Guest guest Posted February 2, 2003 Report Share Posted February 2, 2003 Cooking Destroys Food Herbert M Shelton Hygienic Review When vitamins were first announced, the physiologist, Percy G. Styles said the theory is a restatement of the views of Sylvester Graham ( " Vitamin, " Scientific American Supplement, LXXH, June, 27, 1914, p. 402). The diet-reform movement initiated by Graham left a lasting impression upon America, an impression that is not confined to the calling of whole wheat flour and bread after him - Graham flour and Graham bread. He and his co-workers had placed great emphasis on the value of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, foods now called protective. He had done more; he had advocated the use of raw, that is, uncooked foods, because cooking rendered them less valuable foods. The " raw food movement " may rightly be said to have been started by him. These foods were not merely " protective " to Graham; they were nutritive; indeed they represented the best and highest form of nutritive material. Dr. Trall proclaimed all fruits and vegetables to be protective, by which he did not intend to detract from their nutritive qualities. But the world has been a long time in discovering what Graham knew -- namely, that cooking impairs or destroys the protective and nutritive values of foods. The " orthodox " medical world became so frightened over germs a few years after Graham's death that they insisted on thoroughly cooking everything to destroy germs, while their preoccupation with the caloric value of food caused them to deny any food value to fruits and green vegetables. As late as 1916 .high medical authority was denying the food value of fruit, declaring tomatoes were practically without value and that lettuce was valuable chiefly for the oil in the dressing used on it.No wonder, then, that Prof. Styles saw in the vitamin announcement a restatement of Graham's principles. As vitamin research continues the wisdom of Graham's program becomes more and more apparent. The same may be said about our increasing knowledge of the minerals in our diet, but here we desire to confine our discussion to vitamins. The destructive effect of heat upon vitamins was early discovered. Even such comparatively low temperatures as 145° F. as used in pasteurizing milk applied for only fifteen minutes destroys all the vitamin G in milk. The other vitamins in milk are also destroyed by this process. How much of the vitamin content of a particular food is destroyed in the cooking process depends: (1) upon the method of cooking employed, (2) the temperature to which the food is subjected,(3)how long_ the. Foodis cooked, and (4) how much the food is cut up before being placed on the stove for cooking. The same is true for the changes and losses of organic salts in the food. While we have long observed that foods lose their palatableness and undergo obvious changes upon being cut, sliced, shredded, ere., as a result of oxidation, only recently has it been shown that these measures, so popular with those who like their salads shredded and their peaches sliced, cause a loss and destruction of vitamins. These methods have never been in use at the Health School and very rarely do we permit violation of our rule against them. The result of some of the latest tests and experiments with cooking and shredding will help us to appreciate the value of natural foods in their natural state. In considering these findings the reader is urged to remember that of all foods in general use only two or three are easier to digest in the cooked than in the raw form and that practically all foods are more tasty raw than cooked. At a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society, Drs. Vernon H. Cheldeline and Alethea M. Woods of the University of Texas re ported the determination of the losses of six members of the vitamin B complex caused by cooking. Riboflavin, said to be one of the most important of all vitamins, and essential for the maintenance of the eyes and necessary to the utilization of oxygen, was said to be destroyed in appreciable amounts when meats and vegetables are crooked in the presence of light. The losses . Of this vitamin were said to be negligible when the foods were cooked in the dark or in a closed container. The loss of pantothemic acid in cooking was moderate to slight in vegetables, but was up to one-third in meats. Their observations of pyridoxin reveal a lack of -accuracy in the method of determining the amount of vitamins present. They say the loss of this vitamin was moderate for meats, much smaller for vegetables, with several samples even showing gains. Biotin is described as the most powerful of all vitamins. The loss of this vitamin was found to be very high for meat, even as high as 72 per cent. Its loss in vegetables was only " moderate to negligible. " Inositol, sometimes advertised as the " antigray hair vitamin, " showed losses the reverse of that of biotin. Its losses were as high as 50 per cent in vegetables, particularly in legumes, but generally moderate in meats. Steamed meats showed only slight losses. Folic acid, which is the newest member of the B-complex, showed losses " very great for most foods. " On the whole vitamins in meat are less stable than those in plant foods. One of the B-complex vitamins was given the name nicotinic acid; but people kept confusing it with nicotine in tobacco, so the name has been changed to niacin. This