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Conventional belief is that raw vegetables are always healthier than cooked, but this is not true depending on the plant foods eaten according to lab testing and anthropological evidence by experts in the field.
I stopped by one of my favorite healthfood stores today to pick up a large glass of fresh juice made from organic raw vegetables for an early lunch on the go. As usual, I asked for the a carrot, celery, beet, spinach and cucumber blend. But, hold the spinach. I definitely skipped the green smoothie too!
While this request is usually met with a simple nod by the juice bar attendant, this time the guy looks up and says, “Why no spinach? We have a lot of people that come in here and love the spinach in their juice.”
Ah! Great question!
The truth is that not everything should be eaten raw, especially vegetables!
Some raw vegetables must be cooked else you are actually harming yourself. Below is a rundown of what veggies should not be eaten raw either in whole or juiced form.
Cruciferous Raw Vegetables
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but cruciferous vegetables should be cooked before eating as they contain chemicals that BLOCK the production of thyroid hormone in your body! Considering that 2 out of every 3 Westerners are either overweight or obese and this is projected to jump to 75% by 2020, this is of particular importance as folks struggling with weight usually suffer from borderline to full-blown hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone, so someone suffering from this condition surely does not want to be eating foods that will block what little thyroid hormone is being produced in the first place!
Symptoms of hypothyroidism include cold hands and feet, thinning hair, fatigue, reduced or nonexistent libido, coarse dry hair, constipation, difficulty losing weight, and depression among many others.
Cooking crucifers reduces the goitrogenic substances by about 2/3. Fermentation does not reduce goitrogens in these veggies, but since fermented crucifers such as sauerkraut are typically eaten as a condiment and, hence, in small amounts, consumption is fine if the diet is rich in iodine.
Here is the list of common cruciferous vegetables that you do not want to be eating raw if you want to protect your thyroid gland!
Arugula, broccoli, kale, maca root, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, collard greens, bok choy, brussels sprouts, radish, rutabaga, and watercress.
Notice that many of these vegetables are commonly included in fresh veggie juice blends or in salads. While an occasional arugula salad or cup of coleslaw is not going to do harm to most folks, it would be wise not to make a habit of eating/drinking any of these vegetables in raw form. Kale chips are a safe choice too.
Raw Vegetable Greens
Some veggie greens contain a chemical called oxalic acid. This substance is a very irritating to the mouth and intestinal tract. It also blocks iron and calcium absorption and may contribute to the formation of kidney stones.
The good news is that oxalic acid is reduced by a light steaming or cooking. Just be sure to discard the vegetable cooking water.
Veggies containing oxalic acid include spinach, chard, parsley, chives, purslane and beet greens.
Hmmmm. Spinach is known for being high in iron, yet eating it raw will not necessarily give you the iron you want because of the oxalic acid?
Yep, that’s right. Cook that spinach first if you are seeking an iron boost without the indigestion and don’t get hooked on the raw spinach salads!
Don’t stress about munching the parsley garnish on your next gourmet dinner, though. A little bit here and there is not going to cause a problem. Eat a big spinach salad everyday and it is virtually certain you will eventually succumb to kidney stones, according to Dr. William Shaw, Director of The Great Plains Laboratory for Health, Nutrition and Metabolism.
Other Raw Vegetable Cautions
Other vegetables that are best to avoid eating raw include:
- Raw potatoes contain hemagglutinins that disrupt red blood cell function.
- Raw sweet potatoes will give you gas.
- Raw, edible mushrooms such as the common white mushroom contain toxic substances such as agaritine, a suspected carcinogen. These substances are heat sensitive and are neutralized by cooking.
- Raw alfalfa sprouts are mildly toxic and inhibit the immune system. Eating large quantities regularly can make the skin overly sensitive to the sun or trigger autoimmune symptoms that mimic lupus.
Dr. Weston A. Price on Raw Vegetables
A good rule of thumb when considering the best way to consume your veggies is to remember the letter that Dr. Weston A. Price wrote to his nieces and nephews in 1934. In this letter, he strongly urged them to eat their vegetables cooked in butter. His research found that the bulkiness (fiber) of raw vegetables interfered with the human body’s ability to extract minerals from them via the digestive process.
