Hi Liza,

Raw, cooked, living, dead aside, there is evidence cited in what I believe
are reputable, peer-reviewed medical journals (I wish I could point you to
them) that applying the amount of heat to many foods that is conventionally
applied during cooking yields a number of products (through glycosidic
processes and processes that convert cis- to trans-fatty acids) that are
highly toxic, carcinogenic, and even mutagenic. It seems to me that most
people are better off avoiding these substances. :-)

David