The Daily Green has always promoted healthy eating in the form of real foods as opposed to vitamin supplements. It's not just because we love visiting the farmers' market and cooking up delicious recipes. Studies have shown that real foods high in vitamins do more for your health than their vitamin supplement counterparts.
A study in this week's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and detailed in the New York Times, proposed that if you are exercising to improve metabolism and prevent diabetes, then you may want to avoid antioxidant vitamins like C and E. Why? It comes down to reactive oxygen species (ROS), of which free radicals are a subset. When you exercise, your body creates these compounds, which damage your body's tissues. But your body has a natural defense system for ROS, which vitamin supplements may interfere with. "Thus, it is possible that preventing the formation of ROS by, for example, antioxidants might actually increase, rather than decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes." Essentially "antioxidant supplementation blocks many of the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism," the study states.
This study also recaps several other recent findings that suggest antioxidant supplements could harm you. According to the study, "[A]ntioxidant use in type 2 diabetics has been linked to increased prevalence of hypertension and use of antioxidant supplements has recently been proposed to increase overall mortality in the general population. Taken together, these previously published findings tentatively suggest that fruits and vegetables may exert health-promoting effects despite their antioxidant content and possible due to other bio-active compounds."
The study makes one last important point: Eating vitamins present in foods is still good for you. It's only vitamin pills that seem problematic.
This is one study, of course. But we have yet to hear of any study that reports any negative effects from eating healthy fruits and veggies.
Below is a recap of three more reasons to question the health benefits of vitamin supplements:
1. Vitamins C and E Won't Prevent Heart Attack In a long-term study of male physicians, vitamins C and E did not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, but it is well documented that people who eat plenty of plant foods have a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and other conditions.
2. Vitamin C and E Pills Don't Prevent Cancer Using the same data as the above study, researchers determined that taking vitamin C and E supplements doesn't lower cancer risk either.
This study, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that although antioxidant supplements are used for the prevention of several diseases, "Treatment with beta carotene, Vitamin A, and Vitamin E may increase mortality. The potential roles of vitamin C and selenium on mortality need further study."
I just saw a documentary lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes. You can download it on your computer from Netflix, since it is in the "watch now" category.
A 15-year-old boy goes on a quest for his homeschooling project to determine whether people really get healed at the Gerson Institute. You may recall in The Live Food Factor, Gerson's study is in chapter 8. The movie covers dental mercury, MSG, aspartame, GMOs, irradiation of food, water fluoridation, vaccinations, and more. Famous people in the health movement such as Charlotte Gerson (Max Gerson's daughter), Jay Kordich, and Dr. Russel Blaylock are featured. The young guy even goes down to the Gerson Institute in Mexico and meets cancer survivors. This is a wonderful movie that covers the deception of the cancer industry but leaves you with a warm feeling at the end!
Speaking of vaccinations....I LOVED this Ron Paul youtube video where he points out that when there was a swine flu before, more people died from the vaccinations than from the flu itself! http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22507.htm
Here's another great video: Molly the cow escapes from a slaughter house and finds a home with a vegetarian!
½-1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 30 minutes and cut into small pieces with scissors
1/2 cup shredded raw sweet potato
Combine the seeds and make butter through the blank screen of a juicer. If you don't have such a juicer, mix in a food processor using the "S" blade. Combine the seed butter with all the other ingredients, and blend in either the Blend-Tec or Vita-Mix, or process in a food processor.
This recipe has several items that are great for the eyes! It contains sources of Vitamin E (sunflower seeds and pecans) as well as Vitamin C (green peppers and tomatoes). The sweet potato has beta-carotene.
Article by Susan Schenck published in the magazine, Well Being Journal
The Power of Raw Foods
A diet rich in raw foods is an important component to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
Raw foods not heated over 118 F contain the enzymes needed for their digestion.1 Enzymes are catalysts, the spark plugs of life. They are protein molecules that work in a "lock and key" fashion to facilitate chemical reactions in virtually every cell, organ and system from digestion to elimination.
When you eat cooked food, you force your pancreas to crank out more digestive enzymes. By age 40, the average person has only 30% of his digestive enzyme production potential left. 2 This a major reason for increasing tiredness with age. According to Dr. Edward Howell, who spent a lifetime researching enzymes, "The length of life is inversely proportional to the rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential of an organism."
"It is shown that when the enzyme potential is exhausted beyond a particular point, it triggers the end of the lifespan." 3 In other words, by incorporating more raw foods into your diet, you extend your life. You also have more energy freed up: Energy no longer needed for digestion often goes to the higher centers creating a spiritual awakening, renewed creativity, mental alertness, along with enhanced optimism, meditation, focus and concentration.
