Kirt (and others) expressed some interest in why vegetables should
sometimes be steamed.  Let's see if I can create a coherent scene...

First point:
Here's a couple of paragraphs I copied out of "Biological Ionization As
Applied to Human Nutrition," page 109, by Dr. Alexander Beddoe
-------------------------------
"One final bit of information which is hard to classify in this Chapter
[8], but nevertheless needs pointing out before we close, is that plants
that have been [artificially] fertilized can have an effect on the
conductivity of the person consuming them.  This applies to the acid
phosphate levels contained in the plant.  Understand that when a farmer
or gardener is using high amounts of *acid* phosphates to treat his soil
and there is a low calcium and colloidal phosphate level, this is an
excess of free phosphate that is taken into the plant but not used by
it.  Instead, it stores the phosphate outside and between the cells.  If
this plant is eaten raw, the free phosphate is released into the person
and can play a factor in upsetting the water balance of the blood.
Excess amounts of the free phosphate have to be dumped through the
kidneys or they will cause changes in the osmotic pressure and water
balance.  This in turn obviously contributes to an increase in
conductivity levels.  Excess free phosphates are dehydrating to the body
chemistry."

"This is the reason why steaming some vegetables is very valuable.  The
steaming process, before consuming them, opens up the bonds between the
cells and allows the phosphates to escape into the water.  Then the
phosphate will not be a problem (do not use the water that the
vegetables were steamed in).  This is a reason for locating top quality
vegetables so that you do not have to be concerned with this detail."
-----------------------
Second point:
I'm hoping that many of you are aware that plants tend to accumulate,
during non-photosynthesis hours, nitrates given off by soil bacteria.
Of course, the plant makes protein with those nitrates when the sun
shines.  This can create a serious problem in certain cases, such as
when greens are raised in a greenhouse and are harvested too early in
the morning.  The excess nitrates can easily end up on someone's plate
as that, nitrates, instead of protein.  The same greens picked later in
the day might possibly be quite healthy.  I would suggest you avoid
bitter greens (the nitrate taste), but at least one person on this list
told me he liked a bitter taste.

Third point:
Some savvy farmers are well-aware that "high-protein" feed from one
source can cause their animals to thrive even as other "high-protein"
feeds cause them to suffer.  They have even coined a phrase to describe
the anomaly: "funny" protein.  As best I can tell, this good-and-bad
protein comes about because of the simplistic test method to evaluate
produce and feeds.  To wit, the lab checks for total nitrogen and then
multiplies that value by 6.25 to get the so-called protein content.
Evidently, not a bit of value is assigned to protein quality.

I've bitched long and hard about this method because it clearly allows
for a veggie or fruit grown in nitrogen-soaked soil to take up too much
of that material and thereby test as "high" in protein.

Now those who have read my previous posts know that I despise the
watery, low Brix produce that IS current agriculture.  That damn excess
soluble nitrogen gets sucked up by the plant and it then has to absorb
extra water to maintain osmotic pressure.  Beddoe's point is that
soluble phosphate is also a problem.

So, where am I?  Hopefully, I've made at least a small case that Dr.
Beddoe's warning is important.  We can safely eat raw only high Brix
(quality) vegetables.  However, if we're determined to eat junkers that
have been grown on artificially fertilized land, we should lightly steam
them so as to release some of those soluble chemicals.  Yes, I'm
claiming that the steaming will release nitrates even as it releases
phosphates.

And, in my opinion, the only way a rawer can predict what needs steaming
(and what doesn't) is to: grow it themselves; know their grower's
practices; or get a refractometer and test for high Brix.

Regards,
Rex Harrill