below are my notes from the talk by Raymond Francis. Although the title of the
talk might not suggest it, raw foods are discussed in depth. I would remind
readers that, whenever I post notes from a talk, I endeavor to accurately report
the speaker's remarks, whether I agree with them or not. If you post a followup
(and followup postings are welcome), please do NOT credit me for the speaker's
position, and please do NOT assume I agree (or disagree) with said position. I
mention this because, time after time, someone disagrees with a speaker's
position on a topic, and posts a followup that credits me for the speaker's
position. You can credit me as the poster, but not as the person holding the
position. To avoid confusion, please include a note in any followup, identifying
the speaker as the originator of the material under discussion. Thanks!
Tom Billings / [log in to unmask]

P.S. note the question on Maillard molecules (which I asked). Also, I have
reservations about certain details in the material below. Despite my few
reservations, I thought the talk was excellent. If you have a chance to hear
Raymond Francis speak, he is certainly worth hearing!

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RAYMOND FRANCIS: AVOIDING ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS TO HEALTH - NOTES

Raymond Francis spoke at the SF-LiFE (San Francisco Living Foods Enthusiasts)
potluck on 4 May 1997, at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. He is a
scientist and health educator, and used his knowledge of human nutrition to heal
himself from a terminal illness. He is also the host and producer of the radio
program 'An Ounce of Prevention' on KEST 1450 AM in San Francisco (10-11 AM,
Thursdays), and publishes a national newsletter.

His talk was titled "Avoiding Environmental Threats to Health". Below are my
notes from his talk. Any inaccuracies or errors below are due to the note-
taker, rather than the speaker. Contact information, and my comments, follow
the notes.  The notes may seem discontinuous at times; this is because it
includes answers to (numerous) listener questions, and I didn't always write
down the questions.

Notes.

We are in a crisis. The country is going bankrupt, due to high health costs.
We can turn the situation around, if we get people to eat healthy diets.
Raymond then explained that he researched information on health, then matched
the information to products currently available.

Health is decreasing, while chronic disease is increasing. Why? We have changed
the biological patterns of human existence: diet, environment, and human
behavior. The results are coming in, and are catastrophic: 68% of the total
population has a chronic disease. Cancer struck 2% of the population at the
turn of the century, versus 43% now. Cancer is rare in Hunza, Vilcabambma,
other places where people live long.

We can all do a better job in eating a good diet. Changing the diet is good
but does not alleviate other factors. Eating fresh, raw veggies daily (rather
than the SAD diet), reduces your pesticide load by 80%. If you eat organic, the
pesticide load is negligible.

If you eat your food raw, you will also avoid many toxins. You can lose up to
93% of the food's nutrition in cooking. Also, if you heat food over 375 deg. F,
HAAs are created, where HAA= hetero-cyclic aeromatic amines. These are ultra-
carcinogenic. Puffed grains are toxic; they are produced under high temperature
and pressure, which alters their protein molecules. If you feed puffed grains to
animals, it will kill them.

Do not heat food that contains protein, fats, sugars, as AGEs are created. Food
examples here include pizza, pie, glazed ham. AGE = advanced glycation end-
product. These adhere to tissue, and stiffen it, and can lead to kidney and
muscle problems.

Cooking certain foods creates benzopyrenes (benzo-A-pyrene). This is a very
potent carcinogen. Cigarette smoke contains benzopyrene, which affects the
gene that prevents cancer. Vitamin C, bioflavinoids provide some protection
from benzopyrenes. Note that you can ingest benzopyrene in a raw diet, if
you eat foods grown near a highway or asphalt plant.

Don't eat microwaved foods, as they affect your immune system, and reduce white
blood cells. If you want to cook, steam (or boil) the foods. Most steamed/
boiled foods are OK. You can get AGEs if you mix protein, fat, sugar. AGEs
are also created at room temperature, but very slowly - increase the temperature
and you will get more AGEs.

Oranges vs. Tang. Raymond told of a college professor who, in an effort to
impress his students on the value of fresh foods, had them buy oranges from the
supermarket, analyze them for vitamin C, and compare to Tang (an artificial
orange drink). Result: the oranges from the supermarket had zero vitamin C,
while the Tang had vitamin C. This illustrates that you may think you have a
good diet when you do not. Otherwise fresh food can be colored, flavored, and
processed. [Note taker comment: this shows just how heavily processed modern
fruit is - very little nutrition left. There is no hard proof organic fruit
is fresher or contains more nutrients. Like commercial fruit, organic fruit
is picked green, refrigerated, and shipped long distances.]

