Dr. Weil's comments on Raw food lifestyle- responses?

[Guest guest]

Blessings and Greetings Family!

A friend of mine sent me this attached article and I'm hoping to hear your feedback about some of his criticisms. He specifies the benefits of steaming certain vegies.

It's a short article.

Thanks family!

love and lite

pam

[Guest guest]

First, I think if we are eating raw we don't NEED all those lycopene's etc. that come out when cooked because we are not putting in all the junk that causes cancer in the first place. I don't think God made a mistake when he made the raw food. Secondly, I agree that we probably don't get enough calcium, but again we are not putting in all the junk that causes calcium to be leeched out of our bones to neutralize all the acid intake. However, I would say we can help raise the level by juicing high calcium foods. His comment on BMIs being low so we don't have enough weight to put pressure on our bones - GIVE me a break (ha ha)! My BMI is 19 and I may only be 105 pounds but I lift weights and jog and put PLENTY of pressure on my bones, thank you very much :-) As long as we get enough strength/weight bearing exercise we all should be fine. Lastly, I will agree that most raw fooders eat too many nuts and I think some of us don't get enough protein.

Nancy

Nancy Parlette HEALTHY LIVING STRATEGIES Natural Health Counselor Nutrition Educator (410) 531-2410 healthylivingstrategies http://www.healthylivingstrategies.net/

 

 

On Behalf Of atzzillSent: Monday, August 22, 2005 7:32 AM Subject: Dr. Weil's comments on Raw food lifestyle- responses?

Blessings and Greetings Family!

A friend of mine sent me this attached article and I'm hoping to hear your feedback about some of his criticisms. He specifies the benefits of steaming certain vegies.

It's a short article.

Thanks family!

love and lite

pam

[Guest guest]

Hello, Pam et al,

 

Thank you for sending this article. With all due respect to Dr. Andrew Weil, who

I believe does admirable work toward enlightening Americans toward a more

healthful diet, it is too clear that he knows little about the benefits of raw

foods. His outright criticism after his initial mention of the assets is

unfortunately groundless on its face. Why is humanity the only species on Planet

Earth that voluntarily cooks its food? If Mother Nature wanted us to cook any of

our food, would it not be logical for a holocaust to occur every time Nature

expects us to eat? This would be essential, notwithstanding the accidental

discovery of fire by Neanderthals millions of years ago, in order for cooking

food to be anything resembling a natural element of our diet.

 

I've never heard of many of the alleged toxins that Dr. Weil cites, particularly

in celery. If the gist of his argument, that a raw food makes us more toxic, was

remotely true, I'd be dying from asthma, sickle cell anemia or some other deadly

diease on a hospital bed right now (especially asthma, which has hospitalized me

in the distant past, long before I was ever a vegetarian). I've never had a

problem with anemia or any other life-threatening disease either. I have far

more energy than I ever did when I ate the SAD or even a cooked vegan diet for

8.5 years till July 2002. The notion that NO lycopene can be obtained from raw

tomatoes is also egregiously dead-wrong from my understanding. Doug Graham, DC,

amply disproved the misconception that possibly LESS lycopene from raw tomatoes

was a problem when I heard him speak last November at Philadelphia Raw Passion

about this topic. Now we've moved from the distortion that cooking tomatoes

releases MORE lycopene to the inane assertion by Dr. Weil that ONLY by cooking

tomatoes can we obtain any lycopene. Let me ask him how exactly other nonhuman

animals in their natural habitats survive without cooking their food, simply

eating it as it occurs in nature. Are other animals worried sick that they'll

get sick or not get enough of a certain phytonutrient if they don't kill the

enzymatic activity by literally burning the life out of it? As for true

carnivores (ie. lions, tigers, sharks, wolves), when have they ever been known

to cook their flesh in order to remove the contaminants? IMHO, these

contaminants in flesh are the least of our problems by consuming animal

products. We should be more concerned with the bad karma that underlies all

products of exploitation and violent death, let alone the cholesterol, saturated

fat and animal protein, which is inherently toxic to all non-carnivores, such as

humans.

 

As for calcium, if we supposedly consume less than people eating the SAD, maybe

there's a good reason for this. According to EarthSave's data, the World Health

Organization has repeatedly found in the past that nations consuming minimal or

no dairy products have far lower instances of osteoporosis than nations with a

high dairy consumption. The WHO's international recommendation for daily calcium

intake is at least 3x lower than that of the U.S. which places a premium on

advocating flesh and dairy consumption to benefit the agribusiness industry, as

per the USDA's mission statement. Granted, Dr. Weil doesn't encourage consuming

animal products in this brief essay, but his point is disingenuous and based on

faulty reasoning that contradicts the entire breadth of empirical data that I've

read and experienced for myself as a raw vegan over the past 3 years. Dr. John

McDougall apparently has the same basic attitude against a raw diet, judging

from his reply at the annual Vegetarian Summerfest in 2001 when I last attended.

During a plenary session when someone in the audience asked him what he thinks

of a raw diet, he flatly declared that he's against it. (To Dr. Neal Barnard's

credit [PCRM President], he told an audience questioner on the same topic that

he firmly supports raw diets and elaborated why.) Point of reference, Dr.