is the so-called " anti-pellagra vitamin. " It is present in various meats, while chicken liver and beef liver are rich in it and are said to be the " best food sources of this vitamin. " The reader will understand that niacin is stored in the liver as a reserve and that the chicken derived it from the plants, grains, and insects it ate while the cow derived it from grasses, weeds and grains. We too can derive all of the niacin our bodies require and a supply to store in our own livers as a reserve, from the plant foods we eat. We are not forced to get our vitamins second hand. After this brief digression, let us get back to our main theme. Dr. W. J. Dunn and P. Handler of Duke University, Durham, N. C. recently reported after completing a series of tests, that cooking destroys one-third to one-half even two thirds, of niacin in meats. The findings of Drs. Cheldelin and Woods are at variance with those of Drs. Dunn and Handler. Drs. Cheldelin and Woods say that they found losses of niacin to be generally slight as a result of cooking. There are several methods of cooking and different temperatures to which food are subjected in cooking and they may be cooked for varying periods. Differences in temperature, time and method may be responsible for the differences in their findings. For instance, B-vitamins are soluble in water and more of these should be lost in boiling than in baking. For some time it has been known that thiamin or B " the antineuritic member of the vitamin B family, is easily destroyed by heat. In this connection, also, the findings of Dr. Robert S. Harris, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are instructive. Studying the food served to its customers by a restaurant using " superior cooking and serving techniques, " he found the average loss of vitamin C from vegetables was 45% and that of vitamin B, or thiamin, averaged 35% These large losses he attributed to destruction by heat and to the fact that the water in which the vegetables were cooked, and in which the vitamins are soluble, was discarded. An additional vitamin loss of about 15% occurred when the vegetables were held for long periods on the steam table before serving them. Only about one-fourth of the original vitamin content of the vegetables reached the consumer. Dr. Harris advised that restaurant eaters eat early (before the foods have been kept for long periods on the steam table) and concentrate on raw vegetables. Lie says that if they will eat earlier and eat more raw vegetables, they will be better fed. The doctor could have learned this fact from an old book written over one hundred years ago by Sylvester Graham if he would have taken the time to read it. It is gratifying to us of the Hygienic persuasion to notice that gradually the self-styled scientists are coming around to our views which they have long scoffed at and denounced and derided as faddism, quackery, etc. Recent reports state that two British scientific workers, Doctors Wokes and J. G. Organ, of King's Langley, England, have discovered that vitamin C is destroyed by ascorbic oxidose - ascorbic acid oxidose - which is said to be produced in large amounts when fresh fruits and vegetables are cut. The report tells us that " being set free, through cutting, the oxidose attacks vitamin C contained in these chopped up vegetables and fruits. " Then it also reports that " in tomatoes, for example, the oxidose is present in the skin. If a tomato is sliced into large pieces much less oxidose is freed than if the pieces are small. " The " report " as it comes to us through the newspaper is a bit confused or garbled. We interpret it to mean that oxidose, which we judge to be a plant enzyme, is present in certain parts of the fruits and vegetables and is released in the shredding and cutting processes and mixed with the general substance of the food. Coming in contact with vitamin C the oxidose causes it to unite with oxygen - the familiar process of oxidation - and, thus, destroys the vitamin C. The British investigators found that when lettuce is shredded it loses 80 percent of its vitamin C in one minute. Using oranges, cabbages, and other fruits and vegetables in these experiments they found the same thing. They found that ripe tomatoes lost much less vitamin C than did the green ones on being chopped into small pieces. In all green leafy vegetables destruction of vitamin C was very marked. It was found that mincing of fruits and vegetables is harmful and that it deprives the body of vitamin C. Dr. Frederick F. Tisdall of Toronto, Canada recently reported astonishing losses of vitamin C from foods as a result of processing. His report was made before the American Institute of Nutrition. He says the mere act of grating either raw apples or raw potatoes causes a complete disappearance of vitamin C. The mere act of chewing these foods causes the destruction of half their vitamin C. " Thank God for the tomato and the orange! " He exclaimed. " They don't act in the same way. " Other investigators reported comparable losses of other vitamins. For instance when Savoy cabbage is chopped it looses much of its ascorbic acid. Even the type of chopper makes a difference. One chopper destroyed thirty per cent of this vitamin in a few minutes, while a different type of machine destroyed sixty-five per cent. From these findings it is evident that foods lose, perhaps from oxidation, as well as from loss of juices, more than color and flavor