raw food diet - relating to your website: http://www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/index_13313.cfm

November 30, 2004

Sirs,

I was recently directed to your website describing the raw diet. It appears

that little effort was put into researching this brief description. It is

inaccurate, uninformed and misleading. These specific items are inaccurate:

1) Enzymes are destroyed at any temperature above a fever temp, 105-115 degrees.

In the raw diet, foods that have been heated above that temperature are

recognized as being denatured significantly. The body treats them the same as

it would any toxin.

2) Yes, the body has its own (limited) store of enzymes. Eating raw foods

allows you to maintain that store. Most raw foods contain the enzymes necessary

to digest that food, saving the body the effort of having to use its own.

3) Yes, heating foods kills harmful bacteria. It also kills helpful ones. In

truth both kinds of bacteria exist in our bodies. When the immune system is

healthy all bacteria are helpful ones. Good (preventive) health is all about

boosting the immune system - in essence removing the cause of the disease rather

than applying a " cure " . Fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds consumed and

combined properly give the body everything it needs to thrive.

4) By eating fresh raw and ORGANIC vegan foods, consumers avoid synthetic

chemicals and the known (and unknown) harmful effects they can have on the body.

There is plenty of documented research and experimentation to recommend the

benefits of a raw diet for anyone willing to spend some time looking. The

reason it hasn't been more widely endorsed is purely economic. Please refer to

the following websites for more complete and accurate information:

Thank you.

Nickolas Hein

Morgantown, WV

PS. I am not a doctor, but I was raised by one and thus learned to listen

critically to medical advice.

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