Are cooked vegetables all that bad?

[TylerDurden]

Here's an excerpt:-

"The greatest of contributors by far of AGEs/ALEs by food (Table II) seem to be dairy products130  (Figure 1), bread, and meat, not only because they are rich in these substances but also as these foods constitute the bulk of modern food, especially in the western world. Also, plants contribute to accumulation of AGEs/ALEs in the body, especially fruits, which contain larger amounts of fructose, which is highly reactive with proteins. However, consumption of carbohydrates seem mainly, or only, to be of considerable risk when consumed as industrially concentrated products, refined sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup."

 taken from:-

http://pen.sagepub.com/content/31/5/430.full

[proteus]

i would never eat cooked vegan food.  i drink fresh squeezed juice every day though, because i can't consume significant amounts of things like carrots raw - too much chewing, and too much fiber to have in the stomach.

if you can't process the fiber - juice.

if its loaded with poisons / anti-nutrients - then why bother with it in the first place ?  is there any lack of food that isn't ?

some vegan foods like nuts should be soaked before consuming.  others like seeds should be sprouted.

cooking vegan food is retarded though, sorry.

as for the science - i would be skeptical of it - nutrition science always ends up proven wrong.  just use common sense.  cooked food is not natural.

[Löwenherz]

I still can't understand how people can eat things like raw broccoli etc.

Some cooked vegetables taste good but they always make me tired and sluggish. I get bloatings from all kinds of cabbage. Feels like sh.t. No food. Hmm, so much vegetable food everywhere. It must be a result of animal food shortage and overpopulation, means poverty.

The more poverty the more cabbage.

I think the most important reason why so many vegans drink vegetable juices (from their beloved blenders) is demineralization from eating too much fruit.

Löwenherz

[andvanwyk]

I seem to do MUCH better with cooked veggies and tubers than raw ones, they really really help my digestion. I eat them away from my meat though and after my meat and at night, otherwise I have problems with them mixing badly and causing digestive problems. Raw veggies don't agree with me that wonderfully.

[proteus]

I still can't understand how people can eat things like raw broccoli etc.

Some cooked vegetables taste good but they always make me tired and sluggish. I get bloatings from all kinds of cabbage. Feels like sh.t. No food. Hmm, so much vegetable food everywhere. It must be a result of animal food shortage and overpopulation, means poverty.

The more poverty the more cabbage.

calorie for calorie raw vegetable juice is much more expensive than typical food in affluent countries like USA.  poverty = rice, beans, corn, wheat and potatoes.  on the other hand carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. have nothing to do with poverty.

from their beloved blenders

no, blenders are for smoothies.  juice comes from juicers.  i use this one:

http://www.discountjuicers.com/greenstarelite.html

some people make "juice" in blenders but it's not real juice.  releasing quality juice requires high pressure.

you should try some fresh squeezed raw vegetable juice - it tastes good and it will make you feel good too.  you just have to know which vegetables to combine to get good taste.  if you juice cabbage by itself you won't be able to drink it

[proteus]

I seem to do MUCH better with cooked veggies and tubers than raw ones, they really really help my digestion. I eat them away from my meat though and after my meat and at night, otherwise I have problems with them mixing badly and causing digestive problems. Raw veggies don't agree with me that wonderfully.

if you drink juice you don't need to digest it at all - the nutrients go straight into your blood.

also if you have problems with digestion you might want to consider taking some probiotics.

[Löwenherz]

you should try some fresh squeezed raw vegetable juice - it tastes good and it will make you feel good too.  you just have to know which vegetables to combine to get good taste.  if you juice cabbage by itself you won't be able to drink it

No thanks. I'm not interested in concentrated sugar from juiced fruits and concrentrated plant antinutrients from juiced vegetables. I have learned my lessons during my vegan delirium in the late '90s.

Smoothies or juices? It's all the same nonsense invented by some confused gurus.

Löwenherz

[magnetic]

Besides the usual anti-nutrient matter such as oxalates etc, isn't part of the reason vegetables are cooked due to the process breaking down the cellulose walls which are indigestible to humans?  As I vaguely recall, we lack the cellulase enzyme meaning most vegetables consumed raw seemingly just pass on through with little of the vitamins and minerals being available.  WAPF, I think, have some good points on this recommending eating vegetables such as broccoli cooked and served with fats to help the absorption of the newly available minerals.  Perhaps the fact that such dishes taste delicious compared to the wholly unappetising thought of munching raw broccoli is testament to such wisdom.

However, better does not necessarily mean good and we're probably better off without them at all!

Yeah if they are not appealing raw then you don't need them, though some may have medicinal use.

[magnetic]

Some cooked vegetables taste good but they always make me tired and sluggish. I get bloatings from all kinds of cabbage. Feels like sh.t. No food. Hmm, so much vegetable food everywhere. It must be a result of animal food shortage and overpopulation, means poverty.

