RAW FOOD AND JUICES

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

© Revised, July 2008, The Center For Development

This article explores the pros and cons of raw foods and juices as part of nutritional balancing programs and for general health. In short, I have found that raw food diets are not best.

Cooked food has definite benefits for most people. Some vegetable juice daily is excellent, up to 4-8 ounces daily but no more. More than this is very yin. Fruit juices are also far more yin and too sugary and are best avoided.

BENEFITS OF UNCOOKED FOOD

1. Food in its natural state has its full complement of vitamins, minerals, food enzymes and much more. Thus if one wants the maximum amounts of these in a food, cooking will damage the nutrient content, particularly long and high-termperature cooking.

2. Raw food has a lot of fiber, more than any cooked food. However, this often means the food is indigestible and just passes through the intestines.

3. Raw food is concentrated vitamin nutrition.

4. Raw food is natural and wholesome for animals.

THE EFFECTS OF COOKING

Vitamins. The vitamins most damaged by cooking are C and E. Fats and fatty acids are also all damaged to some extent. Protein is also denatured by cooking long enough. The protein structure is altered and often becomes hardened and less digestible.

Cooking for about 10 minutes begins to destroy vitamin C. Vitamin E is destroyed in about 20 minutes or a little more, depending on the temperature of cooking and the way the food is cut up, at times.

However, stir-frying for under ten minutes can preserve most vitamins C and E.

Fats and Oils. Fatty acids, sometimes referred to as vitamin F, are also damaged by cooking. Processing of vegetable oils except olive oil involves sustained heat which damages most vegetable oils sold, even those labeled ‘cold-pressed’.

The damage occurs after the pressing. Vegetables oils may be further damaged by sustained high heat, for example when frying food. Frying oils used in restaurants are often unhealthful as they are used over and over for several days.

Butter, olive oil, coconut and palm oil are much more stable when cooked than are other vegetable oils. Meat fat is often more stable as it is more saturated and therefore less affected by cooking at low temperatures. High temperature frying, however, can change all fats and oils into harmful products.

Starches. Uncooked starches are mainly not digested well at all. This includes the grains such as rice, wheat and others. Vegetables starches like potatoes are somewhat better digested but not much. While they have lots of fiber, the nutrients in the starch are not too useful and just pass through the body as fiber or roughage.

Sugars. Sugars can be altered by cooking if the cooking time is long. They form caramel and other unhealthful products. Honey and molasses are better eaten uncooked, as cooking makes them less digestible.

Protein. The structure or shape of proteins is changed by cooking. However, the amino acids themselves are not usually damaged.

Minerals are not affected by cooking. In fact, they are often made far more bioavailable by cooking because the cooking breaks down fiber in which the minerals reside.

Enzymes. All foods contain food enzymes that are destroyed by most cooking. Gentle steaming, however, preserves a few of them. However, food enzymes are not the same as the digestive enzymes we give to everyone. This is a very important point. The body does not require the food enzymes to digest the food. In some cases, in fact, one is better off without them.

PROBLEMS WITH RAW FOODS

1. Improper Cleanliness. This is the most important and serious problem today with raw foods. It is particularly a problem in restaurants and with all meats, fish, eggs and seafood. Do not eat these raw!

They contain bacteria, parasites and other microorganisms killed by cooking. While some advocate eating raw meat, eggs and fish, all may contain harmful parasites and bacteria.

2. Reduced Digestibility. Most people cannot digest raw foods well. They lack the enzymes to digest cellulose and other vegetable fibers. This is a fact, even if one does not like it. Taking a cellulase enzyme will help, but will not overcome this problem.

Some vegetable-eating animals have three or four stomachs and regurgitate the food several times to help them digest raw food. Many people also have weak digestion in addition.

Many nutrients are locked within the starch matrix of vegetables and fruits. These are unavailable to most people if eaten raw, as raw starches are very difficult to digest. Cooking breaks down the starch and cellulose and other fibers, releasing the nutrients.

3. Raw food takes much more time to eat correctly as much more chewing is required with raw food. Most vegetable-eating animals eat most of the day. Cooking condenses foods, so less food is required. Vegetable-eating animals in particular spend a good part of the day eating to get what they need.

Also, energy must be expended to heat up raw food in the body. Slow oxidizers and anyone with impaired digestion cannot derive as much nutrition from raw foods for this reason.

4. Raw foods are extremely “yin”. This is another significant problem with all raw diets and, in fact, even with eating a lot of salads and other raw foods. Cooking makes foods more ‘yang’ in Chinese medical terminology.