So, should you drink your veggies raw? Of course. Raw vegetable juice made from veggies that are safe to consume uncooked is a wonderful way to get a fast infusion of easy to digest, colloidal minerals. It is also highly alkalizing to the body and a proven way to gently detox the gut.
The great thing about veggie juice is that the fiber is removed, which is the “bulkiness” that Dr. Price found interfered with the mineral absorption.
However, if you are going to eat the fibrous portion of the vegetable, it is best to cook them in butter as advised by Dr. Price to enhance the availability of the minerals. The fat in the butter permits greater absorption of the minerals, and besides, buttered veggies taste fantastic!
References
Nourishing Traditions
The Role of Oxalates in Chronic Disease, William Shaw PhD (Director of The Great Plains Laboratory for Health, Nutrition and Metabolism)
More Information
Best Green Juice for Congestion
Nightshade Vegetable Contraindications
Cleansing Myths
As for cooking the veggies in butter, would that mean a light saute?
Add some seasoning?
Thanks
Interesting info. I need to send this to my chiropractor-and is becoming a quack-o-practor. He is constantly shoving info. down your throat and lots about eating raw.
Thanks for the great info Sarah! I have Hashimoto's and have often wondered if the excessive raw spinach was too much for me. Now I know : )
Nicole
Great article Sarah! I have been juicing celery, beets and a small bit of parsley first thing in the morning and I save the fiber to cook in butter in my veggie omelette an hour later, that way nothing gets wasted!!!
Hi Harold, a little seasoning like sea salt is great. I really like Herbamare which is a blend of sea salt and some flavorful herbs. A light saute is fine or even a more thorough cooking if you prefer.
Sarah,
Be careful with “sea” salt, as ALL salt is sea salt, and legally can be labeled as “sea salt”, including regular sodium chloride, or the salt that comes from the desalination plants (which intensifies pollutants from seawater). I recommend only Himalayan salt….
http://www.misterpaleo.blogspot.com
I really enjoy sauteing veggies in raw butter from healthy, pastured, cream producing cows. I usually flavor the butter with scallions before I add the main veggies. If I am low on butter, I use virgin coconut oil. I always saute on sub medium heat.
I believe it was a prior blog from this site, that I discovered sauteing with butter. Never looked back.
this was very helpful info! Thank you so much. I find it facinating how we keep learning new things about food.
What a great topic. I see people choking down raw broccoli (yuck!) all the time, thinking they're being "good" on their diet.
On a side note, I always thought I hated vegetables until I starting slathering them with butter. Everything is better with butter.
Ha-ha! My sister and I have a joke in our kitchen; “If it didn’t have butter, it could have been much better!” We also say “What two things make everything better? Lemon and butter, of course!”
Hey, that’s EXACTLY what I am having right now: Peas cooked in coconut oil (butter equivalent) and garnished with a freshly squeezed lemon!!
I used to eat raw broccoli all the time, and in fact, I used to eat broccoli every day of my life practically – this was really only about a year ago…thinking I was doing myself a favor. But since then I've wised up and started cooking most of my vegetables. I haven't started lacto-fermenting yet, but I hope to start doing this soon. I still eat salads, but I always eat them with home-made olive oil and vinegar dressing or some other healthy oil like home-made buttermilk ranch or coconut oil. It is pretty amazing, though, how many people eat most of their vegetables raw. I guess the ones I see abusing this practice the most are those who are vegan and vegetarian. It makes me wonder how anyone who eats like this can still be functioning! Great post, Sarah!
Well, you want to know how I’m still functioning?…
I can’t eat high protein foods, so the hormone-filled cows are out.
I don’t get colds in the winter
I don’t take pharmaceutical drugs
I have clear skin
I don’t eat sugar, processed foods, or fat
I have lots of energy and don’t get tired in the afternoon
My mind is completely clear and focused
I know that I don’t have to worry about cancer, because of my vegan diet
I don’t have to worry about any disease
Just to remind you, the people that eat like this, don’t ever have to worry about being sick, tired, depressed, get diabetes, or cancers, ect. ect. and it’s all because they took the time to research about natural raw organic food. Foods that are actually used to push toxins out of the body. So, before you knock being a vegan, vegetarian or raw foodist, and take the time to actually research about it. http://www.foodmatters.tv
I would suggest you do the same – and quoting this documentary doesn’t help. This is the documentary which features a raw food proponent, in which one of his ‘clients’ lost 15 pounds in bowel movements in one day – you call this healthy?? Or safe????
