Raw Foods?

[lynjess]

I'm trying to eat more of my foods raw rather than cooked cause I read it's more healthy. Does anyone have any cool recipes for raw foods?

[ellencho]

How about take an apple, wash it, dry it. Eat it. :wink:

Check out my salads for people you love thread. There's an orange and fennel salad recipe in there that is completely raw.

Anyway, just wanted to warn you, you're going to be farting up a storm for the first couple weeks or so, and also raw food diets aren't necessarily better for you than cooked food diets. Your body simply isn't equipped to break down all of the cellular components of raw foods and if anything you'll end up pooping out a lot of stuff that might have been better absorbed had you cooked it first. Certain foods are more nutritious raw, and others cooked. I guess you're going to have to look that up on your own bceause i'm too lazy right now.

You might want to consider taking supplements to make up for what you're missing from your cooked diet.

[lynjess]

Anyway, just wanted to warn you, you're going to be farting up a storm for the first couple weeks or so, and also raw food diets aren't necessarily better for you than cooked food diets. Your body simply isn't equipped to break down all of the cellular components of raw foods and if anything you'll end up pooping out a lot of stuff that might have been better absorbed had you cooked it first. Certain foods are more nutritious raw, and others cooked. I guess you're going to have to look that up on your own bceause i'm too lazy right now.

You might want to consider taking supplements to make up for what you're missing from your cooked diet.

LOL. Now see, I keep reading that raw food diets are better for you than cooked foods. I could NEVER go completely raw, but I'd like to make my diet about 35-50% raw foods maybe? Yea raw fruits and veggies are a sure way to go so I'm trying to incorporate those in my diet.

No I could never switch up completely to raw. I don't know how people can do it.

[Altaira]

I read a lot about how it's good for you and therefore will make you look better.

I'm about to start a "live foods" diet soon, consisting of fruit smoothies, salads, and vegetable soup.

[lynjess]

I read a lot about how it's good for you and therefore will make you look better.

I'm about to start a "live foods" diet soon, consisting of fruit smoothies, salads, and vegetable soup.

Live foods? I'd like some info on that, what are the benefits? I've also been drinking a ton more water and tea as of late (haven't had soda in a year), as well as drinking cranberry juice on occasion.

I love salads though. Not with iceberg lettuce, but romaine. Mmmm...mmmm.

[Altaira]

Same thing, different phrase. Some of the articles calls it live and others call it raw . . .

Besides health, live foods make your skin glow. Even after just three days. Or even one day.

Raw food literature explains the benefits this way:
raw or live foods (it has to be fruits and vegetables) contain enzymes that our bodies need, not only because it provides benefits separate from vitamins and minerals, but also because enzymes are easier for the body to break down or digest.

[Altaira]

Same thing, different phrase. Some of the articles calls it live and others call it raw . . .

Raw food literature explains the benefits this way:
raw or live foods (it has to be fruits and vegetables) contain enzymes that our bodies need, not only because it provides benefits separate from vitamins and minerals, but also because enzymes are easier for the body to break down or digest.

Besides health, live foods make your skin glow. Even after just three days. Or even one day.

[lynjess]

raw or live foods (it has to be fruits and vegetables) contain enzymes that our bodies need, not only because it provides benefits separate from vitamins and minerals, but also because enzymes are easier for the body to break down or digest.

See that's what I have read too. However it's damn near impossible to go raw all at once. It's a long process. I think before anyone starts a diet they should do an internal cleansing fast (hope that doesn't sound too gross) like the lemonade diet. That gets rid of toxins and garbage in your body so you're forced into easing out of it by eating the right type of foods such as fruits and veggies and other good foods rather than the processed crap they sell. But that's just my opinion.

[ellencho]

Raw food literature explains the benefits this way:
raw or live foods (it has to be fruits and vegetables) contain enzymes that our bodies need, not only because it provides benefits separate from vitamins and minerals, but also because enzymes are easier for the body to break down or digest..

