You already know not to eat raw chicken or eggs (or, at least, you should know). But eating these surprising foods raw can give you extra nutritional benefits.

Pineapple

Grilled pineapple may be an exotic addition to any barbecue menu, but cooking this sweet and tangy tropical fruit may deprive you of important health benefits. A study published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases found that fresh pineapple juice was more effective at decreasing inflammation and colonic neoplasia (an abnormal growth of tissue around the colon) in mice with colitis than boiled pineapple juice.

Beets

This may come as a surprise to some, but yes, you can eat beets raw. In fact, they’re actually a bit healthier for you that way. Beets are packed with healthy nutrients, like five essential vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, and protein. And they contain high levels of fiber and folate (a form of vitamin B9). However, cooked beets lose 25 percent of their folate and other vitamins and minerals.

Red bell peppers

Roasted peppers are a quick, easy addition to any meal, but you may just want to eat those veggies raw. Among the foods that boost your immune system, red bell peppers are a great source of vitamin C—they contain nearly triple the vitamin C of an orange—and heat can destroy this essential nutrient. But that’s not all. A review of studies published in 2015, in the journal Antioxidants, shows that red bell peppers also have more antioxidants than any other bell pepper, giving them super powers in terms of protecting against the kind of oxidative damage to cells that leads to cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other disease.

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Garlic

Garlic is an allium vegetable that also has antiplatelet agents, but that means its properties that fight cardiovascular disease are also affected by heat. A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that heating garlic at 392 degrees for six minutes completely suppressed antiplatelet activity in uncrushed garlic and significantly reduced it in crushed garlic.

Onions

Like Garlic, Onions—among the antisocial foods you should keep eating—Don’t cry for onions! They’re loaded with health benefits, including some major cancer-fighting benefits, thanks to high concentrations of the flavonoid quercetin. When eaten raw, you maximize on [onions’] cancer-fighting properties. Cooking reduces the benefits of the phytochemicals in onions that fight cancers.

Broccoli

You may have been encouraged to eat your broccoli when you were a kid, but you may not have been told that it’s better to eat it raw than cooked. Broccoli contains high amounts of an antioxidant compound called sulforaphane, which may help prevent cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, inflammation, depression, and more harmful health conditions. And a study published in 2008 in Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry found that our bodies absorb sulforaphane more quickly when we eat broccoli raw instead of cooked.

Which of the above foods you’ve never tried eating raw?

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