When you use heat to cook bell peppers, no matter which method you choose, you’re stripping up to 75% of their antioxidant power! Heat kills a majority of the nutrients in these veggies, so it’s best to eat them raw. Bell peppers are one of the most vulnerable to heat when you stack them against other veggies.

You don’t have to go completely raw to get healthier, but you do need to know what vegetables are compromised or enhanced by heat to ensure you are getting the nutrients you think you are. Consider that many vegetables are already not exactly “fresh” by the time you buy them. Their nutrition content decreases with time; adding heat to this mix can further destroy what nutrients were left, leaving you not as close to optimal nutrition as you thought. Don’t be fooled by these vegetables ever again — if you want the amazing benefits they offer, eat them raw.

Lead image source: Kham Tran/Wikipedia