I don't really understand the quote because metabolically it makes no sense to me, did you forget to copy and paste the entire blurb? Did you get the word enzyme confused with amino acids? Because yes, there are certain amino acids that your body requires that it can't make on its own (lysine, histidine, tryptophan etc) that it must acquire from outside sources.

But for a person to eat a raw food diet in order to harvest those essential amino acids would require breaking down those enzymes that you speak of, which would happen regardless of the food being raw or cooked because there are digestive enzymes in your stomach (such as pepsinogen) as well as acids that break down proteins/enzymes into their constituent parts (which are amino acids) (ps, all enzymes are proteins but not all proteins are enzymes). Yes there are acid-labile and heat labile enzymes out there that won't necessarily be broken down but I don't think you need to eat a live/raw food diet in order to obtain those enzymes.

[minbo]

In general, with any restricted diet, be it vegetarian, vegan, live, low cal, omnivoire, carnivore, especially the more radical diets, do it mainly because you believe in the ideology or philosophy behind the diet. Don't just jump on the diet because you think that it is healthier.

If you take the amount of time effort that goes into planning and preparing a healthy live food diet day after day and put that same time and effort (balancing nutrition and selecting good component, dietary suppliments, etc) into any other diet, vegan, vegetarian, lacto-ovo, omnivore, those can also provide the healthful benefits that you may be seeking.

[Taliesin Stormheller]

I eat about 50% raw foods and I'm as sick as ever, so it doesn't help- but raw foods do taste better than cooked. Sashimi is always good if you eat meat, as are salad and, of course, sprouts. Always grow your own sprouts, it's easy and fun, and they contain tons of good stuff like protein (30-40%), fiber, and chlorophyll.
How To Grow Sprouts
Get a jar, like an old kimchee container. Wash some sproutable beans (available in the health food section of Chinese supermarkets) and soak 'em overnight. Drain, then fix a cloth or coffee filter around the top of the jar with a rubber band. Tip it over at a 45 degree angle into a big bowl and rinse/drain the beans every time you get up, get home from work, and go to sleep. That's thrice a day. Shake the jar (shake it like a salt shaker, shake it like a salt shaker) intermittently. Repeat for a week, then eat your sprouts with a little soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, what have you. Good beans to sprout are: the classic mung and soy beans, alfalfa which you can also feed to your rabbits if you have any, red beans for dessert, methi/hu lu ba beans for a curry flavor (curry rocks) black beans to mix it up Latino style, etc.
Other raw Chinese style foods to try that I eat frequently are:
Good ol' cucumbers 'n' garlic
Get a cucumber, chop it up, pound some garlic, mix the garlic with salt 'n' Chinese vinegar, add salt to the cucumbers, and toss.
Peppermint 'n' tomatoes
Get peppermint leaves, lots of tomatoes, and chop 'em up. Add sugar and set it aside until the liquid starts coming out of the tomatoes. This is for dessert.

[vsoy]

I think the enzymes that the raw diet tries to preserve by not cooking are co-enzymes like biotin, panthenoic acid, B12,ascorbic acid, etc. While some of these co-enzymes are destroyed by high temperature, some of the best sources for some of these co-enzymes are from meat.

Not sure if I agree with co-enzymes being easier for the body to digest. I suppose the blurb is trying to say if you eat foods with co-enzymes then you're saving your body the trouble of making it, saving energy.

A family friend got terribly ill from eating some herbal stuff and destroyed his kidneys. He had to go on dialysis and went to this health diet/lifestyle institute where they espoused this raw diet, but took it a step further by dictating certain food combinations. Eating starch with meat/amino acid containing foods was considered unhealthy because the stomach digested starches differently from amino acids and that took up energy and difficult on the body. You had to wait 4 hours after eating the meat or starch before you can eat the other.

It was the most moronic and impractical diet. We'd all be extinct by now if it was so unhealthy to eat the most basic meal of meat, vegetable and starch. However, this family friend was in really bad shape and it kept him alive until he got his kidney transplant. It gave him something to do, focus on.

