Raw Food Nutrient Absorption

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is deficient in whole plant foods. I encourage my patients to greatly increase their consumption of vegetables and fruits many of which are delicious without being cooked. Some patients believe that they NEED to eat only raw foods in order to be healthy. This is simply not true. Raw foods are good but unfortunately many raw foodists have been found to be deficient in several nutrients, such as lycopene. In fact studies show that cooked tomatoes contain four times the amount of lycopene than raw tomatoes.Additionally, a study conducted on three different types of diets showed that even though the raw food group consumed significantly more servings of plant foods, their blood beta carotene levels were equal to those that ate the typical Western diet.

The highest blood beta carotene levels were found in the group that ate a healthy plant-based diet consisting of both cooked and raw plant foods. For this reason, Dr. Michael Greger recommends eating a variety of both cooked and raw vegetables as seen in this video:

This second video says much the same thing. I too recommend the consumption of raw and cooked vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes as well as cooked whole grains. 

For more Information:

(1) What's the Best Cooking Method?

(2) Raw Food Diet Myths

(3) Which is Better, Raw or Cooked Broccoli?