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(Looking at the Science on Raw vs. Cooked Foods--continued, Part 3D)


Example of improving nutrient intake through diversification with specific key foods

Effect on mineral intake. Now let's take an example to illustrate the effect of variety in improving nutrient intake: Suppose the menu of the day consists of 1,000 calories of avocados, 1,000 calories of dates, 300 grams of lettuce and 200 grams of carrots. (This is obviously an oversimplified menu; however, we use it here simply for the sake of avoiding too-lengthy calculations.) Note that we don't recommend eating exactly this way! What follows is just for illustrative purposes.

SAMPLE MENU FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES
(effect on mineral intake)


1,000 calories each of avocados and dates,
plus 300g (10.6 oz.) romaine lettuce, 200g (7 oz.) carrots.

FOOD

Minerals

Ca

Fe

Mg

P

K

Na

Zn

Cu

Mn

Avocado

68

6.2

240

250

3,720

62

2.6

1.6

1.4

Dates

120

4.3

130

140

2,300

11

1.0

1.0

1.1

Romaine

108

3.3

18

135

870

24

.75

.12

1.9

Carrots

54

1.0

30

88

646

70

.40

.09

.3

TOTAL:

350

14.8

418

613

7,536

167

4.75

2.81

4.7

Note the importance of lettuce for calcium. Now, what happens if we supplement with 300 grams (10.6 oz.) broccoli?

FOOD

Minerals

Ca

Fe

Mg

P

K

Na

Zn

Cu

Mn

Prev. meal

350

14.8

418

613

7,536

167

4.75

2.81

4.7

+ broccoli

144

2.7

75

198

975

54

1.2

.12

.7

New meal

494

17.5

493

811

8,511

221

5.95

2.93

5.4

GAIN:

+41%

+18%

+18%

+32%

+13%

+32%

+25%

+4%

+15%

One may argue that supplementing with anything will increase mineral intake--which we won't deny. The point of the above is to illustrate the mineral-richness of green vegetables, and that replacing some fruits with some cooked green vegetables results in a net gain.

Effect of diversification on vitamins. We won't repeat the analysis of the above foods for vitamins, but it is clear that broccoli is a good source of vitamin C, folate, and beta-carotene.

Instead, we will investigate what happens when the sample meal above is supplemented with 50 grams (1.8 oz.) of beef liver--a very modest amount. Note: the following is not to convince anyone that liver is necessary for health, but to illustrate how variety can have a significant impact on the nutrient content of your meals.

SAMPLE MENU AS ABOVE
but supplemented with beef liver instead of broccoli
(effect on vitamin intake)


1,000 calories each of avocados and dates, plus 300g (10.6 oz.) romaine
lettuce, 200g (7 oz.) carrots, 50g (1.8 oz.) beef liver.

FOOD

Vitamins

C

B1

B2

B3

B5

B6

B9

B12

A

E

Avocado

49

.7

.7

12

6.0

1.7

380

0

3,800

8.1

Dates

?

.3

.4

8

2.8

.7

47

0

180

.4

Romaine

72

.30

.30

1.5

.51

.15

408

0

7,800

1.3

Carrots

28

.3

.18

2.8

.60

.44

42

0

84,000

1.4

TOTAL:

?

1.6

1.58

24.3

9.91

2.99

877

0

95,780

11.2

Liver

11

.13

1.39

6.5

3.8

.47

124

34

17,673

.34

GAIN:

?

+8%

+88%

+27%

+38%

+16%

+14%

/

+18%

+3%

We thus see the dramatic effects of adding a tiny supplement (50 grams = 1.8 oz liver), especially on B vitamins, including of course B-12, but also vitamin A, which is considerably more bioavailable in that form than in the form of beta-carotene as it appears in vegetables.



In summary, for this section:

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(Cooking Practices and Health of Hunter-Gatherers / Aborigines)

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GO TO PART 1 - Is Cooked Food "Toxic"?

GO TO PART 2 - Does Cooked Food Contain Less Nutrition?

GO TO PART 3 - Discussion: 100% Raw vs. Predominantly Raw

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