Raw foodies beware! New research coming out of Italy claims that cooked vegetables can actually be good for you and in some cases, nutritionally better, than eating them raw. It is a common misconception that cooking vegetables can destroy their nutritional qualities and this new study set out to disprove this theory.

Nicoletta Pellegrini and her colleagues at the University of Parma tested the effects of boiling, steaming and frying on three types of vegetable – broccoli, carrots and courgette – to see if their antioxidant and other qualities were reduced. They found that after boiling and steaming, all three vegetables maintained their original antioxidant content, but frying caused a significant loss in antioxidants. Meanwhile, steaming the broccoli actually increased the amounts of glucosinolates- a plant compound known for its cancer fighting abilities. In a separate study done in the UK, it was found that eating raw carrots meant participants absorbed around 3 to 4% of the antioxidant carotenoid, whereas this absorption increased fivefold when the carrots had been cooked and mashed. Dr Sue Southon, from the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, who headed up the research said: "One of the problems with getting carotenoids into your body is the structure of the food, particularly the tough-walled cells like those in carrots. Cooking helps to release them."

However, vegans and raw-foodies also have a case to argue, even if their diet choices are somewhat extreme. In many cases, the natural nutrients in vegetables are savoured when eaten raw, and it is also claimed that raw food has a much better "stop" mechanism that indicates to our bodies when we have eaten enough. Thus, we are likely to eat a lot more of food that has been cooked, because this "stop" mechanism is less effective. One reason we cook is to kill germs and toxins present in the food, however if we are eating more of the food then we are likely to ingest more of those tough toxins that have lingered after cooking.

Although, I wonder if for most people the real dilemma here is just needing to eat more vegetables - in any form! Increasing your uptake, for a start, would make a lot of different to one's overall health.