McDougall is not a vegetarian either since he eats turkey flesh on Thanksgiving

(at least according to his speech at the Summerfest) and has no qualms about

vivisection, whose results and false legitimacy he routinely cites in his

lessons.

 

Dr. Weil has also advocated eating fish in the past, as an ideal source of

omega-3 fatty acids, nevermind that hemp seeds are a far more ethical and less

toxic source of them than fish (also safer than flax seeds). Suffice to say

about Dr. Weil should refrain from expounding inaccurately on that which is

clearly well outside his realm of expertise. I'd enjoy watching a debate between

someone like Dr. Weil and Dr. Graham on this topic.

 

Namaste,

David

 

 

atzzill wrote:

 

>Blessings and Greetings Family!

>A friend of mine sent me this attached article and I'm hoping to hear your

>feedback about some of his criticisms. He specifies the benefits of steaming

>certain vegies.

>It's a short article.

>Thanks family!

>love and lite

>pam

--

" Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the

president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he

himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he

efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact

extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the

country. "

--Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, 1908

 

Impeach the Shrub! Regime change begins at home!

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Blessings Khepere

Thank you for the information. I know that folks living in tropical climates untouched by urbanization live healthier and longer.

I appreciate your insights.

love and lite

pam

 

[Guest guest]

Greetings, for the most part I thought the

info in the response was sound. Most if not all veggies and nightshade

fruits are toxic to humans. As far as the study, I think raw vegetarians

are more sensitive to living in toxic US cities (shities….haha).

I’ve been fruitarian for the last few weeks and what is critical when

evolving dietarily is getting sun and fresh air. I’ve also been

reading Bruce Fife’s new book, Coconut Cures, and it seems that most

shortcomings with raw vegan diet (i.e. vitamin and mineral deficiencies) can be

overcome with the use of coconut oil, internally and externally on a daily

basis.

 

Health is Wealth, Khepere

 

 

 

 

 

On Behalf Of atzzill

Monday, August 22, 2005 6:32

AM

 

Dr. Weil's

comments on Raw food lifestyle- responses?

 

 

 

Blessings and Greetings Family!

 

 

A friend of mine sent me this attached article and I'm

hoping to hear your feedback about some of his criticisms. He specifies the

benefits of steaming certain vegies.

 

 

It's a short article.

 

 

Thanks family!

 

 

love and lite

 

 

pam

 

 

[Guest guest]

Greetings David, Nancy and family,

I really appreciate the insight you all are offering and I agree with all of your comments. It is challenging to be live in a world where individuals are unwilling to acknowledge the "stress" that cooked foods places on their bodies and spirits.

I recognize challenges within my own body, especially now . I've been experiencing food cravings that I think stem from my increased use of certain products such as maple syrup and olive oil that isn't cold pressed. Eventually I plan to transition beyond oil and syrups altogether but for now I recognize my need for extra supplementation.

When I transitioned to live food I had been supplementing my diet with a "superfood" in a capsule form known as "Bioalgae Concentrate." I found this supplement (four specific types of algae) to help curb cravings for candida types of foods I was addicted to. I must admit, lifestyle changes come slowly and I so appreciate the support of my live family.

I found it interesting that in the first few pages of the first book of the Essene it speaks of the illnesses the people suffered from eating the cooked flesh of animals. It also speaks of natural forms of "colonic cleansing" that people undertook to heal themselves.

While I have been slacking lately, eating some cooked vegies now and then, I believe that with sufficient nutrients, cravings/urges for cooked foods will transform themselves into cravings for healthy alternatives as I give my body the nutrients it needs for healthy cell growth and regeneration.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and inspiration.

All the way live

in love and lite

pam

 

 

[Guest guest]

I enjoyed the article and found the gentleman to be sincere in his thoughts. many of the course veggies, like kale and collards, chard , don't break down in our system although in early transition these are great sources of coarse fiber. as the tract gets cleaner the soft veggies are more conducive and essential for northern cities or green juices. some of the minerals found in fruit we generally don't receive in full capacity because they are rarely tree ripened. for me it is important to keep in mind where I choose to live at this time and the kind of work i do and realize adjustments from ideal may need to be made, until i'm committed to living ideal all across the board.. i find our body is more energy to give of symptoms of mistreatment as we get healthier and also may no longer be producing chemicals to counteract what we no longer put in. as far as the greens and the need for chlorophyll, i believe most of us still need it, because of our level of toxicity and toxic living environment. keep in mind when animals get sick, as most of us are, they chew (not eat ) grass for the healing and building properties found in the grasses. as for bone density, all things being equal if i'm 50lbs lighter my bone density will correspond accordingly to what's needed. the body is not wasteful atzzillTo: Sent: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:32:15 EDT Dr. Weil's comments on Raw food lifestyle- responses?

 

Blessings and Greetings Family!

A friend of mine sent me this attached article and I'm hoping to hear your feedback about some of his criticisms. He specifies the benefits of steaming certain vegies.

It's a short article.

Thanks family!

love and lite

pam