But for the average,reasonably healthy person, the human body can handle digesting different combinations of food, whether or not the food is cooked or raw. Providing people eat a variety of food, rich in vegetables, they are going to get the nutrients they need to flourish. However, I do see the appeal of a raw diet, eliminating processed foods full of chemicals is definitely a positive aspect. Deep-frying foods, even if they are vegetables, can crosslink oils, forming unhealthy, potential carcinogens. But what's life without french fries once in a while? Moderation is key.

[vsoy]

Regarding sprouts, I agree with TS, it is better to make your own. Who knows if those sprouts from the store are hygenic and not covered with diarrhea-inducing bacteria? I just don't have the time/patience to grow them so more power to you if you can carry out a more healthy diet.

[ellencho]

Not sure if I agree with co-enzymes being easier for the body to digest. I suppose the blurb is trying to say if you eat foods with co-enzymes then you're saving your body the trouble of making it, saving energy.
IIRC, co-enzymes are used by the body in their whole forms and not normally broken down into their constituent parts for nutrition unless the person is starving.

[vsoy]

Come to think of it, co-enzymes are not enzymes; they are molecules that can be part of certain important enzymes. Thanks for the clarification ellen, my biochem teachers would have appreciated it. :oops:

[ellencho]

That's funny, I just looked up coenzymes to see if I missed anything, and they showed the structure of coenzymeA and yep, there's no amino acids!

[Altaira]

I don't really understand the quote because metabolically it makes no sense to me, did you forget to copy and paste the entire blurb? Did you get the word enzyme confused with amino acids? Because yes, there are certain amino acids that your body requires that it can't make on its own (lysine, histidine, tryptophan etc) that it must acquire from outside sources.

But for a person to eat a raw food diet in order to harvest those essential amino acids would require breaking down those enzymes that you speak of, which would happen regardless of the food being raw or cooked because there are digestive enzymes in your stomach (such as pepsinogen) as well as acids that break down proteins/enzymes into their constituent parts (which are amino acids) (ps, all enzymes are proteins but not all proteins are enzymes). Yes there are acid-labile and heat labile enzymes out there that won't necessarily be broken down but I don't think you need to eat a live/raw food diet in order to obtain those enzymes.

I went by memory, but it turns out I used the correct word.
The word is enzymes, not co-enzymes.

___________________

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:fm3oSZ8aWgIJ:www.living-foods.com/faq.html+raw+foods,+live+enzymes%5C&hl=en

What are Living and Raw Foods?

Raw and Living Foods are foods that contain enzymes. In general, the act of heating food over 116 degrees F destroys enzymes in food. (Enzymes start to degrade in as little as 106 degrees F). All cooked food is devoid of enzymes, furthermore cooking food changes the molecular structure of the food and renders it toxic. Living and raw foods also have enormously higher nutrient values than the foods that have been cooked.


What are Enzymes?

Enzymes assist in the digestion of foods. They are known to be the "Life-Force" and or "energy" of food.

From the dictionary:
Noun: Any of the various complex organic substances, as pepsin originating from living cells and capable of producing certain chemical changes in organic substances by catalytic action, as in digestion.


Why are Enzymes Important?

Enzymes are important because they assist in the digestion and absorption of food. If you eat food that is enzyme-less, your body will not get maximum utilization of the food. This causes toxicity in the body. (Can you guess why over 75% of Americans are overweight?)


Doesn't the acidic ph of the stomach destoy enzymes?

Viktorus Kulvinskas, one of the world's foremost and most experienced active researchers into enzyme nutrition has information showing then stomach acid merely deactivates food enzymes. The enzymes are then reactivated in the more alkaline small intestine. Many people who eat all raw foods, sense a world of healthful difference in our energy, digestion and connectedness with nature by eating enzyme-rich living foods. When we stopped eating cooked protein foods which require large secretions of stomach acid (which is not healthful for several reasons) our stomach doesn't produce much stomach acid. Many people who eat raw foods eat a low protein diet and are free from the stomach acid secretions and have much more energy and a lighter disposition.


