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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
Hi Anonymous, your argument for oxalic acid reminds me of an article supporting phytic acid that I read a few years back. The article was in support of eating freshly ground wheat flour raised the modern way with yeast – hence the bread was not properly prepared as in traditional societies (sprouted, sour leavened, or soaked). The author said that phytic acid helped chelate toxins and other baddies from the gut (true) and hence it was great to eat bread made the modern way (wrong). That woman has since suffered colon cancer which is one of the risks of eating too much phytic acid for many years. Sooooo, your oxalic acid argument while it may be true in theory – needs to be balanced against the negatives – as with the phytic acid is good for you baloney, Dr. Walker is going down the wrong path with this flawed and incomplete argument as well.
You love basing your knowledge on “articles”…..
Hi Anonymous, as cited in the post, the book Nourishing Traditions is the source for the oxalic acid – don't eat your spinach raw info. Remember that digestive distress and damage can occur without any symptoms of indigestion. I certainly wouldn't be eating baby spinach raw if you have advanced cancer. Cancer is an autoimmune disease with its root in the gut anyway.. eating something that further irritates the gut is not a good idea.
Organic oxalic acid, defined as that which occurs in nature in its raw form, can actually be beneficial to the system. Once foods containing oxalic acid are cooked, according to the dean of juice therapy and author of Raw Vegetable Juices, Dr. Norman Walker, the oxalic acid becomes dead and irritating substance to the system. He feels that in its cooked form it binds irreversibly with the calcium and prevents calcium absorption. An excess of cooked oxalic acid may also form oxalic acid crystals in the kidney. In the live organic form of oxalic acid, Dr. Walker claims oxalic acid stones and calcium blockage do not occur because the organic oxalic acid can be metabolized appropriately. according to Dr. Walker, oxalic acid in its raw form is one of the important minerals needed to maintain tone and peristalsis of the bowel.
Well, while I think for the most part this was a great article and I couldn't agree more…I completely disagree with the raw spinach theory. I am battling advanced cancer and I am hyper-sensitive to digesting anything and everything to the highest degree and I have no problem with raw baby spinach. In fact, I do much better when I have a large salad of it every single night. My husband is an alternative doctor and I've never heard this before so would like to know the source of that information.
Thanks!
If you are doing better eating raw spinach, then by all means keep eating that salad. I think that there are as many ways to eat healthy as there are different people. I think that what may work for one, may not work for another. You are listening to your body and I think that is the smartest thing no matter what anyone else says. Good luck with your healing.
Both lemon juice, and vinegar neutralize the oxalic acid in spinach. I usually add both of these ingredients into my salad dressing, and I believe it’s good to dress the salad just a few minutes before serving, long enough for the lemon juice and oil to do their magic, but not long enough to wilt the greens. Enjoy!
Thanks!!
Erin, wilting the spinach should be sufficient to neutralize the oxalic acid from what I've read. You certainly do not need to cook it to death by any means. That salad sounds amazing, by the way!
Sarah, I suspect that 150 is not high enough especially for the goitrogens. To eliminate 90% of the goitrogens in cruciferous veggies for example, you have to boil them for 30 minutes! Simple steaming though will reduce them by 2/3 and save most nutrients, so this is the best way to go I think.
What about wilted spinach salad with homemade bacon dressing? How long would you think it takes to neutralize the oxalic acid? I could always cook it a little bit more.
A couple questions for you: would dried veggies such as dried parsley and chives also prevent a problem? I usually dry large batches of parsley (in the dehydrator at 150 degrees) for use in my homemade ranch dressing, and the dressing is so tasty that we eat a lot of it. Additionally, I recently started making kale chips and found that it is very easy to do in the dehydrator as well. Is 150 degrees sufficient to neutralize the oxalic acid and goitrogens?
Considering that most hypothyroid folks would consider themselves "healthy" and don't even know they have thyroid problems until it starts causing major issues, I don't consider your argument to have much validity whatsoever. Eating goitrogenic foods other than small amounts occasionally as condiments like traditional societies that didn't even have thyroid issues at all is playing with fire. Once your thyroid goes, it is hard to fix it. Ignoring this traditional wisdom with modern day research propaganda is plain FOOLISH.
