Hello Laurie,

>> I often wonder about the actual protein requirement of
 my body, and what  foods might meet that need, while being
>kind to my digestive system. Any advice on protein requirements,
> good food choices to meet them, and ways of
>> adding more variety to my diet? ;stop

What you say below corresponds roughly to what I thought. I didn't have the
exact data but the general idea is the same.

However, you did not reply exactly to the question. It's ok to say that an
adult needs 0.4% (approx.) of his diet in protein but how much protein in
grams does it mean? A common ussage is to say that we need X
grams-of-proteins / kilogram-of-weight. But this is not accurate either in my
opinion. If two adults of same age, same height, etc... differ largely by
their weight (e.g. one may be obese). It doesn't make sense to provide more
proteins to someone who has only an excess of fat. Maybe he needs more but
not in the same proportions. What is your idea on this?

> ... human baby is growing new tissue at the most rapid rate of its entire
> life, the baby's protein needs are at a MAXimum, ...

One may argue that this is not exact. The faetus at its early stages has
probably a much higher growth rate. However, his absolute weight compared to
its mother's weight is very small and can be ignored. I point out this
becaause we often say "a pregnant woman has to eat for two". True, but it
does not mean she has to eat twice as much. However, after 5-9 months, the
faetus weight can no longer be neglected. Do you have some data about the
needs in protein of a pregnant woman all along her pregnancy time?

> This biologically correct quantity of protein may be EASILY supplied by
> fruits and vegetables.

It would be interesting to see if they can met our needs of fats (plant fats,
of course) and carbohydrates. Do you have similar documents to this one on
fats and carbohydrates?

> Meats (16-36%), eggs (13%), cheese (20-36%), nuts/seeds (10-30%), beans and
> tofu (8%), grains (3-13%) all have FAR too much protein for the human to
> properly digest and should be avoided.

You didn't tell what you think about sprouts ...

> A fruit and vegetable diet will allow the body to detoxify and not only
> approach its ideal weight quickly, but it will also result in a much higher
> energy state and higher consciousness because stored toxins will be
  ------------     --------------------
> eliminated from the body.

Can you explain further about "energy state" and "higher consciousness"? The
usual belief is that, more you eat, the more energy you get. About
consciousness, do you mean that the brain being detox, the mental state will
also change?

This is a question I wanted to ask: what psychological improvements have been
observed while changing to a raw food diet as you suggest?

I wrote a message in February about calories and energy. Is what you say
about energy close to what I wrote? Here is the text:

: Subject: calories/energy

: Some people are wondering if they could have enough calories on a raw foods
: diet. I must say I don't like the word "calories", it sounds meaningless to
: me (this is a personal opinion), I prefer talking about "energy".
:
: First, how can you be sure you will assimilate all (or most of) the calories
: you eat. In my opinion, you will assimilate more in proportion on a raw food
: diet because raw foods are better fit for humans and, thus, beter (more
: efficiently) digested.
:
: Have you ever thought about the amouunt of energy required to digest foods. I
: wwould be interested to know what part of our dayly energy expense is
: dedicated to digest foods. One can easily assume it takes a lot more energy
: to digest cooked foods (that are not really suitable for us) than raw foods,
: annd especially sprouts, that are almost self-digested.
:
: And what about the "leucocytosis" (production of white blood cells) when we
: eat cooked foods, mainly animal foods. This does not happen with a raw foods
: diet: energy is saved again.
:
: Cooked foods, mainly animal foods, are full of substances that our body
: consider as toxins. What energy is lost again by the whole system to get rid
: of these "alien" substances.
:
: So my guess is that we probably need a lot less energy (or calories, if you
: like) on a raw food diet than on the traditional diets.
:
: It may seems to be a paradox to speak about "saving" energy while others are
: asking about "getting" energy but the final result is the amount of energy
: available at the end.

I can add to this that a clean (detoxified) body is more efficient in getting
and processing stored substances that will produce energy.
--
Pierre Gaumond.       <[log in to unmask]>