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Conventional belief is that raw vegetables are always healthier than cooked, but this is not true depending on the plant foods eaten according to lab testing and anthropological evidence by experts in the field.
I stopped by one of my favorite healthfood stores today to pick up a large glass of fresh juice made from organic raw vegetables for an early lunch on the go. As usual, I asked for the a carrot, celery, beet, spinach and cucumber blend. But, hold the spinach. I definitely skipped the green smoothie too!
While this request is usually met with a simple nod by the juice bar attendant, this time the guy looks up and says, “Why no spinach? We have a lot of people that come in here and love the spinach in their juice.”
Ah! Great question!
The truth is that not everything should be eaten raw, especially vegetables!
Some raw vegetables must be cooked else you are actually harming yourself. Below is a rundown of what veggies should not be eaten raw either in whole or juiced form.
Cruciferous Raw Vegetables
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but cruciferous vegetables should be cooked before eating as they contain chemicals that BLOCK the production of thyroid hormone in your body! Considering that 2 out of every 3 Westerners are either overweight or obese and this is projected to jump to 75% by 2020, this is of particular importance as folks struggling with weight usually suffer from borderline to full-blown hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone, so someone suffering from this condition surely does not want to be eating foods that will block what little thyroid hormone is being produced in the first place!
Symptoms of hypothyroidism include cold hands and feet, thinning hair, fatigue, reduced or nonexistent libido, coarse dry hair, constipation, difficulty losing weight, and depression among many others.
Cooking crucifers reduces the goitrogenic substances by about 2/3. Fermentation does not reduce goitrogens in these veggies, but since fermented crucifers such as sauerkraut are typically eaten as a condiment and, hence, in small amounts, consumption is fine if the diet is rich in iodine.
Here is the list of common cruciferous vegetables that you do not want to be eating raw if you want to protect your thyroid gland!
Arugula, broccoli, kale, maca root, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, collard greens, bok choy, brussels sprouts, radish, rutabaga, and watercress.
Notice that many of these vegetables are commonly included in fresh veggie juice blends or in salads. While an occasional arugula salad or cup of coleslaw is not going to do harm to most folks, it would be wise not to make a habit of eating/drinking any of these vegetables in raw form. Kale chips are a safe choice too.
Raw Vegetable Greens
Some veggie greens contain a chemical called oxalic acid. This substance is a very irritating to the mouth and intestinal tract. It also blocks iron and calcium absorption and may contribute to the formation of kidney stones.
The good news is that oxalic acid is reduced by a light steaming or cooking. Just be sure to discard the vegetable cooking water.
Veggies containing oxalic acid include spinach, chard, parsley, chives, purslane and beet greens.
Hmmmm. Spinach is known for being high in iron, yet eating it raw will not necessarily give you the iron you want because of the oxalic acid?
Yep, that’s right. Cook that spinach first if you are seeking an iron boost without the indigestion and don’t get hooked on the raw spinach salads!
Don’t stress about munching the parsley garnish on your next gourmet dinner, though. A little bit here and there is not going to cause a problem. Eat a big spinach salad everyday and it is virtually certain you will eventually succumb to kidney stones, according to Dr. William Shaw, Director of The Great Plains Laboratory for Health, Nutrition and Metabolism.
Other Raw Vegetable Cautions
Other vegetables that are best to avoid eating raw include:
- Raw potatoes contain hemagglutinins that disrupt red blood cell function.
- Raw sweet potatoes will give you gas.
- Raw, edible mushrooms such as the common white mushroom contain toxic substances such as agaritine, a suspected carcinogen. These substances are heat sensitive and are neutralized by cooking.
- Raw alfalfa sprouts are mildly toxic and inhibit the immune system. Eating large quantities regularly can make the skin overly sensitive to the sun or trigger autoimmune symptoms that mimic lupus.
Dr. Weston A. Price on Raw Vegetables
A good rule of thumb when considering the best way to consume your veggies is to remember the letter that Dr. Weston A. Price wrote to his nieces and nephews in 1934. In this letter, he strongly urged them to eat their vegetables cooked in butter. His research found that the bulkiness (fiber) of raw vegetables interfered with the human body’s ability to extract minerals from them via the digestive process.
So, should you drink your veggies raw? Of course. Raw vegetable juice made from veggies that are safe to consume uncooked is a wonderful way to get a fast infusion of easy to digest, colloidal minerals. It is also highly alkalizing to the body and a proven way to gently detox the gut.
The great thing about veggie juice is that the fiber is removed, which is the “bulkiness” that Dr. Price found interfered with the mineral absorption.
However, if you are going to eat the fibrous portion of the vegetable, it is best to cook them in butter as advised by Dr. Price to enhance the availability of the minerals. The fat in the butter permits greater absorption of the minerals, and besides, buttered veggies taste fantastic!
References
Nourishing Traditions
The Role of Oxalates in Chronic Disease, William Shaw PhD (Director of The Great Plains Laboratory for Health, Nutrition and Metabolism)
More Information
Best Green Juice for Congestion
Nightshade Vegetable Contraindications
Cleansing Myths
So happy/enthralled/alarmed to see this thread is still going. I started out searching for an easy way to pack some veggies into my green-averse husband and came upon the Great Green Smoothie Skirmish, part of the Raw/Cooked Battles.
I don’t know what else humans are programmed to do, but our warlike natures seem pretty evident. I will say that the person upthread who blithely asserted that raw veganism would prevent cancer should make sure to get regular colonoscopies, if she can get her head out of the way.
