The secret of healthier veg

We all know eating vegetables is good for us, but did you know that some you should cook and others are much better raw?

Consuming plenty of veg, packed with vital nutrients, is essential for a healthy mind and body. The way we eat them can have an impact on those nutrients because each of them reacts differently to heat exposure and processing methods. Both should be included in your diet, though.

In general, cooking foods makes them easier to digest and safer to eat. ‘It can also enhance and liberate some beneficial components,’ says nutritional therapist Jenny McGuckian. Eating them uncooked often preserves vitamins and minerals that are sensitive to heat.

How you prepare your food can make a difference too. ‘Boiling vegetables with their skins on greatly reduces the loss of water soluble micronutrients,’ says registered nutritionist and author of The Science of Nutrition, Rhiannon Lambert. ‘For example, boiling a potato with its skin on cuts down the loss of vitamins B6 and B12. That said, if you bake or air-fry them, most of the nutrients will be retained.’

Best eaten raw…

Cauliflower

It contains a phytonutrient called sulforaphane, which can be up to 10 times more potent when the vegetable is eaten uncooked.

‘Sulforaphane has a powerful effect on the body’s ability to detox, and researchers have been indicating anticancer properties,’ says Jenny.