Nature of Science (buried question on salt in Gabriel Cousens/recipes) [u]

[Guest guest]

rawfood On Behalf Of Michael Thursday, April 14,

2005 5:04 PM rawfood

Re: [Raw Food] Eating by design: sprouts, root vegetables (WAS:

brocolli sprouts)

I've noticed that a lot of the recipies in Dr. Cousens' Rainbow Green book

call for a lot of salt, and his ideas seem to be well researched. Has he

amended his position on salt yet?

_____

Hi Michael,

 

I'll expand your question beyond Gabriel's writings, because the vast

majority of RF authors and teachers pass out recipes loaded with salt. For

some reason, they seem to have fixed their attention on the tiny quantity of

" elements " other than sodium chloride, and most of them truly do not

understand that the body does not, except perhaps in the most dire of

emergencies, metabolize salt, sodium chloride. Also, there appears to be

widespread misunderstanding of the distinction between " minerals " and

" elements " (not covered here) and a lack of awareness of the

interconnectedness among the various sciences.

 

The issue, from my perspective, is this: Nutritional discussions sit atop

health science, which sits atop biology, which sits atop chemistry, which

sits atop physics, which sits atop mathematics. If something being said near

the top of this stack (say, in this case of salt, in nutritional

discussions) conflicts with something from a core science (physics, in this

case) then usually (though admittedly not always) the core science is

correct and the other materials needs revision. However, if people have

never learned much physics or chemistry, and/or of they do not process

information in an integrative/interdisciplinary way, then they might never

think about an issue as I have suggested.

 

My comments about salt arise from my understanding of the relationship

between salt and water. This relationship is generic: the same relationship

prevails in a glass, in the ocean, when we salt a frozen road, in the blood.

The same general effects always occur...when we add salt, the water gets

heavier, its heat-carrying capacity changes, and so on. Ten of ten

physicists would agree, there would really be no question about any of this.

 

What then remains is to make the connection back to health, metabolism in

general, blood in particular, and eventually nutrition. But I see very few

people, both in the RF world and in the world in general, taking such an

integrative approach nowadays. We have become a society of specialists,

looking for answers to questions about the heads of pins. We may or may not

find such answers, but even when we do, they generally will not help us, or

help us only in tiny ways!

 

The questions we ask determine the range and scope of the answers we

receive. So I focus first and foremost on the questions themselves, not on

the answers. Those just seem to come.

 

I do my best not to presume/assume. I do not rely upon any system of

" typing, " these always understate the circumstances at hand (at best). I

certainly do not accept things as " true " simply because I've heard them

repeated a thousand times. I seek the relationships among bits of data and

information, not just data and information for its own sake. And I rarely

try to prove or demonstrate a point, instead I always look for an open-ended

question(s). So for me, the pursuit of knowledge and understanding is an

expression of my basic, intrinsic curiosity, not just a search for " how to. "

 

 

Not sure why I just wrote all this, but seems fitting, so there it is.

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

Best to all,

Elchanan