Nowadays, many people have started to try a raw food diet. In fact, raw food has been common in some other countries for a long time, and some people believe that eating food raw is the most nutritious. But is it really good to eat raw food in the summer? Which foods can be eaten raw and which cannot? What should you pay attention to and what are the taboos when eating raw food? Let's find out together!
Most vegetables are suitable for eating raw, and eating them raw can preserve a large amount of vitamins in these vegetables. For example, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, green radishes, celery, onions, green peppers, etc. These vegetables contain a large amount of vitamin C and many antioxidants, which will be largely lost if cooked at high temperatures. The correct way to eat these vegetables is to eat them cold or as juice. Even if you want to cook them, you should try to shorten the cooking time and eat them immediately after cooking to reduce the loss of vitamins accordingly.
However, eating some vegetables raw can be detrimental to the absorption of nutrients. Let's take a look at eight types of foods that are not suitable for eating raw in the summer.
First taboo: Do not eat fresh daylilies raw.
Fresh daylilies contain colchicine, which forms a highly toxic substance called colchicine oxide in the human body. Consuming 3-20 milligrams can be fatal.
Second taboo: Do not eat raw water chestnuts.
Often eating raw water chestnuts can allow the *Fasciolopsis buski* (a type of fluke) to enter the human body and attach to the intestinal mucosa, which can cause intestinal ulcers, diarrhea, or facial swelling.
Third taboo: Do not eat raw white sugar.
Raw sugar often has mites living in it. Eating raw sugar can easily lead to acariasis. Mites are small insects covered in hair that are invisible to the naked eye and reproduce quickly in sugar. If mites enter the gastrointestinal tract, they can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, and ulcers. If they enter the lungs, they can cause hemoptysis and asthma. If they enter the urethra, they can cause urinary tract inflammation. Therefore, it is best not to eat raw sugar; it should be heated before consumption (generally, heating to about 70°C for 3 minutes is sufficient).
Fourth taboo: Do not eat raw honey.
When bees make honey, they often collect some toxic pollen. When this toxic pollen is brewed into honey, people who eat raw honey can easily get poisoned. In addition, honey can easily be contaminated by bacteria during harvesting, transportation, and storage. Therefore, raw honey should not be eaten.
Fifth taboo: Do not eat fresh wood ear mushrooms raw.
Fresh wood ear mushrooms contain porphyrin-like photosensitive substances. Eating them raw can cause phytophotodermatitis, and in severe cases, it can lead to skin itching, edema, and pain.
Sixth taboo: Do not drink raw soy milk.
Soy milk is delicious and its nutritional value is no lower than that of milk. However, drinking unboiled soy milk can cause systemic poisoning. This is because raw soy milk contains some harmful components—trypsin inhibitors, phenolic compounds, and saponins. Trypsin inhibitors affect the digestion and absorption of protein; phenolic compounds can make soy milk bitter and have a fishy taste; saponins irritate the digestive tract, causing vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea, which can destroy red blood cells, produce toxins, and lead to systemic poisoning.
Seventh taboo: Do not eat raw eggs.
The avidin in egg white binds with biotin in the intestines, which hinders the human body's absorption of biotin. Raw eggs also often contain *Salmonella*, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
Eighth taboo: Do not eat raw beans.
Beans include lentils, kidney beans, green beans, sword beans, and string beans. Eating beans can easily cause poisoning because they contain a toxic protein called "lectin," which is most abundant in mature or older beans. Beans should be boiled or heated over high heat for more than 10 minutes to remove the "lectin." When cooking stir-fried beans or using them as a filling, they must be thoroughly heated, and even cold-dressed beans should be boiled for 10 minutes.