Raw foods are also richer in vitamins. Viktoras Kulvinskas, who helped Ann Wigmore found the Hippocrates Health Institute, created a list of the various destruction of nutrients from cooking. He compiled this list from numerous scientific journals and detailed them in his classic book , Survival into the21st Century (p. 48). He discovered that about 45-55% of B vitamins are lost in heated foods, as well as 70-80% of Vitamin C, and 50% of Vitamin E, for example. "Cooking does not improve the nutritional value of food," he writes, "It destroys or makes unavailable 85% of the original nutrients."
In addition, inorganic mineral elements are combined naturally in raw foods with molecules containing carbon, making them organic. According to Dr. Vivian Vetrano, "These [organic molecules] are the useful mineral compounds, and they are in the proper balance for human nutrition. When food is cooked, the minerals are separated by the heat from this organic combination, returning to inorganic molecules which recombine as toxic inorganic salts, such as sodium chloride, causing many health problems, such as arterial plague, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease" 4 (Incidentally, Dr. Vetrano has been eating a raw food diet since age 17 and now, at age 81, is still able to dance bale and climb trees!)
Furthermore, raw foods contain phytochemcials, nutrients that serve as antioxidants and modulators of the body's defense mechanisms. Many of these are useful to the body only when not cooked. For example, in a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (October 25, 2008) entitled "Bioavailability and Kinetics of Sulforaphane in Humans after Consumption of Cooked versus Raw Broccoli," it was found that the anti-cancer compound sulforaphane was biavailable at the rate of 37% if the broccoli was eaten raw, but only at the rate of 3.4% if eaten cooked.
Another study was recently done at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. 5 They found that eating raw broccoli and cabbage slashed bladder cancer risk by 40%. However, the researchers did not find such a protective benefit from eating the same quantity of cooked cruciferous vegetables. It is evident that the anti-cancer properties of vegetables are destroyed by cooking. One exception seems to be lycopene found in tomatoes: It is more readily released and bioavailble if the tomatoes are cooked. However, the lycopene is just as well released when the tomatoes are raw, but blended (as in raw soups that include tomatoes, or freshly squeezed tomato juice).
Another prized ingredient of raw food is electrons. A free radical is a molecule that is missing an electron, and since it wants to rebalance its electrical charge, it will try to steal an electron from wherever it can: molecules of fat, protein, DNA, etc. When DNA is altered, it can lead to cell mutation, possibly to cancer. Therefore, it is good to have spare electrons FROM RAW FOODS? to give to these free radicals so that they don't wreak havoc.
A healthy, vital body contains lots of spare electrons. Raw food activists David and Annie Jubb note that "We've all met people that appear to glow...Having spare electrons allows this glow to be a more permanent condition." 6 Foods rich in electrons are raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted or soaked grains. Spirulina and flaxseed are especially high in the capacity to absorb solar electrons.
Raw foods also contain biophotons. In 1982, German physicist and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Fritz Popp and his colleagues proved the presence of biophotons, biologically produced units of light, in vegetables. Biophoton emission can be thought of as a kind of biological laser light with a very high degree of coherence, capable of transmitting information, which ordinary incoherent light cannot achieve.
Dr. Popp proved that the quality of a food is mianly dependent on the number of biophotons it contains. Cooking destroys nearly 100% of the biophotons. Adding chemicals to, processing, preserving and irradiating all endanger the biophotonic force of foods. Fresh, sun-ripened, organic food eaten straight from a vine, tree, stalk or ground contains the greatest number of biophotons.
Wild foods were found to emit two times as many biophotons as cultivated organic foods. Organic foods emit five times as many biophotons as commercially grown foods. Cooked or irradiated foods emit almost no biophotons. 7
Water is another ingredient found in raw foods. The water found in raw organic produce is superior to nearly all water. People who start to eat more and more raw foods report becoming much less thirsty because they eat less cooked, dehydrated foods that require drinking a lot of water for their digestion. A young body is more than 80% water, but with age this can decrease to 60%. Getting old is often thought of as "drying up," "shrinking," or "withering away." These metaphors are not far from wrong. In fact, an older body holds less water than a younger body. If we are to stay youthful in body, mind and spirit, we must be sure our source of water is the best and get as much of it as possible from raw food. Cooking evaporates some of the water and also lowers the quality of the remaining water normally present in fresh food.
