Overcooking Food is Unsafe: The Dangers of Eating Overcooked Food

Quick Take

Any food cooked beyond doneness becomes unsafe to eat. When you eat overcooked food prepared by lengthy and aggressive cooking methods, illness can occur when the body’s healing mechanism is disrupted. The following article details the dangers of cooking food for too long and how to avoid it.

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Impaired digestion.

Food becomes overcooked when normal cooking time is exceeded. The main problem with overcooked food is that the longer it is cooked, the harder it is to digest and metabolize, even more than raw foods.

Exposing food to prolonged cooking times and high temperatures (flamed-grilling) also destroy the protein in the food. When protein is destroyed in the system, food stays in the gut longer, making the digestive system work harder to break down proteins in the undigested food.

Chronic illness.

Food that is not properly digested (or absorbed) rots and turns into harmful bacteria in the gut. This toxicity becomes the root cause of stomach upset, candida overgrowth, and other gastrointestinal irritations like heartburn and GERD. Food allergy , for example, is a severe condition triggered by immune system’s response to undigested food particles in the gut. Over time, frequent eating of overcooked foods also puts undue stress on the liver to detoxify built-up toxins.

Cancer.

Medical science has long suggested a link between eating overcooked food and the increase in cancers of the female reproductive systems. Scientists studying the eating patterns of people who regularly consumed charbroiled and well-done meats , found those participants had more incidents of colorectal and breast cancer, than individuals who consumed little meats or lean meats. Cooking meats with high flames in order to char or blacken meat produces dangerously high levels of carcinogens (cancer causing agents) in the meat.

Loss of nutrients.

Green vegetables require very little cooking time. As such, greens should be removed from boiling water or sauté pan while the vegetables are bright green and still crisp. Exposing vegetables to long cooking processes or high heat strips veggies of a significant amount of nutrients, particularly vitamin C. Generally, the longer food is fried or baked, the greater the nutrient loss.

Foods served in cafeterias, restaurants, and fast food establishments tend to be overcooked and over processed with a nutrient loss above 60%. Any food left on a heated surface will continue to cook and further deplete food enzymes. Reheating food, even just one time, causes a significant reduction of nutrients. Serving food immediately after it is cooked preserves nutrients by eliminating the need to reheat.

Eat Raw Foods

Dr. Joseph Mercola (www.mercola.com ) advises that in order to optimize nutrition, the best cooking method involves no cooking all by eating raw. Raw food is easily digested. Besides eating fruits and vegetables, some good examples of raw foods include cashews, sunflower seeds, Nori, tahini, goji berries, and cocoa nibs. Add spices and condiments to your dishes with turmeric, apple cider vinegar, raw agave nectar, and organic stone-pressed olive oil. You can also maintain good health by lightly steaming foods and cooking with a slow cooker. Avoid using microwaves.