How to Eat Raw Food Healthily: Pair Cool Foods with Ginger, Green Onions, and Garlic
Vegetable salads, salmon sashimi, fresh live drunken shrimp, premium beef... these foods, served directly on the table without any cooking, are all the rage nowadays. Eating raw food is about pursuing fresh, original flavors and rich nutrition, but how can you eat it in the most nutritious and safest way? In this issue, the "Life Times" invites multiple experts to answer your questions.
Eating Raw to Preserve Vitamins
Many people choose to eat raw food, believing that unprocessed food retains all its nutrients. In fact, while eating raw has many benefits, it's not a one-size-fits-all situation, and one shouldn't overstate that it preserves "all nutrients." Fu Jinru, director of the Tianjin Nutrition Society, believes the benefits of eating raw fruits and vegetables include: detoxification, promoting bowel movements, beauty, weight loss, lowering blood pressure, and enhancing immunity. Moreover, eating raw does preserve more vitamin C and B vitamins, allowing these nutrients to better perform their functions of beautifying skin, accelerating metabolism, and boosting immunity. This is because the vitamin C and B vitamins abundant in fruits and vegetables are water-soluble and easily destroyed by cooking, so eating them raw is better. Additionally, when eating raw fruits and vegetables, their dietary fiber can work more effectively, promoting intestinal peristalsis to prevent constipation; lowering cholesterol in the blood; removing toxins from the body; and reducing the absorption of sugars in the intestines, thereby lowering post-meal blood sugar.
However, eating raw fruits and vegetables does not retain all nutrients. Nutrients that are lost include β-carotene, lycopene, and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These fat-soluble nutrients, such as the β-carotene in carrots and vitamin K in spinach, need to be cooked with oil to be absorbed by the human body.
Although eating raw can preserve more protein, the human body's absorption rate is actually lower. Unprocessed meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy products are, in fact, a waste of nutrients. Furthermore, raw fish and meat often carry various bacteria and viruses, making the risk of eating them very high, which threatens health and is not worth the cost.
Fruits and Vegetables: Soak in Salt Water Before Eating
Among raw foods, the most common are fruits and vegetables. Fu Jinru explains that fruits and vegetables usually contain a variety of vitamins and trace elements, and eating them raw can protect these nutrients. They are rich in vitamin C and B vitamins, which can improve cholesterol metabolism, boost immunity, prevent cardiovascular diseases, and are beneficial to health. Eating fruits and vegetables raw also reduces the intake of seasonings like oil, salt, sugar, and monosodium glutamate, which helps control blood pressure and blood sugar.
The most important thing to pay attention to when eating raw fruits and vegetables is the issue of pesticide residues. Jiang Weibo, a professor at the College of Food Science at China Agricultural University, suggests that "soaking in clear water, exposing to sunlight, and scalding with boiling water can all reduce pesticide residues." Additionally, to keep the food intact, soaking in light salt water or rice washing water can also dissolve some pesticides.
However, not all fruits and vegetables are suitable for eating raw. Professor Ma Liping, vice-chairman of the Guangxi Nutrition Society, warns that there are four types of vegetables that are not suitable for eating raw. The first is beans like lentils, which need to be heated thoroughly to destroy their toxins. The second is starchy vegetables like potatoes, Chinese yams, and sweet potatoes, which are difficult to digest when raw. The third is vegetables rich in β-carotene, like tomatoes and carrots, which are more easily absorbed after being heated. The fourth is vegetables with high oxalic acid content, such as spinach, water bamboo shoots, and bamboo shoots, which are best blanched in boiling water before eating.
Meat: Deep-Sea Fish is the Safest
In recent years, Japanese seafood sashimi, Western raw beef, eggs, and more have been introduced to China and have become popular nationwide.
He Jiguo, head of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the College of Food Science at China Agricultural University, suggests that among seafood, poultry, eggs, and dairy, eating raw seafood is relatively safer and more nutritious. Eating deep-sea fish raw can preserve more nutrients. For example, the healthy unsaturated fatty acids in salmon are often destroyed at high temperatures.
It is important to note that when buying salmon, you must choose one that is from the deep sea and fresh to avoid eating contaminated fish. The salmon flesh should be pink, and the wider the white stripes mixed in, the fresher it is. Also, when eating raw salmon, don't forget to pair it with green wasabi and lemon, which not only add flavor but also have a sterilizing effect.
It is worth reminding that seafood and aquatic products can carry many bacteria that are resistant to low temperatures. Especially for shellfish, eating them raw can cause food poisoning and intestinal infectious diseases.
In addition, uncooked meat and eggs can easily breed bacteria, and some may carry parasites, so they should be cooked before eating. Milk should be boiled for 3-5 minutes before drinking. Although fresh milk straight from the cow seems fresh, it has hidden health risks. Drinking it without pasteurization can easily make you sick.
Cool Foods: Pair with Ginger, Green Onions, and Garlic
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, foods are categorized as either "cool" or "hot." Professor Zhou Jian of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine's Department of Dietary Nutrition reminds us that when eating raw food, it's best to pair it with cooked food. Especially for "cool" foods, you can balance them with seasonings like green onions, ginger, and garlic.
For example, many commonly eaten raw fruits and vegetables are "cool" in nature, such as bitter melon, water chestnuts, lily, pomelo, and pears. Green onions, ginger, and garlic are "hot" foods, and eating them together can prevent the body's internal cold from worsening. For instance, adding minced garlic to a cold salad of bitter melon or cucumber; or drinking a bowl of brown sugar ginger tea after eating a pear can both reduce the "cool" nature of the food.
It should be noted that people who are sensitive to cold, often have cold hands and feet, are prone to catching colds, as well as women during their menstrual cycle and pregnant women, should not eat raw food frequently. Additionally, people with gastritis or diabetes should be cautious when eating raw lotus root, beans, etc. People with peptic ulcers cannot eat raw celery, onions, etc. People with poor kidney function should avoid eating raw foods high in potassium, such as peanuts and lotus seeds. (This special report was compiled by reporter Wang Yue and Bao Jie based on interviews.)