when they are chopped, grated, ground or mashed in the preparation of salads and juices, or in being cut up for cooking purposes. Our refusal to grate salad ingredients here at the Health School is fully justified. These facts are expected to result in a complete re-examination of all of our vitamin-food standards. Heretofore these standards have been concerned only with the amount of vitamin in the food. They have taken no account of the actual amount of vitamin that reaches the body. The destruction of vitamins by processing and cooking, and by chewing, has been more or less ignored, especially in practice. There is nothing new in the discovery that cutting fruits and vegetables into small pieces and allowing the air to reach them, results in oxidation. That the foods undergo changes in color, flavor and odor is apparent to all. These changes are results of chemical changes in the foods and these changes result largely from oxidation. Fifteen years ago, when Dr. Shelton's Health School was founded, the rule was instituted that fruits and vegetables are not to be shredded, diced or cut into small pieces and this rule is rarely varied from. Fruits are served whole, even tomatoes are often served whole, or in large pieces. We have avoided oxidation of foods as much as possible. Much of the damages to food that result from cooking are due to oxidation - heat instead of oxidose being the catalytic agent - and we have at all times served most foods in their natural or uncooked state. Every real advance in knowledge of foods confirms the wisdom of our " return to nature " in diet. Vitamins are very delicate and unstable things and are lost and destroyed in many ways. Foods that are cooked and held over to the next meal lose some or all of their remaining vitamins. Dried foods have lost much of their vitamins in the drying process. Canned foods that are cooked and stored in the ware houses lose their vitamins. Canned foods and dried foods have very little or no protective power. To compensate for the lack of vitamins in our conventional cooked and over cooked diet, we are offered vitamin concentrates and synthetic vitamins. These things are of little or no value, • are expensive and fail to compensate for all of the food losses caused by cooking. How much better and simpler would be the - use of raw foods! Better nourishment for less money and costing less time and effort in preparation may be had from raw foods.If you do not want to completely abandon cooked foods, if you still desire a baked potato or steamed spinach, make up your diet of at least three-fourths uncooked foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Carlo7, Just been out to fling my juicer into the rubbish! PG carlo7 [carlo7] 02 February 2003 22:54 rawfood [Raw Food] Cooking Desroys Food - Herbert M Shelton Cooking Destroys Food Herbert M Shelton Hygienic Review When vitamins were first announced, the physiologist, Percy G. Styles said the theory is a restatement of the views of Sylvester Graham ( " Vitamin, " Scientific American Supplement, LXXH, June, 27, 1914, p. 402). The diet-reform movement initiated by Graham left a lasting impression upon America, an impression that is not confined to the calling of whole wheat flour and bread after him - Graham flour and Graham bread. He and his co-workers had placed great emphasis on the value of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, foods now called protective. He had done more; he had advocated the use of raw, that is, uncooked foods, because cooking rendered them less valuable foods. The " raw food movement " may rightly be said to have been started by him. These foods were not merely " protective " to Graham; they were nutritive; indeed they represented the best and highest form of nutritive material. Dr. Trall proclaimed all fruits and vegetables to be protective, by which he did not intend to detract from their nutritive qualities. But the world has been a long time in discovering what Graham knew -- namely, that cooking impairs or destroys the protective and nutritive values of foods. The " orthodox " medical world became so frightened over germs a few years after Graham's death that they insisted on thoroughly cooking everything to destroy germs, while their preoccupation with the caloric value of food caused them to deny any food value to fruits and green vegetables. As late as 1916 .high medical authority was denying the food value of fruit, declaring tomatoes were practically without value and that lettuce was valuable chiefly for the oil in the dressing used on it.No wonder, then, that Prof. Styles saw in the vitamin announcement a restatement of Graham's principles. As vitamin research continues the wisdom of Graham's program becomes more and more apparent. The same may be said about our increasing knowledge of the minerals in our diet, but here we desire to confine our discussion to vitamins. The destructive effect of heat upon vitamins was early discovered. Even such comparatively low temperatures as 145° F. as used in pasteurizing milk applied for only fifteen minutes destroys all the vitamin G in milk. The other vitamins in milk are also destroyed by this process. How much of the vitamin content of a particular food is destroyed in the cooking process depends: (1) upon the method of cooking employed, (2) the temperature to which the food is subjected,(3)how long_ the. Foodis cooked, and (4) how much the food is cut up before being