Bacteria wasn’t known about thousand of years ago. Nor were nutrients (in the sense that we know it now).
There are a plethora of other reasons food might have been cooked, not least of all being flavour. The fact that it also killed bacteria would have been an accidental benefit.
Also a lot of food actually loses nutrients when cooked.
There are a plethora of other reasons food might have been cooked, not least of all being flavour. The fact that it also killed bacteria would have been an accidental benefit.
Also a lot of food actually loses nutrients when cooked.