We all know that meat and eggs need to be cooked before eating. Apart from the fact that it is difficult for our stomachs to process raw foods, they contain natural toxins, parasites, bacteria and sugars that can cause gastrointestinal upset or other harmful health diseases such as salmonellosis.
Eating raw fruits or vegetables, in general, is sometimes the healthiest option. After all, some vitamins are sensitive to heat. But even though cooking can cause you to lose some valuable nutrients, here are some foods that are best not eaten raw.
Potatoes. Image: Pixabay
Potato
It is one of the bases of our diet; it is cheap, nutritious, delicious and very versatile. We can take it in a thousand and one ways, except one: raw. The raw starch in potatoes can cause digestive problems, gas and a feeling of being bloated.
Even if potatoes are raw and spend a lot of time in a warm or humid area, they can develop a toxin called solanine. If a potato appears to have green spots, you should avoid eating it at all costs, as the solanine could cause food poisoning.
Yucca. Image: Gettyimages
Yucca
Cassava, cassava or tapioca can be very toxic. This tuber is one of the most consumed and versatile foods in South America or the Pacific. Crude is very toxic, even deadly, since it contains cyanide. There are many types of cassava with different degrees of toxicity, to the point that in some cases it contains up to 12% of its compound is cyanide. Be that as it may, cassava must be peeled and boiled before eating.
Sausages. Image: Gettyimages
industrial sausages
Industrial sausages are not the most nutritious food, but eating them raw can be downright dangerous for your health. It’s a common misconception that because they’re pre-cooked, industrial sausages can be eaten straight out of the package, but this shouldn’t be the case. Vacuum-packed sausages may contain listeria bacteria, which can only be killed by cooking.
Milk. Image: Gettyimages
Milk
You may have drunk raw milk more than once, but doing so can be dangerous. Milk that comes directly from a cow, without being pasteurized, can contain harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. According to the , raw milk is 150 times more likely to cause foodborne illness than other dairy products.
Selling raw milk is still legal in some countries, so if you’re traveling or shopping at one of these places, make sure you always buy pasteurized milk.
Eggplants. Image: Pixabay
Eggplant
Raw eggplant contains solanine, the same toxin that makes eating raw potatoes dangerous. Eggplants that were harvested early in their plant life contain most of this toxin. And although you would have to eat a large amount to experience the unpleasant effects of solanine, you may prefer to cook it from now on. Also, there are people who can have allergic reactions to even small amounts of raw brinjal.
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