Is there a difference between living foods and raw foods?

Living and Raw foods both contain enzymes. In living foods, the enzyme
content is much higher. Raw, unsprouted nuts contain enzymes in a "dormant" state. To activate the enzymes contained in almonds, for example, soak them in water for as just 24 hours. Once the almonds begin to sprout, the enzymes become "active" and are then considered living. In the context of this web site, the terms are used loosely.


Why eat only Organic Foods?

When juicing or eating foods, it is very important to choose to consume only organically grown produce. "Conventional" or "industrial" produce are grown with pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, and other chemicals that are toxic and/or harmful to your body. Organic foods are grown without the use of these harmful substances, taste better, and are more nutritious.


Will rinsing wash off the pesticide from industrially grown produce?

Rinsing with cool water will remove some surface pesticide residue, but not the pesticide that was absorbed into the produce as it was grown. Some of the most severely tainted types of produce are strawberries and bell peppers. Some of the least tainted: carrots and avocados.


Is this a "new" fad diet or something?

Not at all! Consider the following: during the vast majority of our existence on this planet, what choices did we have for food? What COULD we have eaten during the first 10-50,000 years (or more) before we discovered fire, tools and implements to kill animals? The original diet of homo-sapiens MUST have consisted primarily of vegetables, fruits, and nuts! What other choices did we have? Clearly, a raw, plant based diet is the main food staple throughout the vast majority of the history of Humankind! Before Humans started killing and eating dead animal carcass, we ate fruits, leaves, nuts, berries, etc...


Is this just another vegetarian or vegan diet?

Yes and NO! This is the ULTIMATE vegetarian/vegan diet. It should be the goal of all vegetarians, vegans and SAD - [Standard American Diet] eaters to eat raw. The benefits are out of this world! Once you embrace an all-raw and living food diet, you are more living, have more energy, better health, think more clearly, and become more in tune with your body! This type of diet even gives you a "competitive edge" over people that eat life-less food.


What is the difference between a raw/living foods diet and a vegetarian one?

Vegetarians and vegans believe in only eating a plant based diet.
Living and Raw Foodists believe in eating only an UNCOOKED, UNHEATED, UNPROCESSED and ORGANIC plant based diet.


What is a Living Foodist or Raw Foodist?

A person who eats 75% or more living/raw food.. The more, the better. Optimally one should eat 100% raw and living foods if it feels right for them.


Is there just one type of living/raw foodist?

There are many subcategories of living/raw foodists. Some include:
Fruitarian - People who consume mostly fruits.
Sproutarian - People who consume mostly sprouts.
Juicearian - People who consume mostly fresh juice.
Why would someone want to eat a raw and living foods diet?
There are many reasons why people eat a raw and living foods diet.
Health: Persons embracing this type of diet invariably experience improvements in their general physical and mental status, including more energy, better health, more energy <smile>, weight loss, detoxification, and a sturdier immune system that better resists and recovers from just about any kind of disease... and the list goes on...
Energy efficiency: Since you no longer have to cook, you don't waste electricity, and save the environment.
Since you eat organic agriculture, you help to save the planet. Most become more in-tune with their body; many report definite spiritual improvements.
No animal products are used, so the animals appreciate it.


What do raw/living foodists eat?

Raw and Living Foodist eat all fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed. In some instances, there are special ways to prepare the foods (example: most raw and living foodists soak/sprout nuts, seeds and grains before consuming them). For some delicious recipes, see our recipe section!

[Altaira]

Here's another source

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:unPG64iSYwwJ:www.ghchealth.com/enzymes-and-longevity.html+raw+foods,+enzymes,+coenzymes&hl=en

[kimtae]

Tree-hugging hippie BS. Some foods are better cooked, some are better raw. Carrots, for example, will pass through your body about 90% of their nutritional value undigested if eaten raw. Why do you thing a raw food diet makes you fart so much? Cooking helps you to digest some foods better. Trust me, most people get plenty of raw food without being on a "raw food diet".
Tomatoes, by the way, as well as grapes, have a very different nutritional value when cooked and actually have more health benefits in the form of anti-oxidants than if eaten raw.
What about pickled foods? Pickled foods have a lot of nutritional value that raw foods don't have as a result of the fermentation process. Think kimchee.
What about protein? Where are you going to get that? Most raw foodies have to take all kinds of supplements.

