Cook These Fruits and Vegetables, It's Better For You and Your Family: Dietitian

Lately there's been a craze to eat raw -- instead of cooked -- fruits and vegetables.

Raw fruits and vegetables tend to pack more nutrients but there are a few that are OK, maybe even better for you, cooked, registered dietitian Brittany Link says.

She gives four examples of fruits and veggies you can eat cooked and get just as many, or more, nutrients.

Tomatoes

“The lycopene in tomatoes is what we're kind of looking for when we eat them. That antioxidant actually digests better and is more bioavailable to you when cooked,” Link said.

Shockingly, that means even processed tomatoes (like sauce), Link said, contain the nutrients you want.

Red pepper

“The carotenoids in those are actually more bioavailable when they're cooked,” Link said.

Broccoli, asparagus and other vegetables with a hard outer surface

“Any of those vegetables like when you think of broccoli, asparagus, that have a little bit of a tougher shell to them,” Link said. “If you think about the stem on a broccoli it's pretty hard. Those cell walls are a little bit harder to get into, so cooking them down a little bit can help you digest it better and get more of those nutrients.”

Spinach

It might be great for you raw, but it cooks down, so Link said you're likely to eat a lot more of it when it's cooked and therefore get more nutrients.

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