Many of you have probably heard of the raw food diet. The idea behind eating foods that have not been heated over a certain degree (usually around 48˚C/ 118˚F) will retain certain enzymes and other key nutrients that are destroyed at high temperatures (such as vitamin C). This rationale makes sense to me, but I also know that certain foods, like broccoli, are difficult for most people to digest raw, and we actually gain more nutrition from them when cooked.
A quick internet search will show that lots of conflict exists over the raw diet. Some people claim it works wonders for them, others say not to try it. It seems, however, that hardly anyone is talking about what it does to the microbiome. Does raw food shape the gut bacteria differently than does cooked food?
According to a recent study in Nature Microbiology, the answer is yes. The study looked at the effects of raw versus cooked meat and sweet potatoes on mice microbiomes, and interestingly found that the cooking of meat had very little effect on the resulting gut flora. The status of the sweet potato, however, was a different story. The uncooked sweet potato actually seemed to damage certain gut microbes. This effect seemed to be the same across many starchy vegetables (minus beets and carrots, which showed fewer differences between raw and cooked). The study in Nature Microbiology found that human microbes react similarly, with rapid changes to the gut flora accompanying a change cooked to raw diet.
The controversy over the raw diet will probably continue, because the answer is not straight forward. At least regarding gut microflora, it is more beneficial to eat some foods raw, and others cooked (and with some it does not matter). I am interested to see what further research into this area reveals.
What are your experiences with the raw diet?
Microbial Mood 