Raw or cooked vegetables: What's the best heart-healthy version?

A new study revealed that the habit of eating vegetables alone does not reduce the risk of heart disease. study Published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Nutrition.

However, the results show that vegetables consumed raw provide greater protection, but the effect on the cooked version will be less, especially if the person has harmful habits, such as smoking.

The analysis, conducted by researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Bristol and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, examined the diet data of nearly 400,000 people, whose information was collected from the UK Biobank.

Food and lifestyle data, such as physical exercise, consumption of alcoholic beverages, smoking, fruit intake, consumption of red and processed meat, use of vitamin supplements, as well as educational level were then crossed over.

Next, the researchers used a Cox proportional hazards model (which estimates the role of independent variables under a given risk) which allowed them to estimate the relationship between vegetable consumption and the incidence and mortality of cardiovascular disease.

“Higher consumption of raw but undercooked vegetables was associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. (…) This study points to a need to re-evaluate the evidence for weight attributable to lower vegetable consumption in cardiovascular disease in higher-income populations”, Highlight the authors of the research.

raw vs cooked

When vegetables are cooked, part of the fiber and vitamins are lost during preparation, and here’s the advantage of eating them raw, according to Eduardo Segala de Mello, a cardiologist at Israel Albert Einstein Hospital. A diet that favors fiber cooperates with protecting the heart, as it helps control cholesterol – although it is not always possible.

“It’s very difficult to maintain a diet that includes raw foods all the time. Of course, we can grate a carrot and make a salad. But how can you eat broccoli or cauliflower completely raw? The way they are prepared is very important. Cooking broccoli with cream and cheese is not necessarily a healthy way.” to eat, but you can cook it and season it with a little oil and a pinch of salt, which is the biggest villain in hypertensive patients,” suggests a cardiologist.

Milo cautions that the use of olive oil is still required. “It’s a great ingredient, but when you put it in a frying pan and heat it up, it gets worse at releasing fatty acids, which are very bad for cholesterol. You get the impression that olive oil is always good, but it’s good when it’s used over food and not for frying fish, for example.”

In addition, nothing works alone, according to the expert, and food is just one of the pillars of a healthy life, not the only one.

“I always tell my patients that there are five pillars of a healthy life: sleep well; get physical activity; eat in a balanced way; maintain a focused routine and meditate; hamburger and chocolate,” he explains.

Should I stop eating vegetables?

impossible. Milo stresses that cardiovascular protection doesn’t just happen through food and that study results shouldn’t discourage a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

“I understand that it is important to promote the consumption of raw vegetables preferably. In the Brazilian cholesterol control guidelines table, they are very happy to use the words ‘prefer’, ‘occasional’ and ‘rarely’. I am very good at this because each patient has their own specificity. For this study, I would choose the word ‘preferential’ consumption of raw vegetables,” he explains.

The cardiologist also stresses that despite the impact of the study results, it is a retrospective survey (looking at data from the past) and not prospectively (starting to analyze from now on).

“It is a study based on an analysis of what has been said previously, we don’t know if it has pre-determined criteria for following this population. The criticism is in this sense: to use a population study, very comprehensive, ecological and bring it up for the individual as if it were the ultimate possible truth. But it is still An important study because it tries to understand the environment,” he concludes.