Meat must be cooked before eating, but some people say that raw meat is more delicious, more nutritious, and better for digestion. So is there a nutritional difference between raw meat and cooked meat? Today we will take a look, hello everyone, I am nutritionist Wang Yan, health is our greatest wealth, let us manage it together.
Some restaurants are famous for their dishes made with raw beef, such as Tardan's steak and Pittsburgh medium rare, which may be delicious but can be contaminated with bacteria. Some people say that animals can eat raw meat, so why not get infected by contaminated raw meat?
That's because carnivores' gastrointestinal tract is very acidic and their gastrointestinal tract is relatively short, so they can kill or eliminate bacteria in a short time. And we humans are not carnivores, we are whole food animals, and we eat a wide range of things, and we can't just eat meat. Therefore, in the human digestive system, the digestion of raw meat is limited.
In addition, many animals eat raw meat when they hunt for food, which is fresh and not stored, and fresh animal meat is less likely to cause infection. For us, raw meat is challenging, because animal meat is often infected by bacteria during storage, and all kinds of bacteria can be present, such as E. coli, Salmonella, etc. At this time, when we eat it, it is particularly susceptible to infection, and even cause food poisoning, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, etc.
So is eating raw meat more nutritious? No one has done such a study that asks a person to eat both raw and cooked meat to compare the difference in their absorption in terms of nutrients. But one thing we do know is that cooked meat is easier to digest and absorb, so eating roasted meat can get more calories than eating raw meat.
Many of our friends who want to ** like to count the calories of food. In fact, the calories are not only related to how many calories the food itself contains, but more importantly, whether the food is easily absorbed, and the way the food is handled, such as whether it has been burned or uncooked. So just looking at the calories of a thing doesn't tell you how many calories you can get after eating it. This is all common sense.
However, will the nutrients be destroyed during the burning process? There are now several studies that tell us the results. The first study was about selenium, a trace element found in beef, which has a great impact on the activity of glutathione superoxidase, an important antioxidant in our body.
Someone did an animal experiment, found a model of a small mouse deficient in selenium, and fed it raw beef and cooked beef to compare. It was found that the difference was very small, and eating cooked meat actually increased the proportion of selenium in the body better.
There are also people who compare vitamin B12 in food. Because beef is rich in vitamin B12, if you eat 100 mg of beef, you have 115% of your daily vitamin B12 needs, which is enough for your daily needs. Someone who examined changes in vitamin B12 levels in the blood of mice found no difference in vitamin B12 between eating raw and cooked meat.
Another is to look at the changes in folic acid, which and vitamin B12 have a synergistic effect, which I will introduce in the future content. The study found that there was no difference in the effect of folic acid levels between the mice that ate raw and cooked beef.
So, the argument that raw meat is more nutritious is problematic. In fact, not only raw meat, but also raw fish and raw poultry may have similar problems, especially in terms of bacterial contamination, everyone must pay attention to it. Some friends said that I don't eat raw, I eat half-baked.
For example, when you go to a restaurant to eat steak, you will ask if it is tender, medium-tender, or fully cooked. In fact, the tender ones are also burned, the medium tender ones are burned more, and the fully cooked ones are more cooked. In short, the more familiar you are, the less likely you are to get infected with bacteria. Of course, if it is too old, it will also affect digestion and absorption.
If you have any insights and experiences in this area, please share with us in the message area, I am nutritionist Wang Yan, guarding health, and we will see you next time.