Science Journal

Cooked Carrots Are Nutritious Than Raw Ones

While we are eating salad with my teammates in softball, Bridgee told us that carrots that are cooked are more nutritious than raw carrots. I first reacted to what she said by asking how because I thought that heat destroys some nutrients of vegetables. She merely shrugged and retorted that she just instinctively believed it because her professor said so. When I went home I immediately searched if that trivia is true and indeed it is true. I also learned that processed or cooked tomatoes are also more nutritious than its raw counterpart. 

Carrots and tomatoes are carotenoids, an antioxidant substance that gives fruits and veggies their red, yellow and orange hues. When these carotenoids are cooked or processed by means of chopping or turning into a new product such as ketchup, juice or sauce, the beta-carotene in carrots and lycopene in tomatoes increased. Beta-carotene is chemically converted into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A gives good vision, bone growth, healthy skin, regulate the immune system whereas lycopene fights off cancer such as prostate and breast cancer and other health benefits. 

So case closed. Better buy a tomato ketchup and carrot juice than the raw tomatoes and carrots.