Are you cooking right?

Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and quality animal products is only one part of a healthy diet. How you cook your food (or don't) can actually determine how healthy or harmful it is.

Is it time to switch up your routine? This is what you need to know about your options before prepping your next meal.

Raw
Eating at least some raw vegetables is a good way to ensure that you're ingesting beneficial enzymes and water-soluble Vitamins (C and the Bs) that cooking often destroys, says Judy Caplan, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, US. Avoid raw milk, meats and eggs.

Boiled
Boiling vegetables can be beneficial for people prone to calcium-produced kidney stones, which can be caused by excess oxalic acid (an organic plant compound) in the body.

Roasted
Roasting meats and vegetables is safer alternative than grilling or even baking, which can char foods, resulting heterocyclic amines (HCAs), which are carcinogens and advanced glycation end products (AGEs), toxins created when sugars and protein are burnt.
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Steamed
If you have a condition such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn's disease, steaming can make veggies easier to digest. Studies have shown that it also increases the anti-oxidant activity in bell peppers, green beans, broccoli and spinach and makes the beta-carotene in carrots easier to absorb.