If you’ve been listening to any of our previous podcasts, you know we aren’t the biggest fans of vegetables. The toxicity of the plant doesn’t add much value to our diet and actually negatively impacts our health. However, I don’t want to completely demonize vegetables. Some people enjoy them and if they are cooked properly, then having them in small portions in the diet is possible.
COOK THEM THOROUGHLY
The key to cooking most vegetables to eliminate toxins is to cook them enough that you can easily push a fork through them. This breaks down many of the toxins and makes it more digestible for the body.
I prefer people either put them in the InstaPot or the oven to make sure they have a longer period of time to cook and break down the fiber.
Air frying and grilling in aluminum foil would be the next best for breaking food down. However, for aluminum foil, you are risking adding metal toxins into the food so again you have to make sure the vegetable is worth the toxic load coming.
My least favorite for most vegetables is pan frying. Usually, the vegetables don’t get thoroughly cooked this way, especially cruciferous, mushrooms, nightshade, and potatoes. Spinach usually does ok on the frying pan though.
LITTLE NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Even though there are ways to cook vegetables to reduce the toxic load, the issue is that the nutrients become depleted during this process. So you really are eating mainly a dietary fiber-based food that will plug you up more than anything else. You’re also taking in carbs that don’t add any nutritional value and will more than likely turn into excess body fat based on your insulin sensitivity. If you enjoy vegetables that much, have at it, but if you don’t, the negative probably doesn’t outweigh the benefit. When eating calories, it’s best to think about bang for your buck. So if you are putting in food, there should be a nutritional value associated with that food. For every calorie, you want to maximize the total nutritional value. Meat has the highest nutritional value per calorie, fruits are second, dairy is third, and plants, along with seeds, are towards the bottom.
Main Takeaway
- When eating vegetables, make sure to do the fork test to make sure the fork goes through easily. If not, cook some more.
- If you are going to eat carbs, try to not waste them on low-nutrient value foods.
