Gently cooking food will only minimally affect the amount and quality of nutrients.
Steaming food is a particularly gentle method, which preserves vitamins and minerals. It will also enhance flavours, which can be especially important for fussy or elderly dogs who tend to become less interested in eating.
Water is the enemy when it comes to nutrient losses during cooking. That’s why steaming is one of the best methods to preserve easily damaged nutrients, such as vitamin C and many B vitamins. Since vegetables don’t come in contact with cooking water during steaming, more vitamins are retained. Researchers have found that steaming vegetables reduced their vitamin C content by only 9–15%.
Raw feeding has become pretty fashionable nowadays, however, some dogs, for example, elderly or with a comprised immune system will certainly benefit more from a gently cooked diet.
The digestibility of food is important because your dog’s body can only receive the health benefits of what he is fed if he’s able to absorb the food’s nutrients.
Some cooked foods may provide a dog’s body with more nutrients than their raw counterparts because they are easier to chew and digest.
Cooking food can also change the nutritional content.
Interestingly, some vitamins are lost when food is cooked, while others become more bioavailable for your dog’s body to use.
Example of Foods That Are Healthier Raw
- Broccoli: Raw broccoli contains three times the amount of sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting plant compound.
- Cabbage: Cooking destroys the enzyme myrosinase, which plays a role in cancer prevention.
- Garlic: Sulfur compounds found in raw garlic have anti-cancer properties.
Example of Foods That Are Healthier Cooked
- Asparagus: Cooking breaks down its fibrous cell walls, making folate and vitamins A, C and E more available to be absorbed.
- Mushrooms: Cooking helps release ergothioneine, a powerful mushroom antioxidant.
- Spinach: Nutrients like iron, magnesium, calcium and zinc are more available for absorption when spinach is cooked.
- Carrots: Cooked carrots contain more beta-carotene.
- Tomatoes: Cooking greatly increases the antioxidant lycopene in tomatoes.
Balance is always the key.
Don’t fear cooked food and don’t judge raw food.
Your Dog Deserves His Best Life…
NATURALISTIC HOUND
A Healthy Outside Starts From The Inside!
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