2nd Part of 2nd Section, Wanjek Article Response

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

 

Here's the next part of my response to Christopher Zanjeks

article on raw food.

 

The original article is at:

 

www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060704_bad_raw_food.html

 

Robert

 

........................

 

Part III Cooking up claims

 

" Another main claim by raw food advocates is that heat (from

cooking) destroys enzymes in the food. Enzymes are proteins

that serve as catalysts for specific biochemical reactions in

the body. There are indeed many forms of enzymes. There are

plant enzymes, digestive enzymes and metabolic enzymes, for

example. And, yes, heat can destroy enzymes. "

 

All true, naturally. One doesn't need to just claim that heat

destroys enzymes. One can state with definiteness that heat

destroys enzymes and all other nutrients in food, inside to

outside, to more or less degree, depending on length of time

cooked and temperature.

 

" But plant enzymes, which raw dieters wish to preserve, are

largely mashed up with other proteins and rendered useless by

acids in the stomach. Not cooking them doesn't save them from

this fate. Anyway, the plant enzymes were for the plants.

They helped with the plants' growth, and they are responsible

for the wilting and decomposition of plants after they are

harvested. They are not needed for human digestion. Human

digestive enzymes are used for human digestion. "

 

These are very good points. There are many in the raw food

movement that have been lulled by the enzyme claims that are

touted most loudly by the commercial supplement industry and

poorly researched others. Much pseudo-science and nonsense is

promoted, and sensible, truthful facts are left unmentioned,

such as above.

 

Enzymes are present in fruit (and all living things) and

initiate, activate, and hasten the ripening process, not to

mention facilitating many other duties in the fruit's life.

The human digestive tract digests food by secreting enzymes and

other digestive juices into ingested foods, digesting (breaking

down) the food into smaller particles, and thus enabling the

body to absorb, and assimilate the food eaten and capture some

of its chemical energy.

 

Cooking progressively destroys all nutrients in food, and this

forces the body to do much more work on the food it eats, and to

deal with innumerable newly formed substances that it is not

evolved to digest very well, if at all. High temperature heating

is just one of thousands of artificial processes that gradually

denature and destroy wholesome foods, making them harmful to us.

The damage done to ourselves is proportional to the length of

time the processed foods are eaten, the extent to which they've

been denatured, and the degree to which they were not an original

natural or normal food for the human species. Only our natural

wild fare is fully beneficial to our species. Processed foods,

while still having some usable, beneficial elements, introduce

harmful elements as well; our bodies enter into disease after

prolonged indulgence in processed foods, with cooking being by

far the most popular way to process foods.

 

" Raw foods certainly aren't safer than cooked food, as some

claim. "

 

The human species' natural foods are completely safe, just as

clover is completely safe for a rabbit and mouse is safe for a

hawk. Of course, with modern chemicals added to our fruits and

vegetables (and all other foods), the food isn't perfectly safe

anymore. Cooking and further processing only make it worse.

 

" Most commercial chicken and a good deal of beef and pork, sadly,

are loaded with bacteria and parasites. Cooking kills this,

unless the meat is rancid. "

 

If this is the case, and it no doubt is, then it's a sign the

beef or pork has already begun to rot and decay. It is very

unhealthy to eat rotting or decaying food for a species like

the frugivorous human, a non-carnivore. The human should not

even eat rotting or decaying fruit. Cooking or processing

rotting and decaying food does not turn it into food suddenly.

Nature serves all her species fresh, whole, delicious foods, of

whatever type they are, appropriate for each species. No

processing is required except for the gnashing, chomping,

swallowing, and further digesting carried out by the eater

of the food item.

 

Alas, we also see introduced here a red herring, though to

understand it fully requires a person to develop an understanding

of the true nature of disease. That requires a book, and then

another ten books to explain the mess that has been made by the

medical industry as it pursued its false theory of contagion and

disease causation.

 

In short, diseases are not caused by bacteria and parasites.

What mostly causes disease in our civilized culture is the

prolonged ingestion of abnormal foods that overburden the body's

resources, wear it out prematurely, cause it to malfunction and

break down, and otherwise cause it to operate oddly.

 

Bacteria are ubiquitous, at all times. They are on everything

we touch and see. They are in our guts and everywhere in our

bodies, on the trees, rocks, sidewalks, cars, gutters, and

boats, in the air, sea, streams, and practically anything one

can think of. They eat dead things and debris. They eat rock,

oil, dying or dead flesh, undigested foods, and all else that

other living thing don't eat. Bacteria cover our bodies, and

line our intestines. They proliferate in type and quantity

according to the emissions our bodies make and the food/fluid

environment within us.