And actually, you’re putting yourself at risk for disease because you’re denying your body of a lot of nutrients; in other words, you’re making yourself weaker. But, suit yourself – unfortunately, you won’t realize this until it’s too late.
Is it any wonder veganism/vegetarianism was not founded on science, but ideology?
A baby just died recently because the vegan mother’s breastmilk was so incredibly nutrient deficient. This would never happen if the mother was eating meat.
Woa there. I’m vegan – was through my pregnancy and over two years of nursing, too. I bike commuted 12 miles per day through my second trimester. My baby was 8 lbs 4oz, 21.5″ long at birth and gained a half pound in her first 5 days of life off my copious, rich breastmilk. She was consistently in the 90th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height through her first year. Once she started being mobile and eating our diet, she thinned out to be in about the 20th percentile which her doctor said is to be expected because that is what percentile her parents are in. She is exceptionally healthy, only having been sick enough to visit the doctor between well-child exams twice. We are conscious eaters and my husband, particularly, is well-informed about nutrition through his own curiosity, research and experience (though not professionally). He would probably very much agree with most of this particular post with the exception of cooking in butter – we prefer vigrin coconut or olive oil.
Any sickly looking vegans you see out there are probably the ones who don’t eat enough vegies and eat too many processed foods.
So please be careful with the broad labeling about vegans. Also, to the other readers, note that there are only a few vegatables being called out here not to consume raw, so don’t generalize that no veggies should be eaten raw.
The baby you are referring to died of pneumonia and on autopsy was found to be nutrient deficient. The parents were told by a doctor she needed to be in hospital but instead they decided to treat her themselves with mud packs, natural remedies and such. This seemed to me to be a problem with the parents being idiots not vegans. Being nutrient poor is possible on any diet why dont you list all the stories of babies and people that die on meat based diets.
“Whoa there” as well, Sarah. Another vegan mother here who raised a sparklingly healthy, robust, happy child on vegan breastmilk. He’s now 17, and he’s needed medical care for illness only twice in his life. His IQ is over the top, and he’s known about town as a warm, kind, and blazingly outspoken individual. Never had an ear infection, ever. If you find my photo I think you’ll agree I’m not a bit pale, and I’m healthy as a horse. The mother you describe was undoubtedly not eating a balanced diet. It’s simply not accurate to state that nutrients are missing from a balanced vegan diet. That’s what the word “balanced” means.
Unfortunately some vegans and vegetarians need a reality check and a wake up call – YOU TOO ALSO DIE OF DISEASES!!! I find it funny that some of you guys are quick to claim that “that vegan/vegetarian didn’t eat right, hence their sickness”, however, the same goes with the majority of meat eaters who don’t eat right. There is NO CONCRETE PROOF that a person cannot be healthy eating meat – as a matter of fact we have our ancestry on our side – they ALL ate meat at some point (maybe not in excess like we do) and we are still here right? No where has there been a majority of people on a vegan/vegetarian diet throughout our history by choice – NO WHERE!! The ONLY culture I hear about outside of the US are Indians and, umm, they aren’t glimmering images of health. Vegan/vegetarianism is an idealist diet and thats ok if that’s what you want to do but please stop with the “your going to get cancer and die” theatrics – its really getting old. I see fat, out of shape, ill vegans/vegetarians all the time. We are omnivores by nature – which includes eating meat. If we weren’t supposed to eat it we wouldn’t produce the stomach acids to break it down. period – it’s just that simple. Sorry but we have to see the vegans/vegetarians produce generation after generation of healthy babies who grow up eating that way and live longer and healthier than healthy meat eaters – only then can such claims be made. Folks who “turned” later in life simply have no proof or history (centuries – not years) to show that they are healthier than someone who eats grass-fed pasture raised meat, poultry, eggs, etc. I see people who eat that way and avoid grains and beans who are just as healthy and in shape (some of them former vegans/vegetarians by the way).
