Raw and cooked vegetables both offer unique health benefits. While cooking vegetables can change their nutritional content, some, like carrots, tomatoes, and mushrooms, are best cooked, making certain vitamins and minerals easier to absorb.

1. Carrots

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Cooked carrots may provide more nutrients than raw ones. Carrots are rich in carotenoids, which are colorful, plant-based pigments that give them their orange color. These pigments have powerful antioxidant properties linked to reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

Cooking carrots increases the bioavailability of carotenoids. This means that your body can absorb more of them. Research found the absorption of beta-carotene was 6.5 times higher in stir-fried carrots, as opposed to raw ones.

2. Mushr

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