This morning, greenophobic DH happily slurped down a berry smoothie with three cups of arugula in it — cooked down to abt a half cup. Another reason to cook the veggies in your smoothies — you can fit in much more! I tried two versions, both raw and cooked, and can report that the cooked arugula smoothie was more palatable to boot. I put organic lemon wedges in the blender with each to further override the arugula, which seems kind of a shame — it was Trader Joe’s Wild Rocket, A little salad with some nice vinaigrette is sounding rather good right now. ; – >
Thank you, Sarah, for a sensible and useful post.
wow so if we follow your “i’m so much better than you” thoughts, steve jobs should be immortal and ouldn’t die nor have any disease but, the REAL truth, is that he did have illness and not a small one : cancer. You’re miraculous vegan diet didn’t save him, veganism killed him just faster.
Actually, vegetarianism more than likely PROLONGED his life!
He was exposed to carcinogenic toxins in his youth while at a tech processing plant. We all have cancer cells living inside of us, what kills us is how active they are. A vegetarian diet does’t give the cells anything to live and grow off of… however MEAT DOES, so he kept these cancer cells INACTIVE FOR YEARS. When he was diagnosed, they gave him RADIATION. This activated new cells in his body more rapidly that it killed them. After that, his health began to rapidly deteriorate.
LOOK IT UP.
Actually, John, a vegetarian diet does help with someone diagnosed with cancer, but he reason is:
A vegetarian diet does not utilize the enzyme protese which is naturally a part of the bile released by the gall bladder/liver.
Protese helps digest cancer (which is a protein) in the body.
Actually, protese helps digest and dissolve the protein coat (protection) that cancer uses to help protect it.
So, a vegetarian diet would help in this case.
Although, it could be called a double edge sword because protein from animal sources provides nutrition that is also needed when fighting an invader, such as cancer, in the body.
One therapy that could be useful is to continue to eat meat yet also supplement with extra protest in-between meals to help digest the cancer.
I’m not sure where the “pale” myth came from.. I’ve been a vegetarian for 12 years and am perfectly healthy. I just want people to know that eating meat is not as healthy or natural as our society thinks it is… I don’t know a lot about eating raw, but I’ve heard good things. I’ll watch for the ones with the chemicals, though.
Meat does cause heart disease, proven! And look at the Eskimos and their short life expantancy from so much animal fat. There’s way too much ignorance with both meat eaters and vegans. You can get vitamin d, a and k if you are eating a balanced diet and get sunshine. Plant based/fruit eaters get more minerals and vitamins/phytonutrients than anyone else hands down. Anatomy wise by science we are frugivore. New Harvard fossil studies proved our earliest ancestors were frugivore! However we would have eaten small insects too.
Interesting piece, it is worth directing people to the following sit by the USDA on oxalic acid content of various vegetables. I draw attention to the data for kale at 0.02g/100g, similar to cucumber! , Spinach on the other hand is quite high at 0.97g/100g.
So not all greens are created equal!
Can you please provide your citations from credible scientific sources? There are a LOT of unexplained, and unsupported claims in this piece. At this point, I believe that most of your advice is nonsense.
Dear Sarah,
Well, you sure stirred-up a hornets nest, didn’t you ? (LOL)
I am an “alternative” health-practioner working in conjunction with a retired MD, and together, we practice what I like to call, “functional medicine”. They say the “proof is in the pudding”, which seems appropriate for this site… we have over 100 patients from all walks of life, all ages, races, and genders. We have had phenomenal success with everything from bipolar disorder to cancer, based on a nine-step healing protocol which starts with the dietary plan. Humans originally were hunter/gatherer/scavengers who did not cook their food, however, so much has changed since then that we only use raw with cancer patients, all the other conditions are put on Paleo. I must tell you that we see an inordinately large percentage of “long-term” vegans and vegetarians who develop auto-immune diseases, particularly women who consumed unfermented soy (e.g., tofu ) on a regular basis. I have no wish to argue with anyone… The results speak for themselves.
Do your research people! Cruciferous vegetables are only bad for your thyroid when you are ALSO low in iodine. Ridiculous the myths that spread round the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. http://www.livestrong.com/article/491733-cruciferous-vegetables-thyroid-control/
The same is true for the oxalic acid claim. High levels of oxalic acid is found in more than just the vegetables listed, it is also found in berries, black tea, cocoa, purple grapes, nuts, wheat bran, and soy food! Try cooking all of those things before consuming (not). Drinking lots of water is the key to preventing build up of oxalic acid, otherwise if you have a family history of kidney stones (or a personal history and are looking for treatment) then yes, eat lower doses of those foods. However, for most of us, piling on some raw spinach in our salads or smoothies is not going to do us any harm. I was truly shocked and depressed reading this article at first, thinking that all the healthy things I had been doing more of (serving a raw veggie tray to my kids with snacks and lunch every day) was harmful, but I am glad I did my research first. These claims are highly misleading. http://www.livestrong.com/article/419018-oxalic-acid-in-urine/
Well said Liz.
They love generalising certain claims thinking that everyone is the same!
Know what is best for your body and go with it. The only thing that has benefited sarah with this article is that she has had website traffic. It’s ignorant claims like this that frustrate me.
One word: Bioindividuality. We are an intuitive species. Listen to your body. I eat a mostly plant based diet and occasionally I’ll crave some baked chicken or eggs. When my body tells me I am in need of a food I eat it. Let your body talk. It will never steer you in the wrong direction. After years of chronic blood clots, pulmonary emboli, a completely blocked inferior vena cava as well as seizures, I healed my body with food. Not with theory or with fad diets but with common sense and intuition as well as a strong desire to be free of disease. One size doesn’t fit all in any circumstance and nutrition is no different. Light and love everyone.
Laura~
“One size doesn’t fit all” = look to your ancestors (grandmother and beyond) to find what foods are required to nourish your body!