We’ve all heard it a million times as kids. “If you want to be healthy, you’ve got to eat vegetables” More recently, the saying goes something more like “If you want to be healthy, you need to eat RAW vegetables”. Vegetables contain micro-nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and the fiber needed to maintain robust gut lining, microbiome/floral balance, and regularity. Recent studies have shown their far-reaching health benefits to be even more shocking than we once thought. Without them, you simply cannot be healthy. No amount of green powder or vitamin pills can make up for a lack of them in your diet. You simply cannot cheat nature.
Inspired by popular vegan whole and raw food diets, more people are finally starting to catch on to the fact that MAYBE eating more vegetables (mainly raw) might be a good idea. Who would of thought. Now, people are using them in everything: Meals, smoothies, juices, you name it.
Cruciferous vegetables
Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but all those raw vegetables you’ve been eating may not be such a good idea. Especially if you’ve been putting large amounts of them in your smoothies, or making plenty of “green juices” out of them.
This is because raw vegetables (only the cruciferous ones) contain chemicals called goitrogens that block the production of thyroid hormones. The thyroid, and the hormones it produces, are extremely important for regulating the body’s metabolism and many other functions in the body. Considering the fact that many Americans are currently overweight and suffering from hypothyroidism (down-regulated thyroid function), blocking the last bit of these hormones that they actually ARE producing doesn’t sound like a very good idea.
The following vegetables should be cooked before eating to remove goitrogens: Arugula, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, collard greens, bok choy, brussels sprouts, and radish
In addition, vegetables such as spinach, chard, parsley, chives, purslane and beet greens contain a compound called oxalic acid. This substance can be irritating to the gut lining, leads to the formation of kidney stones, and also prevents the absorption of nutrients like calcium and iron.
So you thought all that raw spinach you were eating everyday was giving you plenty of calcium and iron? Think again. Luckily, lightly steaming or cooking these vegetables actually reduces the oxalic acid, and thus allows for the absorption of these minerals.
With all that being said, there are raw vegetables that you CAN and SHOULD be eating. Carrots, celery, bell peppers cucumbers ect (basically everything not listed above) can all be great additions to your diet without concern.
Having a salad here and there probably isn’t going to be a big deal. However, stuffing tubs of spinach in your smoothies or juicing 3 packages of kale everyday in the name of health IS…regardless of what those 100% raw vegans are telling you.