate without a farmer even knowing!!!!!, we have our heads in the sand!!!!!!!