Is it always better to eat vegetables raw?
Some pulses such as red kidney beans contain natural toxicants which, if the beans are not cooked properly, can lead to diarrhoea and sickness. Boiling them for twenty minutes renders the toxins harmless and makes this nutritious food safe to eat. Butter beans or lima beans similarly contain cyanide that would be dangerous if eaten raw, but again is destroyed making them safe to eat when cooked. Other vegetables like potatoes would be indigestible if eaten raw while some such as like broccoli appear to lose some of their bitterness when cooked. Cooking carrots or tomatoes helps to release substances called carotenoids and lycopenes so the body can absorb them more easily. These 'antioxidants' have been shown to be good for our health.
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