MANY believe that it is better to eat  well done food or overcooked than half-cooked or rare. Nowadays when all sorts of food-borne diseases   seem easy to catch, cooking is one  way to prevent getting sick.

Eating raw food or cooking them beyond doneness is really unsafe  especially when preparation was carried out unsafely. On the other hand, overcooked food prepared by lengthy and aggressive cooking methods can also cause illness. 

* Impairs digestion. 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 food.

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

* GERD, heartburn, etc. Improperly digested food rots and turn 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 the system’s response to undigested food particles in the gut. Over time, frequent eating of overcooked food  also puts undue stress on the liver to detoxify built-up toxins.

* Cancer. Studies have proven eating overcooked food especially grilled or charbroiled can cause cancer. Scientists studying the eating patterns of people who regularly consumed charbroiled and well-done meat, found those participants had more incidents of colorectal and breast cancer than individuals who consumed little meat or lean meat. Cooking meat  in high flame  in order to char or blacken meat produces dangerously high levels of carcinogens in the meat.

Overcooked food especially vegetables lose their nutrients. Vegetables require very little cooking time. They should not stay long on boiling water or sauté pan. Exposing them 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.

Contrary to belief that foods in cafeterias, restaurants and fast foods are half-cooked, the real thing is they are overcooked, over processed and reheated many times. Almost 60 percent of the nutrients are lost. Reheating food, even once, causes a significant reduction of nutrients. Serving food immediately after it is cooked preserves nutrients by eliminating the need to reheat.

You can also maintain good health by lightly steaming food and cooking with a slow cooker. Avoid using microwaves.