And these foods are recommended for consumption by governments, such as the U.S. Federal Government.  They want people to be poor and malnourished, such a population is easier to control.

[magnetic]

I seem to do MUCH better with cooked veggies and tubers than raw ones, they really really help my digestion. I eat them away from my meat though and after my meat and at night, otherwise I have problems with them mixing badly and causing digestive problems. Raw veggies don't agree with me that wonderfully.

This is my experience re digestion.  But even cooked veggies I find unappetizing and so I instinctively avoid them.

[magnetic]

calorie for calorie raw vegetable juice is much more expensive than typical food in affluent countries like USA.  poverty = rice, beans, corn, wheat and potatoes.  on the other hand carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. have nothing to do with poverty.

Sure they do, just not on the same level as the grains.  They are more akin to near-poverty. 

you should try some fresh squeezed raw vegetable juice - it tastes good and it will make you feel good too.  you just have to know which vegetables to combine to get good taste.  if you juice cabbage by itself you won't be able to drink it

Is there any single vegetable that is good juiced, all by itself?

[goodsamaritan]

Is there any single vegetable that is good juiced, all by itself?

We juice kamote tops leaves and it is used to quickly add iron to the body and alkalize you at the same time.
http://www.myhealthblog.org/2010/12/02/alkalize-quickly-how-to-make-raw-kamote-tops-juice-sweet-potato-tops/
used to cure dengue fever too.

We also juice ampalaya leaves for cough medicine for the cooked food eaters.

[magnetic]

We juice kamote tops leaves and it is used to quickly add iron to the body and alkalize you at the same time.
http://www.myhealthblog.org/2010/12/02/alkalize-quickly-how-to-make-raw-kamote-tops-juice-sweet-potato-tops/
used to cure dengue fever too.

We also juice ampalaya leaves for cough medicine for the cooked food eaters.

Thanks gs, but I was referring to taste.  The poster mentioned that you have to have the right blend of vegetables to get a palatable juice drink.  But I avoid blending my foods, I prefer to mono-eat, so I was wondering if there is a single vegetable that would be palatable juiced.  For my own taste, the answer is probably no.  I wouldn't find tomato, carrot, spinach or any other vegetable I can think of appetizing when juiced.

If you cannot mono-eat something then it isn't instinctively paleo.

[goodsamaritan]

kamote tops juice tastes good when your body needs it.

[magnetic]

kamote tops juice tastes good when your body needs it.

I am sure they do!  Even though I have a strong dislike for vegetables, I imagine that if I become sick or extremely deficient in some nutrient I might even crave certain vegetables/vegetation. 

[proteus]

Is there any single vegetable that is good juiced, all by itself?

carrot juice by itself tastes pretty good, but is high in sugar, and also high in beta carotene.  in other words if you have an entire meal of nothing but carrot juice you will certainly have too much sugar.  too much carrot juice overtime you might run into problems with beta carotene too, but i don't know if this can happen from one meal.

tomato or cucumber juice are probably ok but i never juice them because they are so easy and delicious to simply eat.  i do use cucumbers instead of water in a blender sometimes.  for example instead of blending protein powder with water i can blend it with a bunch of cucumbers.

sorry, guess i am not much help.  i am basically the opposite of a mono eater.  i will take juice of 5 different things, pour it into a blender, add a salad mix and blend it, then add 4 different protein supplements and two superfood mix powders with 30 and 60 ingredients each, blend and drink it all  

[magnetic]

carrot juice by itself tastes pretty good, but is high in sugar, and also high in beta carotene.  in other words if you have an entire meal of nothing but carrot juice you will certainly have too much sugar.  too much carrot juice overtime you might run into problems with beta carotene too, but i don't know if this can happen from one meal.

tomato or cucumber juice are probably ok but i never juice them because they are so easy and delicious to simply eat.  i do use cucumbers instead of water in a blender sometimes.  for example instead of blending protein powder with water i can blend it with a bunch of cucumbers.

sorry, guess i am not much help.  i am basically the opposite of a mono eater.  i will take juice of 5 different things, pour it into a blender, add a salad mix and blend it, then add 4 different protein supplements and two superfood mix powders with 30 and 60 ingredients each, blend and drink it all  

Sounds like a blast.  Party in the kitchen!

[RawZi]

if you drink juice you don't need to digest it at all - the nutrients go straight into your blood.

    I'm not so sure that beta-carotene being passed directly into my blood is good. What is that, for someone with their stomach surgically removed? I'd like to think my body makes it into vitamin A first, and my bloodstream isn't mostly tasty carrot juice at any time. My pancreas might not like that. I doubt juicing the carrot is all it needs to convert it into the vitamin anyway.

