Dr Wahls MS News

December 9, 2008

Issue # 2

Progressive multiple sclerosis and micronutrients – is raw food superior to
cooked food?

I am often asked whether raw food is superior to cooked food for micronutrient
availability for patients with MS. The basic guide I provide is that food taken
directly from the plant is the very best for you. If you cook food, the lower
temper in steaming or a very low (180 degree) roast is the next best. The other
key item is to eat any fluid or juice from the cooking (which is where all the
water soluble nutrients have gone.

Micronutrients are critical for brain health. Unfortunately the average western
diet is deficient in most vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and amino
acids which have recommended daily allowances. The reason for this is the
reliance on cheap sources of calories in grains which have most often had the
germ and husk of the grain removed.

Very few vegetables are consumed. The animals are increasingly raised in high
density farm factories with minimal exposure to green grass or sunshine. The
consequence is that the meat has minimal omega 3 fatty acid, vitamin and mineral
content.

Are nutrients lost with cooking? That depends on high the cooking temperature
and how long. Immediately fresh and still raw when you eat the food means that
cooking has not leached any of the micronutrients out of it. But some of the
micronutrients may not be available to you because our bodies can't digest all
of the cell walls in plants. If you cook below the boiling point and drink all
the juice – the food is generally more digestible and you have not lost much
of the micronutrients. However – some of the compounds that are very helpful
to us will gradually be lost with prolonged cooking. Cooking above the boiling
point of water, particularly frying tends to oxidize many of the compounds in
food. When that occurs many of the anti-oxidants in food have become oxidized
– and therefore their anti-oxidant benefit to us is gone.

Bottom line – Raw retains the nutrients in the food. Cooking gently makes the
nutrients more available because the food has been partially digested by
cooking. Frying oxidizes many of the helpful compounds. Prolonged high
temperatures cooking likewise can breakdown micronutrients. My advice is to
increase your micronutrients through more vegetables and fruits. Eat them raw or
cooked according to your personal preference. But if you cook, always drink the
juice. Never throw it away.

Terry Wahls, MD
www.terrywahls.com
Up from the Chair
The Primer Never Written



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