[Altaira]

I heard about the tomatoes being better cooked, too. There's quite a bit of contradictory ideas about health.

[angi]

Anyway, just wanted to warn you, you're going to be farting up a storm for the first couple weeks or so, and also raw food diets aren't necessarily better for you than cooked food diets. Your body simply isn't equipped to break down all of the cellular components of raw foods and if anything you'll end up pooping out a lot of stuff that might have been better absorbed had you cooked it first. Certain foods are more nutritious raw, and others cooked. I guess you're going to have to look that up on your own bceause i'm too lazy right now.

You might want to consider taking supplements to make up for what you're missing from your cooked diet.

LOL. Now see, I keep reading that raw food diets are better for you than cooked foods. I could NEVER go completely raw, but I'd like to make my diet about 35-50% raw foods maybe? Yea raw fruits and veggies are a sure way to go so I'm trying to incorporate those in my diet.

No I could never switch up completely to raw. I don't know how people can do it.

I think the raw food diet is a bunch of crap (literally and figuratively) for the same reasons ellen mentioned. We aren't equipped with the digestive system nor dentition to eat raw veggies 100% of the time. Plus, like ellen said, you just don't get the same benefits. Now, overcooking your veggies will leach all the goodness out of them so it's best to steam them whenever possible but the raw food peeps take that concept a lil too far, IMO.

[Altaira]

At least fruits were meant to be eaten raw. I'm undecided about vegetables being eaten raw 100% of the time.
But eating raw fruits and (not sure about vegetables) does a body good.

[angi]

Now that I think about it, this stuff really pisses me off because it preys on people who haven't had any scientific training. It's like, they throw in a few general principles and some pseudo-science fancy pants words and people buy it hook, line, and sinker.

When in doubt, check out quackwatch.com (although they haven't hit on the raw food diet yet, it is coming soon. but elements used to sell the raw food diet are on site)

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/mp.html
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ms.html


(PS why would anyone want to do a diet that makes them fart all day? YUCK)

[Altaira]

A raw vegetable diet works for raw foodists who see the first hand benefits of it. Otherwise, they wouldn't be believers. And if I didn't agree with their choices, they'd still have a right to their choices and I wouldn't attack or mock them.

About that quackery site, it has good intentions.

However, I'm not sure I agree with their position against Acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and any alternative medicine being quackery just because it doesn't have the approval of the Western medical establishment. Also, it's not in doctors' best interests to have us healthy enough to not need their services. So, I wouldn't trust all doctors. Not that I'm saying this is this particular doctor's motive.

Raw foodists (I'm not one, by the way) aren't out to steal anyone's money. They advocate eating raw fruits and vegetables, not buying some enzyme product, which is what the quackery site talks against.

[ellencho]

I heard about the tomatoes being better cooked, too. There's quite a bit of contradictory ideas about health.
The nutrient in question about tomatoes is lycopene, and it's heat-labile so eating cooked tomatoes is just as nutritious as eating them raw. Pizzerias were pretty psyched when that announcement was made beacuse it made pizza "healthy".

[lynjess]

Wow, angi and ellen thanks for the tidbits of info. Angi I'll surely keep that in mind about steaming them.

What are your views on organic food? The same or no?

[ellencho]

Doesn't the acidic ph of the stomach destoy enzymes?

