Eg releases more of their sugars into the bloodstream
Does cooking vegetables break down their complex sugars and make them less "keto"?
That’s a very good question. I may be wrong, but I don’t believe cooking damages fibre all that much, though chopping and mashing certainly can. I look forward to other people’s answers.
Did you have any particular food or any particular cooking technique in mind?
Again, it’s just a guess, but I would say that pressure-cooking might destroy fibre to the point where it’s not protective, but boiling probably would not.
What I’ve found is that cooking vegetables makes them easier to eat for me. Whereas uncooked vegetables wreak havoc on me, cooked ones are much better.
For instance, I have no problems with cooked sauerkraut, but do have issues with raw. Raw bell peppers are problematic, but well cooked ones are not.
I have no idea what’s happening, other than I now rarely eat uncooked vegetables. Sometimes, I’ll have a salad, but not often.
Based on my past reading (and imperfect recollections)…
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Mechanically breaking down the fibers will make the sugars more readily available, raising their glycemic index (e.g., pure apples vs pure apple juice) even for the same carb/caloric content, per a lab analysis (caloric content of burning in a bomb device).
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Fermenting vegetables allows the lactobacillus (anaerobic bacteria = good) to break down (consume) the sugar, thereby lowering the actual carb content (fewer carb calories remain).
So there’s a significant difference between smashing veggies and fermenting them. I guess the question re: cooking might fall somewhere between the two effects?
And I wonder if fermenting does more than that? This year, I fermented hot peppers, which where the only thing we were able to grow (it was hot and dry in the summer; everything else died). With many hot peppers, I get allergic reactions to them. With these, I did not.
There’s a quiz in the NY Times about which vegs to cook or eat raw (sorry, it’s behind a pay wall.). It’s not about fiber / sugar so much as accessible nutrition, but that’s also worth considering; it’s a waste to eat food if you can’t access the micronutrients.