The trend in cooking is no cooking. "Raw food" Websites and restaurants are now sprouting up, promoting the energy-enhancing virtues of uncooked cuisine. Heating foods, say enthusiasts, kills nutrients and "live" enzymes that aid in digestion.

But Good Housekeeping Institute's nutritionist, Delia Hammock, M.S., R.D., isn't sold on a diet of all raw food. While it's true that cooking fruits and vegetables can cause some vitamin loss, heating also destroys dangerous bacteria that can lurk in milk, meat, veggies and seafood. And cooking unleashes phytochemicals that can reduce the risk of cancer. For instance, cooked corn provides more antioxidants than fresh. Steamed carrots have more beta carotene than raw. Plus, your body has all the enzymes it needs to break down meals.

Our advice: Eat a balanced diet of raw and lightly cooked foods. High temperatures and long cooking times can sap nutrients.