 

Bacteria types are practically endless and their mass dwarfs the

rest of life on the planet. They are not our enemies. If they

were, we wouldn't be here. The fact is that the very things that

make up bacteria make up humans, the finest bits being the

similarly badly maligned virus particle (a genome particle, in

reality). Bacteria are part of organic life. Our cells compared

to bacteria are like elephants compared to mice, with the

elephant armed to the teeth and organized in enormous

populations and mice lone soldiers looking for crumbs at the

elephant's feet, while at the same time the mice and elephant

are sworn buddies.

 

When we humans eat more than we can digest, or when we eat foods

that we can't digest or can't digest well, bacteria take over

the job. They, of course, produce their own wastes, such as

methane gas, alcohol, and acetic acid, and we have to deal with

those wastes. We would not have to deal with them at all if we

humans would stick to sensible amounts of our natural and normal

diets, which causes only the so-called " friendly " bacteria to

proliferate, but not that much.

 

Nature does not evolve us so that we are harmed or killed by the

very food that is designed to sustain us and allowed us to

evolve. All of biological creation works in harmony with

itself. It is only us who harm ourselves when we go beyond our

capabilities and indulge in harmful, abnormal, unnatural

practices for the human species.

 

Parasites are similar acting to bacteria, and they too appear

where their preferred food supply appears. Parasites do not

prefer a healthy operating human. They do prefer guts full of

mixed up foods that shouldn't be there in the first place and

that aren't being fully and properly digested by humans.

Parasites love a garbage dump. Mixing meats, sugars, starches,

fats, alcohols, juices, grains, condiments and the horror of

other ingredients that the civilized human puts regularly past

its pearly gates is a recipe for parasitical parties, not to

mention bacterial super bowls. The wonder is that humans survive

as long as they do. This is a grand proclamation of the

incredible durability and power of organized and sophisticated

life, even in times of extreme duress.

 

Back to the first point, it's obvious that meat is not a normal

food for the human. It's asking for trouble when eating it,

cooked or raw. If eaten, it needs to be eaten in very small

quantities that we can digest easily, and infrequently. It's

not a necessary dietary element for humans.

 

" Major and surprising sources of food-borne illness, however,

are raw sprouts, green onions and lettuce. These must be

washed thoroughly before consumption. "

 

Sprouts are baby plants and should be left for growing into big

plants. They are milder and more tender than grown plants, and

perhaps that is their attraction by the sprout gang. They have

enzyme inhibitors that reduce their digestibility, being in or

near seed form. Onions contain toxic, irritating substances

such as allicin and mustard oil. They taste hot because that

is our taste buds telling us that onions are hot and irritating

and should not be eaten. It's that simple. Of course, our

cultural training tells us to eat everything under the sun,

and if it's irritating, overly stimulating, doesn't taste good,

needs a dollop of sugar, or burns going in and coming out, then

it's " medicine " and good for the soul (really the shoe sole, if

anything).

 

Lettuce has many great ingredients, but it's high cellulose

content and the human being's lack of cellulase enzyme to digest

it make it a less desirable food than fruit. Much mastication is

required, and it's not energy efficient like fruit, which

delivers a wallop of energy for little energy input, for humans.

The various lettuces are great as a secondary or tertiary part

of the human diet.

 

Wash lettuce because it isn't fun to chew on the dirt and grit

that is frequently found on lettuce. If it looks clean and is

organic, munch away. The water we rinse our foods with is often

likely more toxic than the food we rinse, due to chlorine,

flourine and other added chemicals in water.

 

" Raw (unpasteurized) milk is dangerous and mostly illegal to

buy; trust your source. "

 

Pasteurized milk is much more dangerous than raw milk. If raw

milk is so dangerous, then why is it fed to all the newborn

mammals on earth by their mothers for months to years? It sounds

like pretty dangerous stuff. A study by Pottenger back in the

early 20th century, showed that cats fed pasteurized milk lasted

only a few generations before they couldn't reproduce. They

became disfigured and diseased. No thinking or caring mother

will feed boiled breast milk to her baby.

 

Cow's milk is a milk of another species and humans should not be

drinking it unless when they moo, cows perk up their ears.

