Contents:
- Medical Video: 3 Cancer-Fighting Foods
- Eating vegetables is good for people who are recovering from cancer
- Is it better to eat raw or cooked vegetables?
- Vegetables that are better eaten raw
- Vegetables that are better cooked first
Medical Video: 3 Cancer-Fighting Foods
Vegetables are one source of vitamins and can provide enough fiber for the body. Eating vegetables is highly recommended for anyone, especially for people who have just recovered from cancer. However, how to eat vegetables is like what is good for cancer survivors? Which has been cooked or eaten raw directly? See below.
Eating vegetables is good for people who are recovering from cancer
Vegetables generally contain beneficial nutrients, namely phytochemicals and nutrients called nutraceuticals or phytonutrients. This substance is also beneficial for the body to fight cancer.
Research says eating more vegetables can reduce the risk of lung cancer, mouth, pharynx or larynx, esophagus, and intestines. Also keep in mind that each vegetable has different phytochemical substances and can act in different ways to reduce the risk of cancer.
Research also shows that survivor breast cancer that consumes at least five servings of vegetables and fruits every day, and diligently exercising (30 minutes walking, as much as 5-6 times a week) has a lower risk of developing breast cancer a second time.
Is it better to eat raw or cooked vegetables?
Raw or cooked vegetables generally still contain good nutrition. The longer it cooks, the more nutrients are still awake. However, depending on what types of vegetables are consumed and processed.
Some vegetables are easier for the body to digest after going through the cooking process. So, cooked food may be better than raw food. Some studies have also shown that cooking vegetables can increase the levels of antioxidants they contain, such as beta-carotene and lutein.
Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2002 showed that cooked carrots had higher levels of beta-carotene than raw carrots.
Antioxidants of lycopene which are contained in tomatoes are also more easily absorbed by the body if the tomatoes are cooked first, instead of eating them in raw conditions. Yes, cooked tomatoes have a lycopene content that is twice as large as raw tomatoes.
This is because heat can destroy thick cell walls in tomatoes, making it easier for the body to absorb nutrients that are bound to the cell wall. In addition, the total antioxidant content in tomatoes increased by more than 60 percent after the cooking process.
Although cooking food provides its own benefits to food, the nutritional value of food can also be reduced. This is what makes some raw vegetables better than cooked vegetables.
Vegetables that are better eaten raw
Some vegetables that are better eaten raw are:
- Broccoli. Heat can reduce the sulforaphane content in broccoli. In fact, these compounds can inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
- Cabbage. Cooking can destroy the myrosinase enzyme, which can also prevent cancer.
- Garlic. Also contains sulfur compounds (ie allicin) which can prevent cancer growth. This allicin compound is susceptible to heat.
- Onion. Eating raw onions can help you prevent heart disease because of its antiplatelet content. Hot temperatures can reduce this content.
Vegetables that are better cooked first
Before eating these vegetables, it's better to cook them first:
- Tomato. Cooking tomatoes can increase lycopene content, where lycopene is associated with a reduced risk of cancer and heart attack.
- Carrot. Cooking can increase the beta-carotene it contains.
- Spinach. Nutrients in spinach such as iron, magnesium, calcium, and zinc are more easily absorbed by the body when spinach is cooked.
- Asparagus. Ferulic acid, folate, vitamins A, C, and E, are more easily absorbed by the body if the asparagus is cooked.
- Potato. Cooking can make it easier for the body to eat and digest the body.
- Mushrooms. Cooking can reduce levels of agaritine (a dangerous substance in mushrooms) and ergothioneine (antioxidants in strong mushrooms).
