ON THE DEFINITION OF LIVING FOODS - MOTIVATION
What is the precise definition of the term "living food"? Apparently, there is
no single, universally accepted answer to that question, as I have heard raw
fooders give sharply different answers to that question. A search for written
definitions of the term, living foods, did not yield an explicit definition.
The closest to a definition can be found in "Rebuild Your Health", by Ann
Wigmore (pg. 28), where she says: "Living Foods consist of super nutritious
young organic greens, power packed sprouted nuts, seeds and grains, fabulous
fermented preparations and exciting dehydrated foods." She specifically
mentions rejuvelac, energy soup, and wheatgrass.
However, with great respect, Dr. Ann has not given us a definition; instead
she has basically said that "living foods are defined as the foods I eat". Such
an approach does not provide an informative definition, only a list of foods.
A precise definition would allow one to examine a food and determine if it
qualifies as a "living food".
The problem in using a list, rather than a definition, is as follows. One can
simply define living foods as sprouts and fermented foods (in which case
there are questions about some fermented foods, per my previous article on
fermented foods). On the other hand, if one defines living foods as those foods
with highest life force energy in them (intuitively, a *very* desirable
definition), then sprouts qualify, fermented foods are again in question, and
some fresh fruits/veggies consumed within a few minutes of picking might qualify
(but refrigerated, shipped produce has lost energy and doesn't qualify). Of
course, if one defines living foods as the foods with highest life force, then
dehydrated foods would not qualify. To make life even more complicated, some
people using the term living foods, specifically exclude (some) raw fruits/
veggies, even if picked only a few minutes before eating.
Some brief thoughts on what constitutes a living food are as follows.
* clearly fresh, raw sprouts are alive and growing/active; hence they are
living
* cooked food is dead so it is not a living food
* unsprouted raw seeds, nuts are alive in the sense that one can activate
them by soaking/sprouting. In the unsoaked form they are in suspended animation,
or "asleep". As sleep can be considered philosophically a form of death, and
they are not biologically active, they are clearly alive but probably not
living food in the sense that most use the term. (The life force energy in
them is dormant, until sprouted.)
* vegetables and fruits present some dilemmas. Most raw root vegetables, if
planted in the ground, will grow hence are alive until they spoil in storage.
If alive="living" they could qualify as living, though many raw fooders exclude
them from the term. Things like baby lettuce, greens, are alive and actively
growing at picking time, and if eaten very soon thereafter might be considered
living; however if they are refrigerated, shipped long distances, and eaten 2
weeks after picking (while still green, before turning yellow or brown), it is
unclear how much life energy is still in them.
* the situation with most fruit is similar to lettuce, but with the additional
complication that some fruits must be picked and ripened off the tree, an
example of which is avocados. Some people include raw fruits and veggies in
the term "living foods", others specifically exclude them and refer to them
only as raw foods.
* when one considers liquids, such as honey, sprout milk, fruit and vegetable
juices, the situation is very unclear. Probably the best guidance here is
freshness of the materials used in making the liquid, and also how long the
liquid is stored. Enzymes - so long as one talks about original enzymes present
in the food, not enzymes added as a supplement - are a good measure of
freshness. Some raw fooders think enzymes = life force; that is clearly not
true; enzymes are an agent of the life force but are not the life force. (The
life force is an energy; it cannot be powdered and sold in pill form, like
enzymes are.) Getting back to liquids, if the liquid is made from living foods,
and is only a few minutes old, then it should qualify as a living food itself.
* fermented foods present more definitional problems, as the base food clearly
decomposes (dies) in time, such that eventually only the bacteria of
fermentation is alive (and in some fermented foods they produce so much acid
that they literally die in their own acid "waste").
* one more complication - pollen. Is it alive? I would argue that it is as one
can remove pollen from plants, refrigerate it, then brush it on living flowers
and it works. (Talking about fresh pollen, not freeze-dried). So, it is alive,
but should it qualify as a living food?
The topic of the definition of the term, living foods, will be discussed further
in a future article.
Tom Billings
|