Hi Sarah, I am new to the Traditional food world. But I am reading all I can about it. I Just read Real Food by Nina Planck and have just order Nourishing Traditions (cant wait for it to arrive). I have enjoyed reading your blog and watching your videos.
I have hypothyroidism, I am only 23 and have had it almost 3 years. My doctors have me on sy-thyroid pills – but I grew up eating healthy and still believe that i can fix it by what I eat. I do not want to be dependent on a pill the rest of my life to have energy to get up and around. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this problem. Is there like something (or combination of things) that I could eat religiously for some time to get it back in shape? I read about how you healed your child’s cavity and it just backs up in my thoughts that food will make or break you. I will not go into details, but I grew up on fairly traditional foods, but lots touch with them in my teen years.
any help or idea would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Fonda – I realise it is a year later (and now you have your own nice site!). At the end of the day – everyone is going to either be a critic or an expert – and many times both.
Your personal journey will be fraught with “DATA” – as is all of ours. My personal journey has led me to understand that the only real “tradition” that matters is the original tradition – that is, the way we first lived on this planet 7 million years ago (depending on who u ask the timeline will differ). Every since that time, I call all other traditions variations on the original theme. Some traditions are not just variations of the original but an outright butchering of food and eating – can we say supersize me 😀
As much as I love The usa we are notorious for distorting traditions.
Hopefully you too will have my epihphany, which was not sudden as the word would imply, but more evolved over time. My evolved epiphany was that we are just like the other species and we should be eating as they eat – as they have eaten since the begining of their respective species (some of them for 400 million years – the shark for instance).
Many say “but we are not all alike, we are a different species with different bodily functions and needs”. This is not so. We are all way more similar that not. We are actually made up of the same chemical elements as every living organism from oak tree to queen bee to leona the lioness; carbon, Hydrogen, phosphorus, iron, Oxygen, Nitrogen etc. And just like those other species, we need to be sustained on these same chemical elements – carbon, Hydrogen… There is no way around that. These chemical elements are the only things that combine to make us every nutrient known to the universe. And so too, every toxin.
All things are toxic – by their very chemical nature. It is the amount of and the wrong combinations of, that can do every species in.
For you – keep it real real simple. Ween your self off of the man made stuff eventually. Know that less is more in your body. Get to a point where few things only, enter your body – and water. When you can become more in tune with your body you can listen to it more than what doctors tell you (loved your graphic with the doctor saying “your in perfect health – wait here while I check what you should take for that”).
At the end of the day, though I love burgers, bacon, and beer, the truth of the matter with diets, which one is best, pritican, south beach, low carb/no carb, high protein – or whatever they have out there — the best diet is the original diet – raw food. Hopefully we will all come to realise this. It is the most tried and true diet over every other diet – by seven million years! We just have to relearn which raw foods.
Cash is king – so we may not get to this realization as a species – but you don’t have to follow the crowd.
However – it is also no longer easy to just say raw is the best way. Our bodies have so genetically modified over the last 4 to six thousand years with the onset of cooked food and new crops that we never ate before (corn, wheat, rice, potatos, beans etc), and most recently in the past 100 years with processed food and curious farming and agricultural practises. To know which way is up any more is anyone’s guess. It’s also fair game for all of us to preach what is best…
I look to the other species – they remind me how we should be eating – and that water is the only liquid required.
Fonda, Read Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome and switch from synthetic to natural thyroid medication. If I could do over (I had my thryoid removed) I would try T3 only by finding a dr that believes in HEALING!
Most raw foodists are aware of the various toxins in raw veggies but don't believe it will cause issues unless someone is eating the same veggies each day for a long time period.
Victoria Boutenko states that many greens contain some sort of toxin and reccomends not making green smoothies with the same leafy greens each day. Instead mix up the greens that go into the smoothie: one day chard, then lettuce, another day celery, next day kale and so on.