placed on the stove for cooking. The same is true for the changes and losses of organic salts in the food. While we have long observed that foods lose their palatableness and undergo obvious changes upon being cut, sliced, shredded, ere., as a result of oxidation, only recently has it been shown that these measures, so popular with those who like their salads shredded and their peaches sliced, cause a loss and destruction of vitamins. These methods have never been in use at the Health School and very rarely do we permit violation of our rule against them. The result of some of the latest tests and experiments with cooking and shredding will help us to appreciate the value of natural foods in their natural state. In considering these findings the reader is urged to remember that of all foods in general use only two or three are easier to digest in the cooked than in the raw form and that practically all foods are more tasty raw than cooked. At a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society, Drs. Vernon H. Cheldeline and Alethea M. Woods of the University of Texas re ported the determination of the losses of six members of the vitamin B complex caused by cooking. Riboflavin, said to be one of the most important of all vitamins, and essential for the maintenance of the eyes and necessary to the utilization of oxygen, was said to be destroyed in appreciable amounts when meats and vegetables are crooked in the presence of light. The losses . Of this vitamin were said to be negligible when the foods were cooked in the dark or in a closed container. The loss of pantothemic acid in cooking was moderate to slight in vegetables, but was up to one-third in meats. Their observations of pyridoxin reveal a lack of -accuracy in the method of determining the amount of vitamins present. They say the loss of this vitamin was moderate for meats, much smaller for vegetables, with several samples even showing gains. Biotin is described as the most powerful of all vitamins. The loss of this vitamin was found to be very high for meat, even as high as 72 per cent. Its loss in vegetables was only " moderate to negligible. " Inositol, sometimes advertised as the " antigray hair vitamin, " showed losses the reverse of that of biotin. Its losses were as high as 50 per cent in vegetables, particularly in legumes, but generally moderate in meats. Steamed meats showed only slight losses. Folic acid, which is the newest member of the B-complex, showed losses " very great for most foods. " On the whole vitamins in meat are less stable than those in plant foods. One of the B-complex vitamins was given the name nicotinic acid; but people kept confusing it with nicotine in tobacco, so the name has been changed to niacin. This is the so-called " anti-pellagra vitamin. " It is present in various meats, while chicken liver and beef liver are rich in it and are said to be the " best food sources of this vitamin. " The reader will understand that niacin is stored in the liver as a reserve and that the chicken derived it from the plants, grains, and insects it ate while the cow derived it from grasses, weeds and grains. We too can derive all of the niacin our bodies require and a supply to store in our own livers as a reserve, from the plant foods we eat. We are not forced to get our vitamins second hand. After this brief digression, let us get back to our main theme. Dr. W. J. Dunn and P. Handler of Duke University, Durham, N. C. recently reported after completing a series of tests, that cooking destroys one-third to one-half even two thirds, of niacin in meats. The findings of Drs. Cheldelin and Woods are at variance with those of Drs. Dunn and Handler. Drs. Cheldelin and Woods say that they found losses of niacin to be generally slight as a result of cooking. There are several methods of cooking and different temperatures to which food are subjected in cooking and they may be cooked for varying periods. Differences in temperature, time and method may be responsible for the differences in their findings. For instance, B-vitamins are soluble in water and more of these should be lost in boiling than in baking. For some time it has been known that thiamin or B " the antineuritic member of the vitamin B family, is easily destroyed by heat. In this connection, also, the findings of Dr. Robert S. Harris, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are instructive. Studying the food served to its customers by a restaurant using " superior cooking and serving techniques, " he found the average loss of vitamin C from vegetables was 45% and that of vitamin B, or thiamin, averaged 35% These large losses he attributed to destruction by heat and to the fact that the water in which the vegetables were cooked, and in which the vitamins are soluble, was discarded. An additional vitamin loss of about 15% occurred when the vegetables were held for long periods on the steam table before serving them. Only about one-fourth of the original vitamin content of the vegetables reached the consumer. Dr. Harris advised that restaurant eaters eat early (before the foods have been kept for long periods on the steam table) and concentrate on raw vegetables. Lie says that if they will eat earlier and eat more raw vegetables, they will be better fed. The doctor could have learned this fact from an old book written over one hundred years ago by Sylvester Graham if he would have taken the time to read it. It is gratifying to