Wes,,,


----- Original Message -----
From: "Wes Peterson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2002 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: The importance of food combining!


> Blake,
>
> >> All throughout the book, he gives scientific rationale and quotes
various
> >> scientific literature in an attempt to substantiate his claims. He also
> >> speaks of his personal experience in working with people (clients),
> >applying
> >> the principles.
> >
> >Anyone can supply scientific references for anything, this does not
refelct
> >it's accuracy.
>
> Right. But the bottom line should be results, and many people have
> experienced great results with applying food combining principles. All the
> intellectualizing, theories, beliefs, etc. in the world doesn't mean
nearly
> as much as results.

Read the article by Jeff N again, he does not say that people do not get
some benefits when they practice food combining, but the benefit is not from
food combining per sei.

>
> Have you read Shelton's materials on food combining? He quotes physiology
> texts in some detail. I don't have the inclination to check up on any of
it
> to verify the accuracy or lack thereof of the rationale.

No I have not read sheltons writings on food combining.

A chapter from a book of his is online here:

Correct Food Combining
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020126shelton.orthotrophy/0201
26.ch26.htm

>
> >> Most of the protein digestion takes place in the pyloric portion of the
> >> stomach, in a strong acid environment.
> >
> >This is not right,  most protein digestion takes place in the small
> >intestine. This is consistent with any mainstream university teachings as
> >was the case with the two universities I have studied phisiology at.
>
> I haven't studied digestion physiology theory in-depth, nor do I feel any
> need to do so (again, the main thing for me is results; theory comes a
> distant second). However, I did get the impression that most of the
> digestion of protein takes place in the pyloric portion of the stomach, in
> concentrated HCl + pepsin, which transforms the protein mass into "chyme",
> prior to its moving into the duodenum. I do not know what percentage (on
> average) of protein digestion takes place in the stomach, and what
> percentage takes place in the small intestine.
>
> >> Howell's long-time research (over the course of decades) found that
> >enzymes
> >> from food are active in the cardiac portion of the stomach. He said
that
> >on
> >> average, this lasts for about 45-60 minutes, prior to the food moving
into
> >> the pyloric portion of the stomach, and later, the small intestine.
> >
> >Howell is well known for his lack of scientific credibility.
>
> He was an M.D., and he engaged in decades' worth of credible research on
> food enzymes. Have you read/studied his books? As far as I know, no-one
else
> has studied the food enzyme issue as in-depth as Howell did. His was
> pioneering work. To dismiss his work seems rather closed-minded.

As you will agree with me credentials do not imply credibility. There are
MD's, ND's, RD's etc that advocate a huge range of diets that completely
contradict each other. There are also people who have done decades of work
on many areas of which many conradict each other and many of the ideas these
peoples research comes to produce is false. No I haven't read his work but I
have read exerpts and reviews of it. I did not dismiss his work outright, in
fact I initially agreed with it, then I researched it more and came to
realise how false much of his claims are.


>
> >Do "food enzymes" significantly enhance digestive efficiency
>
> In my experience, yes they do. A strong case in point for me was when I
was
> a devitalized, sick, SAD eater, several years ago. I started doing some
> study on natural health at that time. I experimented with tons of
> supplements during that time. One of the few things that I felt any
> noticable results from was a food enzyme supplement (not pancreatic
enzymes
> -- food enzymes). It dramatically helped improve my digestion, vitality,
and
> well-being. I became aware of a lot of other people who also experienced
> great benefits from food enzyme supplementation.

Have you read the boyondveg article I linked to in my past post??? In all
three parts??

The following exerpt from the third page of the article covers why enzymes
therapy is not evidence in support of food enzymes.

---------------------------------------------------------

"CLAIM: The successes of enzyme therapy (via enzyme supplements) also prove
the value of eating raw food to get its enzymes.

COMMENT: The fact that enzymes taken as tablets with protective coatings (to
avoid destruction by stomach acid before they reach the small intestine)
might be of therapeutic value for some individuals (particularly those with
inherent or genetic problems with enzyme metabolism) doesn't mean they are
helpful for everyone else or for human health in general. Nor does it mean
that the food enzymes that accompany raw foodstuffs have an equivalent
effect.

One cannot compare the large amounts we get with enzyme therapy (i.e.,
enzymes taken in capsule or tablet form) with the enzymes in food itself.
Most enzymes in food are destroyed by the stomach acids. In formal enzyme
therapy, the tablets or capsules that people swallow are soluble only in the
small intestine (so that the enzymes are not destroyed by the stomach
acids), taken outside meals (to improve absorption), and probably in larger
quantities and concentrations than what occurs naturally, since foods
contain a mixture of many different enzymes, which appear at more modest
concentration.

Such enzyme therapy via tablets or capsules with protective coatings is no
doubt useful for individuals whose bodies lack the capacity to produce
certain enzymes at all. Again, however, the (very) small amount of enzymes
in food itself that might be able to make it through the stomach into the
intestine will not have much significant therapeutic effect for these
individuals.

Some readers will note there are anecdotal claims that oral enzyme therapy
using uncoated tablets (usually chewable) and/or uncoated capsules, is
effective for some. Such tablets typically contain relatively large amounts
of enzymes when compared to the amounts in food, and may have a limited
effect--if the dose is high enough--before the digestive acids destroy the
enzymes in the stomach. However, the possibility that extremely large doses
of digestive enzymes, in chemically isolated and purified form, might have
an effect when taken with food is really not a substantive argument for
eating a 100% raw-food diet, as the amount of enzymes contained in raw foods
is small in comparison to the supplements. Further, some enzyme supplements
also contain mint oils--and mint has a long history of use in
traditional/folk medicine as a stomach-soothing herb. That is, in some
cases, the effect observed from enzyme supplements may actually be due to
the peppermint (or other mint) content of the supplement."

---------------------------------------------------------

>
> Later on, I learned about and applied raw food nutrition, and my digestion
> got even smoother. Now, my digestion usually feels effortless, "smooth as
> silk", and very "light". Oftentimes, it hardly feels like there's even any
> food in there, after a meal and the hours following. I never experienced
> that when eating cooked foods. Digestion most often felt "heavy" and
> burdened, and I often felt tired, after eating cooked food meals. That no
> longer occurs. I'm sure there's more to the reason "why" than just food
> enzymes. Nonetheless, all theories aside...what works well, works well.
>
> Wes
>

I agree it's the results that matters, but success of something does not
suggest accuracy of the theory as to why something works and as you agreed
there are probably many things that lead to your smoother digestion.

Blake