Viktorus Kulvinskas, one of the world's foremost and most experienced active researchers into enzyme nutrition has information showing then stomach acid merely deactivates food enzymes. The enzymes are then reactivated in the more alkaline small intestine. Many people who eat all raw foods, sense a world of healthful difference in our energy, digestion and connectedness with nature by eating enzyme-rich living foods. When we stopped eating cooked protein foods which require large secretions of stomach acid (which is not healthful for several reasons) our stomach doesn't produce much stomach acid. Many people who eat raw foods eat a low protein diet and are free from the stomach acid secretions and have much more energy and a lighter disposition.
That is a outright lie. Your stomach will ALWAYS produce acids regardless of what diet you eat. Even chewing gum or the smell of food will stimulate your stomach to produce its digestive fluids. If your stomach didn't produce acids, then we'd be pretty sick most of the time, not only from the inability to digest our food but also from pathogens from dirty food. Eating only raw foods does not suppress the production of stomach acids because raw foods need to be broken down just as much if not more, as cooked foods. In fact, the more food of any kind that you eat ends up messing with the overall pH of your stomach acids, thereby stimulating your stomach to produce even more acids to compensate for the rise in pH.
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio115/pepsin.htm

Also, the section about the enzymes becoming "reactivated" in stomach acids doesn't sound too kosher to me either. From what I understand, the low pH of stomach acids will denature the enzymes into a simpler, more linear polypeptide strand. Then pepsin comes in and further breaks down the polypeptide strand into its constituent amino acids. So by the time you food gets to the small intestine it's too late for the enzyme to renature because its building blocks have been freed from their peptide bonds. Not to say that aren't heat-labile, and acid-labile enzymes and even some pathogens, but the majority of things that enter your stomach will have the same fate.

[vsoy]

A raw vegetable diet works for raw foodists who see the first hand benefits of it. Otherwise, they wouldn't be believers. And if I didn't agree with their choices, they'd still have a right to their choices and I wouldn't attack or mock them.

I wouldn't necessary say that people are attacking or mocking the raw food diet, but questioning the validity of some of the principles it is based on. It's part of discourse. Someone brings up a point, someone else does a little research to counter or support it. I find this an interesting topic and incorporating some of the ideas (eating more veggies, sprouts and fruits) would be good idea, but I still don't know what enzymes they're talking about.

From my personal experience from my family friend whose kidney was destroyed by herbal medicines, the raw type diet helped him. Perhaps because his body was so weak, he benefitted from a diet of sprouts and vegetables, but partially I think from placebo effect and focusing on doing something positive for his health.



About that quackery site, it has good intentions.
Uhoh, in many situations, good intentions can wreck havoc. If a group of people have good intentions but the basis of their ideas is inaccurate and the facts they proclaim are inaccurate, then it's ok? I find it irresponsible behavior for experts (especially MDs and PhDs) to make statements that are inaccurate.



However, I'm not sure I agree with their position against Acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and any alternative medicine being quackery just because it doesn't have the approval of the Western medical establishment. Also, it's not in doctors' best interests to have us healthy enough to not need their services. So, I wouldn't trust all doctors. Not that I'm saying this is this particular doctor's motive.
Some MDs have anti-alternative medicines attitudes, but some support a supplementary approach, combining Western with alternative therapies which can very theurapeutical in very sick people.


Raw foodists (I'm not one, by the way) aren't out to steal anyone's money. They advocate eating raw fruits and vegetables, not buying some enzyme product, which is what the quackery site talks against.
But if they can get enough people to believe in their theory, they can make a name for themselves. Authority in a field can lead to endorsements, book deals, tv appearances, honorarium fees to speak at conferences, all sorts of perks. And if some people think they benefit from it, then they feel good about it.

[angi]

A raw vegetable diet works for raw foodists who see the first hand benefits of it. Otherwise, they wouldn't be believers. And if I didn't agree with their choices, they'd still have a right to their choices and I wouldn't attack or mock them.


What people believe and what will actually pass scientific scrutiny are two different things. If people want to eat raw foods, by all means they should feel free to do it. I would certainly hope they get some kind of supplemental dietary aids because as others have mentioned, a lot of the nutrients just pass through the digestive system unabsorbed.

However, when so-called "experts" start using pseudo-science and confuse people with scientific sounding jargon in order to sell their latest book, fad diet, or nutritional supplement that has little to no health value, then, yes, I do feel free to attack them. Why? Because they are taking advantage of people, mainly sick people who are desperately trying to regain their health or many cases, live.