Nature makes milk for each of its species, to suit the needs of

the young of that species. If a human really believes in dairy,

that human should get it straight from the cow's udder, like any

calf would, naturally.

 

That unpasteurized milk is mostly illegal to buy is only a

reflection of the power of the milk industry and the vastness

of nonsense promoted by modern civilization. Pasteurizing milk

kills the milk and all the life in it. Raw milk goes sour

quickly, cooked milk is dead so it rots later, increasing its

shelf life which is great for business. Taking milk straight

from the breast keeps it perfectly fresh for the baby.

 

Raw (sprouted) kidney beans and rhubarb are poisonous. "

 

Raw kidney beans are cooked to break down the poisonous

elements within them, much like many other non-human foods are

cooked to breakdown poisons. Unfortunately, a lot of other

nutrients are also broken down, bringing grief to the long term

eater of these foods.

 

Rhubarb stalk is not poisonous, though it is tart and not that

pleasant to eat. Rhubarb leaves are said to be poisonous, and

they certainly have irritating chemicals in them. They are

fatal to the easter bunny (rabbits).

 

" Despite major flaws in the raw diet philosophy, one needs to

question why a so-called natural diet leaves the dieter

dependenton pills for B12 (impossible to get without animal

products, such as meat or eggs) or zinc (very hard to get on

a raw diet). "

 

Studies show that meat eaters are the persons most afflicted

with b12 related diseases, such as iron deficiency. They form

the bulk of disease sufferance, predominantly due predominantly

to their following cooked food habits. The claim that a

dependency on b12 pills is due to a natural diet is false and

misleading. Tens of millions of people are non-meat eaters and

they do not take b12 nor do they need it. Half of India doesn't

eat meat, religiously, and they don't take b12, religiously.

Successful raw fooders who eat a predominantly raw fruit diet,

like me, have never, will never, and don't take b12. Where does

a cow (or other herbivorous or non-meat-eating animal) get all

its b12 from? The fact is that all organisms make it in their

guts and recycle it within themselves because so little is needed.

 

One must also remember that mineral and vitamin assays done on

fruits (and all foods) can only measure nutrient levels down to

certain concentrations. Anything below these levels is given a

zero rating. Fruits are relatively rich in b-vitamins and it

can reasonably be expected that b-12 will be amongst that

intricate, interconnected complement. b-12 levels will be

extremely low in fruit, due to the extreme small need for the

vitamin in the life of the fruit and the animal body. There are

countless other as yet undiscovered and unnamed nutrients in

live, raw foods that are necessary for life. We don't worry

about them, we don't need to worry about b-12.

 

B-vitamins are important catalysts in energy production within

an animal organism. Very little are needed. Fruits being high

in b-vitamins and natural sugars, give plenty of energy to a

human. Fresh b12 needs in a human are extremely minute, being

around or below 1 microgram per day (1 millionth of a gram)

for a healthy person.

 

Meat digestion requires a highly acidic environment in the

stomach and intestines, and the manufacture and absorption of

b12 is exasperated by elevated acid levels in our digestive

system. Acid conditions in our stomach inhibit the secretion of

Intrinsic Factor, which is required for b-12 absorption when

food moves into the large intestine. This is why meat eaters

are most frequently afflicted with the so-called b12 deficiency

diseases.

 

The b12 issue is another campaign that is fostered, promoted,

and taken advantage of by a predacious supplement industry. Many

fearful, gullible persons are swept up in the misconceptions and

misinformation surrounding the issue and further propagate

belief systems.

 

If it is hard to get zinc on a raw diet, that only indicates

that not much is needed, similar to b12. In truth, mineral

needs in our foods are very small. The largest needs are for

sugars and water. Much farther down the list are fatty acids

and amino acids. Vitamin needs are miniscule. Our yearly needs

of vitamins have been estimated to fill a thimble.

 

Raw fruits and vegetables easily supply the most readily bio-

available nutrients to the human being. After a raw meal, a

person feels light and energetic. After a cooked meal, a person

feels heavy and lethargic. The body is busy working overtime to

overcome the ill effects of the cooked foods, while having to

put in more work to get out less energy than raw fruit and

vegetables provide.

 

The vitamins and minerals in foods are part of the chemical

energy that is available in foods. It is the chemical energy

in food from which we derive our own energy. Cooking reduces

and destroys the availability of chemical energy in raw

foods -i.e, the availability of minerals and vitamins.

 

..........................to be cont'd