Chewing vs. Blending

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I'm reading, particularly among those trying the RF Challenge,

about not getting enough calories. Some are suggesting smoothies as a

solution. This is indeed correct in the short run, but blending your food is

no substitute for really relearning to eat the proper quantities of food

your system needs. I hope the following repose it helpful to some of you.

Best, Elchanan

_____

Elchanan, PC Saturday, April 09, 2005 8:57 AM RE: [Raw

Food] Chewing vs. Blending

________________________

 

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Copyright under Natural Law and Common Law, 5765 (2005 CE) by The Office of

the Presiding Chaplain of Vibrant Life and His/Her Successors, a Corporation

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Written by Elchanan. Copyright under Natural Law and Common Law,

5765 (2005 CE) by The Office of the Presiding Chaplain of Vibrant Life

and His/Her Successors, a Corporation Sole. All rights reserved.

________________________

 

As a species, we are designed to chew, and we are designed to eat one food

at a time. In fact, our primary satiation mechanism (in the mouth) works

ONLY when we consume one food at a time AND chew the food. These are optimal

approaches to eating for our species, anything else is suboptimal, under

most circumstances.

 

Whenever you take someone whose diet has been, say, a 2 or 3 on an imaginary

10 point scale, and you feed that person even a 4 or 5, their health will

improve noticeably. But this does not mean the 4/5 is optimal, only that it

is sufficiently superior to make an immediate and palpable improvement. I am

not saying Ann 's diet was a 4 or 5, quite the contrary, I am only

attempting to create a context in which to consider the topic at hand.

 

For all her wisdom, the late and beloved Ann Wigmore, referenced below,

appears never to have grasped this point or at least not to have considered

it important. None of us entered the world with a blender any more than we

entered the world with a stove. Blending is fine under certain

circumstances, but blending does not explain Ann's success. Her success

arose from feeding people a diet so far superior to what they had been

eating that they could only improve dramatically and quickly. However, this

did not occur primarily because of blending, but rather because of the

replacement of depleting substances with nourishing substances.

 

This principle is utterly basic, and therefore easily overlooked. As a

species, we seem inclined to overlook the obvious, by which I mean simply,

that which is in harmony with Nature's design, and give ourselves credit for

the brilliance of our own inventions (I like the phrase " concoctions of the

forebrain " ) instead. We are indeed a wonderfully curious and inventive

species, but we have not ever transcended Nature itself.

 

Ann was attempting to use rejuvelac as a supplement. But those of us who use

no supplements at all provide a living testament to the absence of any need

for them and the fallacy of claims made on their behalf. Further, the notion

that the tiny quantity of vitamin E in a gallon of rejuvelac somehow

prevents oxidation is preposterous chemistry. The creation of rejuvelac is a

fermentation process, plain and simple, just as any other fermentation

process, and if you let it run an extra day or two, you get " champagne, " by

which I mean measurable alcohol content, bubbles and all ( " carbonation " ),

just as with any fermentation process. In this sense, it is no different

than making beer or wine, only the ingredients at the start are different,

and not really much so, in comparison with beer.

 

Also, though not the topic of this post, the whole enzyme-in-raw-food

notion, which Ann and so many others have all adopted from the work of Dr.

Howell, is misguided and just plain poor science. The body MUST secrete

virtually all the enzymes required to digest food, cooked or raw, because of

the timing involved. And in any event, the act of blending, particularly at

high speed, introduces significant oxidation, which if anything may damage

not only enzymes but many nutrients, in comparison with their state in any

whole, unblended food. (Blending literally whips air into the food. This

approach, in fact, resembles how most modern " ice cream " is made!!)

 

So I suggest that we all blend for convenience or for enjoyment, but that in

the main we eat whole food the way Nature makes it, not the way Ann Wigmore

or any other human prescribes.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

_____

Dale writes:

 

Ann Wigmore wrote a book, " The Blending Book " . Here are some quotes:

 

" Blending is the easiest and most efficient way to provide food that is both

 

nourishings and easy to digest. By blending foods, we can counteract the

poor eating habits most of us have developed over the years, and that are

the cause of many of the physical problems we have. " page 7

 

" Blending living foods with Rejuvelac, for example, prevents the loss of

vitamins because the vitamin E in the Rejuvelac acts as an antioxidant.

Adding shredded carrots, zucchini, or other vegetables to your blending

mixture will provide extra fiber, which is very important for digestive

health. " Page 8

 

" The most important key to health is to use blended foods in small amounts

frequently throughout the day. I realize that this may seem drastic, but if

 

you are serious about maintaining or restoring your health, I can assure you

 

that this is the most beneficial way. " pages 8-9

 

She goes on to say, " I have seen so many students come to my centers with

all kinds of diseases. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that every

one of these people suffer from an inability to assimilate nourishment,

which leads to deficiencies and illness. When easy-to-digest, high-energy

blended foods are provided, the changes in their health are immediate. " page

 

9.

 

She also says, " My personal opinion is that a diet should consist of 70

percent blended foods and 30 percent other living foods. But each person

has a different system and different needs; one must learn to listen to his

or her own body. " Page 11.

 

Dr. Ann said, " I cannot emphasize enough the importance of blended foods in

 

order to give the body a chance to assimilate nourishment to supply the

missing elements. " Page 20.

 

" By blending fresh, raw, organically grown foods, we not only relieve our

metabolic enzymes of extra job of digestion, but we add to the store of

enzymes in our body. Another advantage of blending is that a very

satisfying meal can be obtained from a relative small amount of food. This

further relieves the enzymes in the digestive tract and avoids the

overworking of a longoverburdened system. "

Page 25.

 

What blender did Ann Wigmore use? " At the Ann Wigmore Foundation, we use a

Vita-Mix blender; I have found that this is the best blender to use in the

long run. " Page 35.

 

 

 

 

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