[proteus]

   I'm not so sure that beta-carotene being passed directly into my blood is good. What is that, for someone with their stomach surgically removed? I'd like to think my body makes it into vitamin A first, and my bloodstream isn't mostly tasty carrot juice at any time. My pancreas might not like that. I doubt juicing the carrot is all it needs to convert it into the vitamin anyway.

that's not the worst i am doing.  i also eat pollen.  when they did studies not only can a whole pollen grain pass into your blood completely undigested but it can also pass through your blood brain barrier into your brain !  they fed pollen to some animals then cracked their heads open and found whole pollen grains in there.

i eat that stuff out of a pound bottle

supposedly pollen has more nutrients in it than any other single natural food.  of course i would hope that my green superfood powders have more ( since they cost more ) but that's because they are made from multiple foods.  the taste of course is completely different between pollen and the green stuff.  pollen is very bland and neutral - once you blend it with something it's like its not even there.

[RawZi]

Eating pollen plain makes me sick. I'm ok when I soak it first in raw grassfed milk or cream.

that's not the worst i am doing.  i also eat pollen.  when they did studies not only can a whole pollen grain pass into your blood completely undigested but it can also pass through your blood brain barrier into your brain !  they fed pollen to some animals then cracked their heads open and found whole pollen grains in there.

i eat that stuff out of a pound bottle

supposedly pollen has more nutrients in it than any other single natural food.  of course i would hope that my green superfood powders have more ( since they cost more ) but that's because they are made from multiple foods.  the taste of course is completely different between pollen and the green stuff.  pollen is very bland and neutral - once you blend it with something it's like its not even there.

[Wolf]

bee pollen, bland a neutral?!?!
I loooooove the taste of bee pollen, it is quite an addicting taste if you ask me, and there was this super enriched honey I bought that was a mixture of raw honey, bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly, and to me it tasted just like caramel.. which, when eating straight bee pollen tasted almost the same, just not as sweet.

When I had bee pollen though, I would eat it and felt like I couldn't stop because the taste was addicting to me.  Although I think it might possibly be part of the reason I developed an ulcer, from how acidic the pollen is and how much of it I was eating on top of lots of honey and fruits.. which, when I ate bee pollen again after that, caused terrible burning pain in my stomach.  But I don't know, there might have been other factors involved with the ulcer or whatever it was that I got.

[miles]

Eating any cooked food makes me feel like sitting around and not doing anything... until I get it out of my system and then my energy returns.

[Wolf]

Eating any cooked food makes me feel like sitting around and not doing anything... until I get it out of my system and then my energy returns.

Eating cooked meat(though I always get rare-cooked) or eggs(sunnyside up so the yolk is still runny) doesn't make me feel bad like this, or uncooked but pasteurized cheese, but whenever I would end up eating a sandwich or pizza at work, it would make me feel like there was a 20 lb rock in my stomach, weighing me down and making me feel sick and slow, it was painful and I could hardly move because I could feel it stretching out my stomach, I just wanted to puke it back up but I couldn't, and I hated it.  but it always tasted soooo good when I was eating it, but the aftereffects were far worse than it was worth..  I don't know how just pure cooked veggies would make me feel though, because I don't really eat veggies, but I would think they might have a somewhat similar effect although not as bad.. the bread was probably the worst of it.

[jessica]

vegetables are amazing and i think a great source of nutrition, i think you have to grow them yourself, in good soil and grow what does well in the climate and region you are in....i could eat dark green leafy herbs like parsley all day, and while greens like mallow leaf and dandelion really give me energy...i just munch on them til there is nothing but fiber left and spit that out, i think certain veggies need to be warmed, stewed or roasted to be acceptable for digestion, mostly roots and squashes, and think all vegetables including greens are best eaten with butter, some kind of acid like sumac berries, or whatever acidy berries grow around you, or citrus if you are lucky and salt........honestly i think greens are amazing, but realize the reason most people think they are bland or not necessary is because they are eating store bought stuff that is mass produced and nutrient deficient, old and water logged, and because they do no spend enough time with nature and growing their own food

[Muhammad.Sunshine]

Vegetables in both a cooked and raw state are beneficial in my opinion. Moderation and flexibility are important. When you cook your vegetables save a small portion to be eaten raw (10-20%), this way you get the best of both worlds.

Cooking improves the digestibility and nutriment value of vegetables. Some nutrients are leached out into cooking liquids, simply drink the liquids to obtain those nutrients; you also get a higher net ingestion of nutrients as heat will open the cellulose cell walls.

Even herbivorous animals must “cook” vegetable matter with multiple stomachs and legions of bacteria and protozoa. You can achieve similar results with heat or fermentation.

Heat created toxins can be significantly reduced by cooking with moist heating methods such as steaming. Water prevents the formation of AGES and the Millard reaction.

Summary:
Cooked vegetables are nutritious, especially if their broth is consumed. Wet-heating is a healthy  way to prepare vegetables.