However, I'm not sure I agree with their position against Acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and any alternative medicine being quackery just because it doesn't have the approval of the Western medical establishment.

I think quackwatch makes it pretty clear it is there for informational purposes only. The information given is based on scientific studies, in which some will say there may be a benefit here. The site is giving information so people can be informed of the possible benefits, if any exist, and the possible complications. I would not say it is anti-alternative medicine, rather anti-alternative medicine making claims it cannot support.

lynjess: I know there is a lot of debate over organic foods. One camp says its better quality, the other says it is a waste of money. I buy most of my food at Trader Joe's because the quality is superior to the regular markets. Most of their food is organic and their organics are the same price as the regular market stuff, so I usually go with that. I do usually buy the free-range chicken & meats, and buy the non-hormone treated meat and dairy. Logically, I know it doesn't make any difference.

I tell you one thing though, I do not buy produce from Mexico. There have been way too many recalls of Mexican fruits and veggies in the past few years. (Remember when they recalled Mexican strawberries (or was it melons?) a few years ago because they were being grown in water/fertilizer that contained human excrement.)

[vsoy]

In addition to not ingesting pesticides with your food, organic food is often grown and harvested with practices that are replenishing and beneficial to the environment. Pesticide and fertilizer runoff is a big source of waterway pollution. Crop rotation and compost fertilization gives nutrients back to the soil. If you can afford organic and want to support environmentally friendly farming practices, go for it.

I'm trying to buy more organic food but I have a hard time paying milk that costs 2-3x more than regular milk. It tastes a little bit different, but not much. One nice thing about organic becoming more mainstream is that it is more readily available, quality is getting better and it's becoming cheaper. Is there a national standard for what consistutes organic or does it vary from state to state?

[Altaira]

I heard about the tomatoes being better cooked, too. There's quite a bit of contradictory ideas about health.
The nutrient in question about tomatoes is lycopene, and it's heat-labile so eating cooked tomatoes is just as nutritious as eating them raw. Pizzerias were pretty psyched when that announcement was made beacuse it made pizza "healthy".

Lycopene supposedly acts as a natural sunscreen, protecting the skin from the sun. I like and spaghetti and pizza so I'm pretty happy about this.

[Altaira]

Uhoh, in many situations, good intentions can wreck havoc. If a group of people have good intentions but the basis of their ideas is inaccurate and the facts they proclaim are inaccurate, then it's ok? I find it irresponsible behavior for experts (especially MDs and PhDs) to make statements that are inaccurate.


However, I'm not sure I agree with their position against Acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and any alternative medicine being quackery just because it doesn't have the approval of the Western medical establishment. Also, it's not in doctors' best interests to have us healthy enough to not need their services. So, I wouldn't trust all doctors. Not that I'm saying this is this particular doctor's motive.
Some MDs have anti-alternative medicines attitudes, but some support a supplementary approach, combining Western with alternative therapies which can very theurapeutical in very sick people.


Raw foodists (I'm not one, by the way) aren't out to steal anyone's money. They advocate eating raw fruits and vegetables, not buying some enzyme product, which is what the quackery site talks against.
But if they can get enough people to believe in their theory, they can make a name for themselves. Authority in a field can lead to endorsements, book deals, tv appearances, honorarium fees to speak at conferences, all sorts of perks. And if some people think they benefit from it, then they feel good about it.

In the boldened quote, I think you meant to argue on Angi's side against my point, but mistakenly are arguing on my side against Angi's post about the quackery website. oops.

That website attacks Chinese medicine and Acupuncture. Acupuncture has worked for hundreds of years, but Western medical establishment acts like they are the end all standard that screens everything like some monopoly corporation.

[ellencho]

Just to clarify, my responses to the live food/raw food quotes from that website were not meant to attack Altaira in any way. I have issues with the reasoning used and was criticizing the author and not Altaira and I apologize if anything seemed like a personal attack.