While it’s true some cooked foods are less healthful than their raw counterparts, this generally is due to unhealthy cooking methods. Raw vegetables, for example, have fewer calories and less fat and sodium than vegetables sauteed in butter and salt. But some believe raw foods have special health benefits, such as increasing serotonin levels and decreasing allergies. Little evidence backs these claims.
Serotonin
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in your brain. While increasing serotonin levels might have health benefits, such as preventing and treating depression, the medical community has yet to explain how serotonin produces these benefits and to identify effective ways to increase your serotonin levels through your diet, according to a literature review published in the November 2007 issue of the “Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.”
Myth
One common claim is that eating foods high in serotonin, such as raw bananas, will increase serotonin levels in your brain, possibly leading to improved mood and similar benefits. But the serotonin in bananas does not cross the brain-blood barrier, meaning it likely has no effect on your brain serotonin levels, according to Simon Young, the author of the 2007 literature review. He writes that finding a dietary approach to increasing brain serotonin is a promising research area, but more study is necessary to identify the underlying mechanisms.
Allergies
Raw foods, rather than decreasing allergies, might exacerbate them, according to MayoClinic.com. Some people who have hay fever or pollen-food allergy syndrome have allergic reactions to certain proteins in raw fruits and vegetables. Reactions can range from mouth itchiness and tingling to throat swelling to anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction that causes airways to constrict and blood pressure to drop. The Mayo Clinic says cooking fruits and vegetables can help prevent allergic reactions.
Considerations
Work with a nutritionist to identify which foods are most healthful when raw, and work with your doctor to identify effective ways of decreasing your allergies and increasing your serotonin levels. Avoid fad diets that rely on wild claims about the health benefits of raw foods. For example, “detox diet” advocates often claim eating raw foods clears toxins from your body, but little evidence supports this belief, according to Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D, of MayClinic.com. Your body already clears toxins via the kidneys and liver, so such diets are unnecessary.
