Sandy, I posted this to the CR list to rub their noses in a raw
diet, & I'm sure the facts below will be useful in arguing with the
anit-raw folks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is a cross-posting of a message just posted to the Longevtiy
list (an uncensored vehicle for open discussion) by Dennis Fink,
which should be of interest to us here.  NB the stats. for raw fruit
& raw salad eaters.  NB that this comes from an establishment
medical journal, & that in the past generation a paradigm shift has
occurred.  No longer is it maintained in establishment literature
that "diet has no effect" on disease (& hence aging).  Thought
everyone would want to be apprised of the very latest,
state-of-the-art research on the proper human diet.

-Doug Schwartz

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a short article on LONGEVITY that I am sure Hans won't mind
my posting.

From:
International Health News
Editor: Hans R. Larsen  MSC CHE
Number 60    December 1996     5th year

An apple a day does keep the doctor away!

British researchers have confirmed that
health-conscious people live longer.  Their study began in
1973 and involved almost 11,000 health-conscious people, 43
per cent of whom were vegetarians.  The participants were
recruited through health food shops, vegetarian societies, and
health-oriented magazines and were followed until 1995 at
which time 1,343 of them had died before attaining the age of
80 years.  The researchers discovered that the rate of
premature death (defined as death before the age of 80 years)
was far less among the health-conscious people than among the
general population.  The expected rate of death before age 80
in a comparable group of 11,000 people picked from the general
population would be over 2,400, yet the actual premature death
rate among the health-conscious people was only 1,343 or 56
per cent of the expected norm.  The difference in death rate
was particularly noticeable in the case of cancer, diabetes,
heart disease, and diseases of the digestive system.  Health-
conscious people had a premature rate of death from all
cancers which was only 63 per cent of that in the general
population.  The rate of stomach cancer was only 48 per cent
and for lung cancer only 30 per cent of the expected.  In the
case of diabetes, the rate of premature death among health-
conscious people was only 27 per cent of the expected; for
heart disease it was only 50 per cent, and for diseases of the
digestive system it was only 40 per cent.  The researchers
also discovered that health-conscious people who consumed
fresh fruit daily had a 24 per cent lower premature death rate
from ischemic heart disease, a 32 per cent reduction in death
rate from cerebrovascular disease (eg. stroke), and a 21 per
cent reduction in overall mortality compared to the health-
conscious who consumed fresh fruit less regularly.  The
reductions in death rates held true even after adjusting for
smoking.  Daily consumption of raw salads was also found to be
highly protective against premature death from heart disease.
Key, Timothy J.A., et al.  Dietary habits and mortality in
11,000 vegetarians and health conscious people: results of a
17-year follow up.

British Medical Journal, Vol. 313,
Septemeber 28, 1996, pp. 775-79