Bacteria are another precious ingredient in raw foods. Ironically, it is because of bacteria that many people think they have to cook their food! But when you cook to kill the potentially harmful bacteria, you also destroy the friendly bacteria necessary for optimum health. 8 A lack of "good" bacteria can result in yeast infections, intestinal disorders and other symptoms associated with weakened body defenses. Eating cooked food, especially cooked meat and dairy (which Americans tend to overeat), causes putrefactive bacteria to proliferate and eventually dominate and replace the natural population of beneficial intestinal flora. This causes colon dysfunction and allows for the absorption of toxins from the bowel. This disease state is called dysibiosis or dysbacteria. Raw foods stimulate production of healthy bacterial flora.
Raw foods are also rich in oxygen. Heat reduces the oxygen found in fresh food, oxygen we need to resist disease. Cancer cells and AIDS viruses thrive in blood low in oxygen. Raw foods contain small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which provides oxygen to kill viruses.
Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. It has been likened to the "blood" of the plant. The chlorophyll molecule is almost identical to the hemoglobin molecule, which is the oxygen carrier in human blood. Therefore, when you eat plants in their living, unheated state, the chlorophyll actually feed oxygen to your body. Cooked food does not contain this organic type of oxygen. This is why, when you eat lots of greens or drink wheatgrass juice, you immediately feel a surge of energy. Wheatgrass is an especially good source of oxygen.
Oxygen stimulates digestion, promotes better circulation in the body, promotes clearer thinking, protects against anaerobic bacteria, and nourishes every cell in the body. Without sufficient oxygen in the blood, the metabolism and digestion become sluggish. The body loses energy and is ripe for disease.
It is not hard to incorporate more raw foods into your diet. Start breakfast with a smoothie of fresh fruit blended with greens such as kale and some foods rich in minerals, such as spirulina, goji berries, maca and bee pollen. Add a tablespoon of raw coconut butter. For a snack, pack an apple or some homemade trail mix of raw nuts and seeds, sundried shredded coconuts, and goji berries. For lunch, pack a salad with homemade dressing of raw apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil (raw if possible) with raw agave nectar. Dinner can include salads or raw soups. There are now dozens of recipe books for raw food entrees, desserts, etc.
Susan Schenck, LAc, is a raw food coach and author of The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet. (This book contains contributions by Victoria BidWell and Dr. Vivian Vetrano.) More information about raw foods can be found at her site www.livefoodfactor.com.
1Food Enzymes for Health & Longevity, Dr. Edward Howell, p. 108 and Enzyme Nutrition, The FoodEnzyme Concept, Dr. Edward Howell, p. 72.
212 Steps to Raw Roods, Victoria Boutenko, p. 5. For more information also read Enzyme Nutrition, by Dr. Edward Howell, p. 25-29. He cites numerous studies, including one at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in which the enzymes in the saliva of young adults were found to be 30 times stronger than in people over 69.
3Enzyme Nutrition, Dr. Edward Howell, p. 25.
4The Live Food Factor, p. 187 (NOTE: Dr. Vetrano was a contributor to my book.)
5 The findings of the Roswell Park study were presented at a meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Philadelphia. For more information, go to http://www.naturalnews.com/023655.html
6Secrets of an Alkaline Body, The New Science of Colloidal Biology, p. 62-63, Annie and David Jubb.
7 Dr. Fritz Popp of Germany wrote several published articles about biophotons, including a 1984 paper called "Bio-Photon Emissions: New Evidence for Coherence in DNA." You can also find his work summarized in Gabriel Cousen, MD's book Spiritual Nutrition, p. 162-166 and Dr. Cousen's book Conscious Eating, p. 576-577.
When people think of healthful food, they often think it costs more.
Yet, during the Great Depression, some people actually got healthier because
they could no longer afford the frills of processed foods, which were made of
refined wheat and sugar. With a bit of planning and armed with the following tips,
you can actually get healthier and at the same time spend less!
1--Go to your local farmer's market at the last half hour.
Buying at the local farmer's market assures you that you are not buying
irradiated food (which is full of toxic free radicals), whereas if you buy from the
supermarket, even produce labeled organic might be irradiated! Also, talk to the
farmers: often they use organic methods, but cannot afford to go through the
process that it takes to be able to label their food as "organic." Go when the
market is about to close, when the farmers will often give drastic reductions.
I have seen fruit go from $4 a pound down to $5 for everything that fits in a bag.
2--Ask the farmer to bring you a box of weeds next time.
Offer $20 for a box of weeds to a farmer using organic or sustainable
(nontoxic) methods. Weeds are usually discarded, but are more nutritious
(alkaline and mineral-rich) than the foods growing around them! Use them in salads
and smoothies. Dandelions are an example, and are very detoxifying to the liver.
3--Go vegetarian or reduce meat consumption.