The bodies today are all quite yin to begin with. This is due to radiation, toxic chemicals, toxic metals and electromagnetic stress we all must cope with.

This problem is relatively recent in the twentieth century. Older books about diet often suggested raw foods and they were correct!

However, things have changed drastically in the past 50 years or so, and raw food is no longer that healthful for this reason as well as the others above.

Yin and yang is an ancient Chinese medicine concept that is quite subtle. It is described in a separate article entitled Yin and Yang Healing.

THE BENEFITS OF JUICING

1. Juicing delivers a concentrated liquid nutrient product by eliminating the fibrous part of fruits and vegetables. It is a way to get a lot of vitamins and minerals without having to sit down and eat a dozen carrots or other food in large quantity.

2. Juices are convenient. They are fast to make fresh at home and easy to take and enjoy if properly sweetened. Chewing is not required. Some nutrients, however, can be obtained more easily than by eating the whole food.

PROBLEMS AND CAUTIONS WITH JUICING

1. Cleanliness. This is the same as with other raw foods. we would never suggest having juice from a juice bar unless you are sure the carrots and other ingredients are thoroughly washed in very clean water.

Also, after juicing, the juicer machine must be washed well after every use, as it can harbor molds and bacteria.

Otherwise, you could easily pick up parasites, bacteria or worse from a glass of even very fresh juice.

Packaged juice is not as good, but is probably cleaner, although even there it can become moldy quite easily.

2. Very, very yin. Juices are extremely yin products, even moreso than other raw food. Therefore, while we like carrot and other vegetable juices, have no more than about 6 ounces daily. Fruit juices are the most yin of the foods available to mankind, even more than straight sugar.

Please avoid all fruit juices unless totally diluted, and even then they are not worth bothering with. Some berries are excellent foods for anti-oxidants and some other nutrients. Thus a little goji berry juice or other berry juice is okay at times, but not much.

3. Juices can concentrate toxic substances found in fruits and vegetables. For this reason, only use organic vegetables and fruits for juicing. For example, pesticides may be concentrated in juices. Fiber in foods helps prevent absorption of some of these chemicals.

4. Juices with high sugar content, including even carrot juice in some people, can upset the blood sugar level. Be careful with juicing if your blood sugar is unstable. If you eat a food with fat and protein with the juice, or after it, it may help this problem.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Raw Foods. The best is raw dairy products, such as raw organic certified milks, cheese, yogurt, kefir and butters. If possible, eat all oils raw or only lightly cooked.

Certified means the animals and equipment are rigorously inspected and tested for bacteria. Years ago certified raw milk was the only kind fed to babies and children. The milk industry, which often sells unclean milk that is ‘fixed’ by pasteurizing it, lobbied heavily to eliminate the competition of the raw certified dairies.

While salads as part of an overall diet are fine in moderation, we recommend that a maximum of 10% of one’s diet be composed of raw foods. Of these, the best are fats, oils, nuts and nut butters.

Good nuts include walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts and pecans. They have little starch to break down and contain valuable oils that are damaged by cooking. Almonds and cashews are also excellent foods, though they are better eaten toasted.

Seeds are also good foods, but when raw contain enzyme inhibitors. They are best sprouted and eaten in salads or lightly cooked.

Add cooked foods. Eating just salads does not provide nearly enough vegetables. Two or three cooked vegetables should be part of two of one’s meals each day. For leafy and non-starchy vegetables, we recommend rapid cooking such as stir-frying or steaming. For starchy foods and meats, slower methods of cooking at low temperatures such as steaming, baking, crock pots or broiling are best.

Eggs are best poached or boiled. Soft is better than hard. Toast or crackers are better than bread, as more of the starch is broken down.

A 4-6 ounce glass of preferably fresh vegetable juice is fine on occasion. Consumption of large quantities of juices is neither necessary nor helpful for most people.

Results of raw juice therapies are nowhere near as good as they were 50 years ago due to the changes in the bodies over this time period.

In restaurants. I do not recommend raw food in restaurants. Most is not fresh. It is often not washed well and may contain parasites, pesticides, sulfites and other chemical residues. Cleanliness is also an issue at health food juice bars. Bottled fresh juices may be cleaner if produced under healthful conditions.

Juice Recommendations. We recommend that everyone could drink 4-6 ounces of carrot or carrot and mixed green juice daily or several times a week. Alternatively, wheat grass juice is also an excellent juice in a dose of 1 or 2 ounces of fresh juice daily.

Originally the Eck Institute Bulletin, Vol. 19, #2, Feb. 2003.

Home * Hair Analysis * Saunas * Books * Articles
Detoxification Protocols * Courses * About Dr. Wilson