Do uncooked foods have any advantages over cooked foods?
The harnessing of fire as a tool by humans led to the cooking of food, which stands in contradistinction to the eating habits of the rest of the animal kingdom. Cooking destroys disease-producing organisms (usually a consequence of animal agriculture), but are there any adverse effects on health? “Raw foods” diets are trendy, but the arguments in favor of such diets by their advocates are often unscientific. Nevertheless, a growing body of evidence indicates that cooking foods more lightly or not at all may be beneficial to health. First, cooking destroys nutrients, especially vitamin C and some of the B-vitamins. Second, cooking can produce carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals): grilling of meat is a frequently cited example. Third, crushing (as with eating) or cutting certain foods can activate beneficial enzymes (proteins that catalyze chemical reactions) in uncooked but not in cooked foods. For example, activation of the enzyme allinase in garlic converts alliin to allicin, a phyt
