Should all veggies be throughly cooked before eating? also whey protein ? page

[candy corn]

Ive read on here and other places eating veggies raw isnt optimal. is this true and thus should i be cooking the crap out of all my veggies?

does whey protein contain the same elements as dairy and would cause problems to some who does not do well with dairy?

[abc123]

I do almost total raw with my veggies.. Eat peppers, zuchinin, squash, broccoli all of it (cleaned, but raw).. they just taste better & can't beat that fresh crunch when you bite in!

All veggies should be thoroughly cooked? does this mean no more salads?

I feel the "thorough" cooking stategy kills beneficial living enzymes & vitamin structures.. No primary scientist here I can provide, but makes sense.. Eating fruits & veggies (cleaned) in their natural environment just seems more primal to me

[Damiana]

It depends on the vegetables. Some are best eaten raw, others need some cooking to bring out additional nutrients such as lycopene in tomatoes. Other vegetables that should be cooked are spinach, cabbages, broccoli, carrots...to name a few. Personally, I think vegetables are great and you shouldn't worry so much about their nutritional content in preparation but on making them tastier to eat however you like to eat them, cooked or raw.

[Neckhammer]

Nope....they are better lacto-fermented. Depends on how sensitive you are to dairy for the whey question.

[HanKu]

Bioavailability and nutrient content is a trade-off afaik. So raw veggies have all their nutrients in them but they're largely not available to us. Breaking down the cell walls increases bioavailability but you lose some of the nutrients. Cooking veggies to mush optimizes bioavailability but there may not be that much left... I mostly go for somewhat further than 'al dente' because of nutrients, taste, and also because raw is hard work.

One can think about it like this (fictitious numbers)
30% bioav. of 100% = 30% (raw)
60% bioav. of 60% = 36% (medium)
80% bioav. of 30% = 24% (mush)
NB: most salads are 'cooked' as most salads (at least mine) include vinegar.

[Drumroll]

Some nutrients can only be obtained when the veggie is in its raw state.

Some nutrients can only be obtained when a veggie is in its cooked state.

Bottom line? Eat both cooked and raw veggies.