It seems intuitive that cooked food and raw food likely impact the gut microbiome in different ways, but there has been little to no research on this topic — so far. A new study in mice and humans now confirms this notion.
"We were surprised to discover that no one had studied the fundamental question of how cooking itself alters the composition of the microbial ecosystems in our guts," he adds.
Cooked foods alter bacterial diversity
A cooked tuber allows whoever eats it to absorb more calories in the small intestine the researchers said. Raw foods, on the other hand, have antimicrobial compounds that can damage bacteria.