So here’s my question. How can anyone who has not made the decision to completely detoxify their bodies and eat an all raw diet have an idea what they are talking about? They can’t. They are simply regurgitating what society has taught them. Butter is not natural and, for that matter, neither is cooking the life out of vegetables. The information contained in this article is sadly mistaken and unfortunately misleading to people who may be searching for the only true healthy natural diet. So, for those of you who are searching for the truth, please disregard this article. I don’t believe the author is intentionally misleading you, but she is very wrong. None of the health risks, such as hypothyroidism, apply to someone on a completely raw-vegan diet. Check the facts or, better yet, try talking to the many others out there who have overcome disease and vastly improved their lives through this diet. I’m not sure why people find it necessary to try to disprove these real cases in which people have found, without any doubt, the true way humankind was meant to eat and live. Please, please, please look into the raw food diet for yourselves! You WILL BE GRATEFUL you did 🙂
“one of his ‘clients’ lost 15 pounds in bowel movements in one day — you call this healthy?? Or safe????” show me proof it’s dangerous or unsafe. also, it was one of his family members, not a client.
“And actually, you’re putting yourself at risk for disease because you’re denying your body of a lot of nutrients; in other words, you’re making yourself weaker. But, suit yourself — unfortunately, you won’t realize this until it’s too late.” really? what nutrients? do more research, a well planned raw vegan diet is anything but nutrient deficient.
If you want science, read the book called “The China Study” – and then show me another book that is based on such MASSIVE scientific evidence and proves that animal protein is good for you… The author, Dr Campbell, a prof. emeritus at Cornell University, has been vegan for around 20 years, he’s now 80, runs 10 miles every morning. His friend, Dr Esselstyn, heart surgeon and Olympic champion has been vegan for even longer, he’s too 80, and is perfectly healthy. Their work and the scientific evidence behind their researches/practices convinced a guy called Bill Clinton to become vegan a couple of years ago. He must be an idiot, too… I think you’d be pretty shocked if you actually bothered to read the book and get know the facts. :/
Dear Alice,
Unfortunately, you do not understand “science”, the scientific method, or what it means to have an agenda…
Denise Minger did an excellent job of reviewing the “China Study”, IF, as you say, you want to KNOW the science…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TboCgUmgQYQ
As far as Bill being an idiot… self-serving, definitely, but not an idiot… lol…
We now have excellent alternative choices to “hormone filled cows”, and websites abound in educating consumers about where to get healthy pastured organic wild grass fed (you fill in the word..) meats, eggs, raw dairy, wild fish, and whatever else. I would not knock anyone being a vegan or vegetarian, but I do know that almost nobody in this country could possibly raise locally their own vegan food they would need on a year round basis for healthy living. (keep in mind we are talking about millions of people, here) I don’t know of anyone raising their own sesame seeds, dates, avocados, sunflower seeds, or much in the way or beans and rice and quinoa. So most of it is trucked, shipped or airlifted at great fuel expense, and great financial expense in many ways as well. Buying grapes for 18$/# is not the lifestyle of the “common man”. The “raw foods movement” archives are FULL of stories of people getting malnourished, tired, sick, unable to recover from injury, and thus jumping ship after the phase wears out for them, or they mature, or both,. I also would not say “a vegan diet” prevents /heals cancer- I would say A GOOD DIET, based on balanced whole foods – has the potential, but not the guarantee, to do so.
WOW! It’s comments like this that give Vegetarians / Vegans a bad name! As a Vegetarian (Lacto-Ovo – I eat eggs and dairy) for the past 23 years I must say this is by far the most absurd, ludicrous assertion I have EVER HEARD! Vegan Raw Foodists can “Never get sick or get cancer?” Wow! Just, wow!
BTW: My Grandfather lived to the the ripe old age of 87 on a strict diet of Grandma’s high-salt, red meat traditional European food, homemade (fermented) pickles, two packs of filterless Camels and a shot of VO Whiskey every day! He was fully alive and kicking (and yelling 😉 until the doctor punctured a hole in his colon and didn’t realize it until he bled out into a coma and could not be revived. You know what the nurses said to me when I got to the hospital? She said “We don’t understand what happened – he was so full of life and energy! We couldn’t keep him in his room – he kept coming out and harrassing us for Marmalade and apricot jam! He was so funny – he really kept us on our feet! And then, he came out of surgery and just went downhill – we just cannot understand.”
