As a licensed primary care professional, there are few things that Dr. Juli Mazi ND cares about more than the health and wellbeing of her own patients. That absolutely extends to the foods they eat – a topic she takes very seriously.
In fact, there are a number of different foods that she encourages her patients to eat raw rather than cooked. This is true for a number of interesting reasons, all of which are worth exploring.
The Best Foods to Eat Raw: Breaking Things Down
By far, one of the best foods to eat raw also happens to be one of the healthiest – broccoli.
Sure, you could sauté broccoli, season it or even cook it on the grill – but you shouldn’t make a habit out of that. This is because raw broccoli has massive amounts of vitamin C, calcium, and even protein. It’s got a number of other excellent properties, too – like the fact that it has been proven to lower your blood pressure. So the next time you think about adding broccoli to your salad, consider eating it raw.
Another food that you should try to eat raw whenever possible has to do with just about any type of nuts that are available to you. This is especially true if you’re a cashew fan, as their raw variants are filled with both magnesium and iron. Not only that, but many people don’t realize that when you roast nuts (or more likely just buy them that way from the store), it increases the amount of calories and the amount of fat that you’ll be consuming.
One food that you should always try to eat raw is also one that most people will probably balk at, but they really shouldn’t: onions. Sure, everyone likes an order of onion rings when you go out every now and again. But raw onions are filled with antioxidants that aren’t just good for you, they’ve also been shown to help fight certain types of cancers. So if you’re thinking about adding onions to that next burger that you’re cooking out on the grill, slice or mince a raw one to enjoy the full effect.
Finally, if you’re a fan of red peppers, you’ll definitely want to eat them raw more often than not. Fried peppers can certainly be an occasional tasty treat, but you again lose a lot of the health properties that peppers are known for in the first place. In addition to being chock-full of vitamin C, but they’re also very low in calories. The average medium-sized red pepper only has about 32 calories. When you consider how filling they are, this is a great way to have a savory meal without overeating to do it. Raw peppers like this would also make a great addition to a hamburger, for the record.
In the end, nobody is saying that you have to eat these or any other types of foods raw 100% of the time. It’s just that when you start cooking things like peppers and onions, you lose some of the health properties that you should be getting. So if you have the opportunity to eat them raw, it’s one you should absolutely take advantage of.