Meat is expensive; nuts and especially seeds as a source of protein are much cheaper.
If you feel you must eat meat, cut back to no more than the size of a deck of cards
or your palm, 3 times a week. Other good sources of protein are greens, hemp seed powder,
sprouted beans and grains, nuts and seeds.
4--Eat in, not out.
Forgoing even cheap, fast food restaurants will save you money. Learn some
simple fast recipes that are packed with nutrients, such as steamed vegetables topped with
grated walnuts or flaxseeds, smoothies made with fruit and greens, and raw soups. Go out
to eat on occasion, for the fun of it, but just for a salad and smoothie.
5--Eat raw.
Eat as many raw foods as you can. 84% of the vitamins are destroyed by cooking. 100%
of the enzymes are killed when you heat food over 118 F. Minerals are coagulated
and difficult to assimilate. In cooked food, because of coagulation, the protein
is 50% less assimilable, as research showed at the Max Planck Institute for National Research in Germany. This means that a person needs to eat twice as much protein if it is cooked
as opposed to raw.
6--Sprout organic seeds, grains, & lentils.
Sprouting is an inexpensive way to get a nutrient-intense superfood.
Simply buy some organic lentils and grains and a sprouting jar at your
local food co-op, then order some organic seeds online. Soak the seeds,
grains or lentils overnight, rinse with pure water, and let the jar sit by a
window. Rinse two to three times a day. By the third day,
most sprouts are ready to eat and should be refrigerated if not
eaten immediately. (You can get sick if eating moldy sprouts.)
Go online to learn more. Anne Wigmore,
a pioneer in the raw food movement, went to India and taught beggars to sprout
their beans and rice. The difference in their nutritional gain was enough to get
them off the streets, no longer needing to beg!
7--Grow your own food.
During the Great Depression, this is how many people fed themselves. For
those without a yard, hydroponics make it possible to grow food inside your home!
8--Go into the wild!
Learn from a local forager how you can safely pick wild berries and greens.
Find a book that tells how to choose wild edibles. (Just be sure to read the details
so you don't make the same mistake made by "Into the Wild" Christopher McCandless,
who died from eating wild food that was toxic.) Wild foods are actually much
richer in minerals than conventional hybrid foods are. Don't forage in the city,
unless you are certain the weeds or greens have not been sprayed with toxic chemicals.
Avoid wild mushrooms, which are too risky and potentially deadly.
I know people who ate some, thinking they matched the definitions of edible
mushrooms in the book, but got very sick and took a long time to recover.
My friend Pat turned me on to this great-tasting raw supplement. (It tastes like grape juice!)
ViaViente is like a health food store in a bottle™. It is an all natural whole food including skins, seeds and pulp of 11 fruits, two roots and the purest mineral water in the world that contains the 13 essential minerals to fire up our energy with no heavy metals. ViaViente delivers not only vitamins and minerals but each time you take an ounce, you get 2,500 units of antioxidants in a great tasting liquid that leaves alkalinity in your body!
VíaVienté is not a dietary supplement. It is a nutritionally dense fruit puree juice that supplies extraordinary amounts of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. ViaViente is the ONLY product on the market that is Whole Raw Living Food that supports both healing and energy! It is amazing what WHOLE FOOD does for the body and the best part.......everyone can take it!
In the second edition of the Live Food Factor, I made a statement that my husband and I got arthritis from using a water alkalyzer/ionizer. After talking to a couple of experts on them, I am not so sure about that.
I have heard arguments about both sides in regard to the water ionizers and would now like to say that I am not informed enough to make a statement about them.
I am currently researching raw food weight loss. Ever since the year before menopause, I found that even eating raw was not enough. I had to hide behind a bowl of fruit in the photo for my book! I simply wanted to find out how to get rid of the extra 20 pounds and now that I have done it, I want to write a tips & recipe book.
I would be interested in hearing about any strategies/tips that you found useful to lose weight on a raw food diet.
I am also collecting recipes, and I will give a free copy of this book to anyone that contributes an original recipe that I decide to use. Just be patient, it could take a year before it is out! I am going to be working full force in promoting the second edition of The Live Food Factor, but also researching and writing this book which will be very short compared to The Live Food Factor. (No more long books for a while!)
You might want to contribute 3 or 4 of your ORIGINAL recipes so that I can select the best one. The recipes I am looking for are FAST, EASY, DELICIOUS and either LOW CALORIE or USE COCONUT OIL/BUTTER/CREAM or FLAXSEEDS (the fat burners!). I also would like a few that use hemp seeds, which contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. (Does anyone have a great hemp seed cracker with corn recipe for corn chips?)