Anyway, yes FACTORY FARMING / Industrial Agriculture is BAD! But this absurd notion of removing all “Livestock” from the food-chain to grow more grains and veggies is just ABSURD! Afterall, you cannot grow good crops without good sh-t! (manure)
Pasture-raised animals are more beneficial to Planet Earth than any other life-form other than Sea-Life. They eat NATIVE WILD grasses that we humans CANNOT consume, and fertilize the land along the way! They also produce the necessary Methane and other Greenhouse gasses that keep our atmosphere viable for Organic Life of all sorts. Ban industrial farming and allow only pasture-raised hormone and antibiotic-free animals to be raised and the Earth will be back in balance in no time at all. Yes, food prices overall will rise, but so will human health in response – humans would consume less toxic, cheap “Franken-foods” and Greenhouse gasses would fall back to their natural NECESSARY levels (too many crowded animals = too much Greenhouse gas emissions for the atmosphere to absorb). Cows and chickens are not the problem – HUMANS ARE THE PROBLEM! If we truly “Get back to nature” then the human rate of population growth would by necessity level-out to meet what the Earth can naturally provide to sustain us!
I may be a Vegetarian, but I’ll Defend to the Death your Right to eat Meat!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *gasp* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Veganism prevents cancer. THat’s hilarious!
Yes, a vegan diet can prevent cancer! Pick up a copy of The China Study or watch Forks over Knives on Netflix.
Hah, The China Study! This is sadly a bad case of misguided research, highlighting selective information and twisted statistics, as is common is “scientific” circles, written by a complete fanatic. I had to study this book as it was a core text for a course I was doing, which ultimately I gave up as this book provoked so many questions about the truthfulness of Dr Campbell’s research/conclusions, and indeed his personal integrity. I couldn’t take the course seriously after I realised how flawed the studies in this book are!
Having said that though, my experience is that a more or less vegan diet is good as a cleanse – something that you’d do for a month or so to flush yourself out. I don’t believe humans were designed to be vegans, and I believe that we have special reciprocal relationships with our food animals (or should do) from a long way back; the problem that is happening now is a massive abuse of that relationship. And we could say the same for our food plants – is a plant any less alive and deserving of respect than an animal?!!!
I love food, and I love to be strong and healthy, and I have tried eating in different ways throughout my life, but the thing that has always made sense to me and which has underlaid all my experiments is Whole Food: as nature intended! Yeah!
u r obviously laughing at your total ignorance
My thoughts exactly….Beware…you can not say that since you are vegan, you will not get cancer. There are many things that cause or contribute to cancer.
Rachel,
Have you had any dental issues lately? It seems your diet is highly deficient of vitamins A and D (in their natural form), and of course vitamin K.
yay! way to stick up for the vegans Rachel!
yeah that makes sense…let’s all take nutritious healing vegetables and slather them in hormone filled artery clogging ANIMAL FAT. this wacko reasoning might explain the obesity in America. People don’t want to hear that what they are eating is bad for themselves and the environment. They want to be told to eat more butter.
You guys are pathetic.
Emma, you still believe the myth that animal fats cause heart disease? That has long been refuted. In fact, the heart runs on saturated fats, and new research (that is actually based on real science) shows that low fat diets cause heart disease!
On the other hand, other than olive oil (which should never be used for cooking), vegetable oils cause disease and are bad for you.
Weight gain is caused by too many carbohydrates, not animal fat. Actually, eating lots of saturated fat helps you to lose weight!
So, actually, you’re the one who is pathetic, as you still believe old junk science.
Why shouldn’t you use olive oil for cooking? Just curious….
Carbs cause obesity? Ever heard of durianrider? 40 banana’s a day, 40 dates, mango, pineapple, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and has 3 percent body fat?
Contrary to claims of the traditional living Inuit being immune from cardiovascular disease, evidence of severe atherosclerosis has been identified in several frozen mummies of Alaskan Inuit dating back to 400 CE and 1520 CE, both instances predating European contact.7 8 Atherosclerosis has also previously been identified in several artificially prepared mummies of Aleut-Unangan hunter gatherers who lived in the 18th century in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.9 10 Recently the HORUS study, which examined an additional five recovered mummies of Unangan hunter gatherers who lived in the mid and late 19th century found definite evidence of atherosclerosis in several major arteries in all three who were over the age of 25.11
Pardon me, typo.