us of the Hygienic persuasion to notice that gradually the self-styled scientists are coming around to our views which they have long scoffed at and denounced and derided as faddism, quackery, etc. Recent reports state that two British scientific workers, Doctors Wokes and J. G. Organ, of King's Langley, England, have discovered that vitamin C is destroyed by ascorbic oxidose - ascorbic acid oxidose - which is said to be produced in large amounts when fresh fruits and vegetables are cut. The report tells us that " being set free, through cutting, the oxidose attacks vitamin C contained in these chopped up vegetables and fruits. " Then it also reports that " in tomatoes, for example, the oxidose is present in the skin. If a tomato is sliced into large pieces much less oxidose is freed than if the pieces are small. " The " report " as it comes to us through the newspaper is a bit confused or garbled. We interpret it to mean that oxidose, which we judge to be a plant enzyme, is present in certain parts of the fruits and vegetables and is released in the shredding and cutting processes and mixed with the general substance of the food. Coming in contact with vitamin C the oxidose causes it to unite with oxygen - the familiar process of oxidation - and, thus, destroys the vitamin C. The British investigators found that when lettuce is shredded it loses 80 percent of its vitamin C in one minute. Using oranges, cabbages, and other fruits and vegetables in these experiments they found the same thing. They found that ripe tomatoes lost much less vitamin C than did the green ones on being chopped into small pieces. In all green leafy vegetables destruction of vitamin C was very marked. It was found that mincing of fruits and vegetables is harmful and that it deprives the body of vitamin C. Dr. Frederick F. Tisdall of Toronto, Canada recently reported astonishing losses of vitamin C from foods as a result of processing. His report was made before the American Institute of Nutrition. He says the mere act of grating either raw apples or raw potatoes causes a complete disappearance of vitamin C. The mere act of chewing these foods causes the destruction of half their vitamin C. " Thank God for the tomato and the orange! " He exclaimed. " They don't act in the same way. " Other investigators reported comparable losses of other vitamins. For instance when Savoy cabbage is chopped it looses much of its ascorbic acid. Even the type of chopper makes a difference. One chopper destroyed thirty per cent of this vitamin in a few minutes, while a different type of machine destroyed sixty-five per cent. From these findings it is evident that foods lose, perhaps from oxidation, as well as from loss of juices, more than color and flavor when they are chopped, grated, ground or mashed in the preparation of salads and juices, or in being cut up for cooking purposes. Our refusal to grate salad ingredients here at the Health School is fully justified. These facts are expected to result in a complete re-examination of all of our vitamin-food standards. Heretofore these standards have been concerned only with the amount of vitamin in the food. They have taken no account of the actual amount of vitamin that reaches the body. The destruction of vitamins by processing and cooking, and by chewing, has been more or less ignored, especially in practice. There is nothing new in the discovery that cutting fruits and vegetables into small pieces and allowing the air to reach them, results in oxidation. That the foods undergo changes in color, flavor and odor is apparent to all. These changes are results of chemical changes in the foods and these changes result largely from oxidation. Fifteen years ago, when Dr. Shelton's Health School was founded, the rule was instituted that fruits and vegetables are not to be shredded, diced or cut into small pieces and this rule is rarely varied from. Fruits are served whole, even tomatoes are often served whole, or in large pieces. We have avoided oxidation of foods as much as possible. Much of the damages to food that result from cooking are due to oxidation - heat instead of oxidose being the catalytic agent - and we have at all times served most foods in their natural or uncooked state. Every real advance in knowledge of foods confirms the wisdom of our " return to nature " in diet. Vitamins are very delicate and unstable things and are lost and destroyed in many ways. Foods that are cooked and held over to the next meal lose some or all of their remaining vitamins. Dried foods have lost much of their vitamins in the drying process. Canned foods that are cooked and stored in the ware houses lose their vitamins. Canned foods and dried foods have very little or no protective power. To compensate for the lack of vitamins in our conventional cooked and over cooked diet, we are offered vitamin concentrates and synthetic vitamins. These things are of little or no value, • are expensive and fail to compensate for all of the food losses caused by cooking. How much better and simpler would be the - use of raw foods! Better nourishment for less money and costing less time and effort in preparation may be had from raw foods.If you do not want to completely abandon cooked foods, if you still desire a baked potato or steamed spinach, make up your diet of at least three-fourths uncooked foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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