Burnt off as *HEAT, not fat.
This comment is silly. i was vegan for 5 years and thought I was very healthy. I didn’t eat anything processed, etc. Your post is a bit arrogant. My boyfriend at the time had been vegan for 12 years and developed many health problems due to his diet including Ulcerative Colitis,. This is a very serious disease that often leads to colon cancer. I know many long term Vegans who have become ill, malnourished or nutrient deficient. Just be very careful. And please, if you intend on becoming pregnant, do more research and consider some diet changes.
Apologies, Sarah, for this continued “hi-jacking” of your intent for this article, but I wanted to share about my “hippie” neighbor who has lived on the same lot for about 36 years and was a vegetarian for 35 yrs. She tended the land she lived on and grew most of her food. She believed that vegetarianism was best for her body and the earth. Then she started having problems… She started getting lumps, growths and teeth issues.
Somehow she heard about Weston A Price and started reading more and decided to change her diet. Now half of her land is used to raise goats (for milk and meat) and chickens (for eggs) and she grows veggies on the other half to support herself and the animals she is raising.
She feels better than she has ever felt and the health of her teeth is improving. She left vegetarianism behind about 5 yrs ago. She is a Sr citizen now.
People that eat like this DO get cancer.
yep as a parent of a child who had cancer at 5 years old, i cant think being vegan would of stopped that? off course it must of been my fault for paying out on organic meat and veg? for snacks at school she would take peppers, tomatoes and stuff, not cause we want her to, but because she likes them. she is one of the healthiest eaters and drinkers in her school, yet alone year and was one of 43 children in 1 million 0-16 year olds to get leukemia, but im sure if we / her were vegan thins would not of happened?
you cant sweep a nation and say if you eat vegan you don’t have to worry about ever being ill and not getting cancer? what an arrogant thing to say!
i eat healthy, but i do eat meat too, very rarely ever eat white carbs at all, i train hard, drink tones of water, i do raw juice too as well as eat cooked veg.
im only saying this as i stand as much chance of getting cancer as the next, you will see this if you live on a cancer ward over two years like i did with her! it gets all different people in all walks of life.
stay on your diet, be happy and ill stay on mine, but don’t tell me that if my daughter had been strict vegan shed not of got cancer, that’s just horse cra……..
Well said! Thank God there was someone here who stood up to ask, “What the $%&*???? I have been reading all the BS and lambs who agree with what they read here on the internet?!? Good God! I am NOT a vegan/vegetarian/raw foodest. I eat meat. I drink alcohol. I eat raw radishes for my liver function health. I eat raw ________ for my ________ health. I know what raw vegetables can, and have, marked improvements in my bodily functions. For the love of God just google this! And remember to consider the source for what ever motive may be. Don’t eat raw vegetables!?!?! Are you kidding me?
I’ve known several vegans and vegetarians who have gotten cancer, heart disease, sudden heart attach (and died), stroke, and depression has been a major factor in why others have begun to consume more animal proteins. Vegans often feel great for a few years, and then begin to have major health problems. I would wager a bet that you’ve been vegan for less than 3 years.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for another great article!
I have had hypothyroidism for the last 25+ years. I have to say that my doctors have not given me any information about eating so as to protect the thyroid. They just put me on synthetic hormone for decades (never feeling any better)until Dr. Mercola weaned me from it to the natural medicine Armour Thyroid.
I can't stress enough how important protecting the thyroid gland and its function is! It affected me in many of the ways listed above, but it also affected my fertility (could only manage one full term miracle, who is now 17). I currently tend to suffer from severe PMS and fibroids, tire feeling and extreme difficulty losing excess weight.
I have however made great progress by switching my diet from the traditional low-fat to the no-grain-no-sugar but healthy fats in the last couple of months. My PMS and fibroids have lessened considerably and my low energy level is slowly getting better to allow my to exercise three times a week.
All this to just underscore the important role the thyroid gland plays in health.
One question: how do you cook radishes? I've always served them raw in salads.
Gloria 🙂