Bis-phenyl-A. This chemical is distributed worldwide, and used in a lot of
plastic, including plastic water bottles, food can liners, and also in dental
fillings. This chemical produces a powerful estrogenic effect. Don't drink out
of plastic bottles!

We have created thousands of chemicals, but we don't know the effects of them,
and their interactions. Styrofoam cups are a bad idea. In autopsies of dead
people, 100% have styrene in them - this is clearly not an essential nutrient!
It is worse with hot drinks. Health in Hunza and Vilcabamba is decreasing as
they Westernize.

Raymond recommends that you take 9-12 grams of vitamin C every day. He took 3
grams per day when terminally ill, and it saved his life.

Water. Municipal water has small levels of toxins. Chlorine is a powerful
oxidizing agent. A filter to remove chlorine is advisable, especially for the
shower. Chlorine gas can be found in warm showers, and absorbed through the
skin. This chlorine contact may be a factor in skin cancer. Also, ozone is
better than chlorine for swimming pools.  Fluoride is highly toxic. It causes
weak bones, hip fractures, and may be a factor in bone cancer.

Dental fluorosis now strikes 30% of children. Be careful of distillers; some
put a high level of lead in the water (the lead leaches out from the steel).
If you use reverse osmosis, chemicals may leach out from the plastic. Raymond
drinks high quality distilled water that comes in glass bottles.

Ozone in the air. In Los Angeles, 100% have lung damage from ozone. Take high
levels of vitamins C,E, and antioxidants to help protect against ozone.

A really big hazard to your health: modern medical care! The #1 cause of death
in America is malnutrition. There is a big difference between being well-fed and
well-nourished. The #2 cause of death is the medical establishment (MD's and
dentists). Avoid your doctor. Prescription drugs, especially anti-biotics,
are very dangerous. DES, di-ethyl stilbestrol, a former prescription drug,
was banned in 1971 because it is a factor in cancer in the grandchildren
of women who took it as a drug. [Note taker comment: it might still be legal
for use in cattle.]

Raymond recently announced a leading cause of cancer: local anesthetic drugs.
These are a major factor, if not the #1 cause of, cancer. The drugs in question
are lidocaine, procaine (brand name: Novocaine). The breakdown products of
these drugs are 100% carcinogenic in test animals and in humans.

Women in higher socioeconomic groups get more breast cancer because they get
more ("better") medical care, also more mammograms. The breast cancer rate
is also correlated with the use of local anesthetics.

Replacement for Novocaine? Acupuncture, hypnosis. For major oral surgery, use
the Hubble technique (barbituates); this is used by most oral surgeons.

Q: What about Maillard molecules?
A: Never heard of them.

Q: What about fasting?
A: A good thing to do 2-3 days per month. Long fasts should have medical
supervision.

NSAIDS. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: aspirin, many other drugs. These
are highly toxic, kill ~20K people/year. Acetaminophen, anti-histamines, break
down into anilines, carcinogenic toxic compounds.

Don't mix metals in your mouth - can set up a galvanic current in your mouth.
The effects on health of such a current are unknown.

Topical lotions. The skin is a semi-permeable membrane. Avoid insect
repellants; the chemical DEET (used in many insect repellants) is very toxic.
Don't use sunscreens. Vitamin C in water is a safe sunscreen.

Hair and skin care products - may contain artificial colors, propylene glycol,
sodium laurel sulfate This compound is used as a standard skin irritant in lab
tests. Creosol, an ingredient in some shampoos, affects the nervous system and
pancreas.  Raymond suggests you buy Aubrey Organics brands.

Carpets, TV, shoes - they outgas for decades. Use cotton or wool carpet,
tiled floors. Use natural fibers in clothes. Turn a new TV on for a while
(in the garage) to let it outgas. Let plastic shoes "bake" in the sun to
outgas. Most outgassing will be over within 1 year.

Cook food at the lowest temperature possible, below the boiling point if
possible. Fragrances - most are synthetic and toxic. You can use natural
essential oils instead.

EMF is another hazard. EMFs have an impact on biological systems; some of the
effects will bad (may interfere with inter-cell communications). EMF
may decrease melatonin production, and melatonin inhibits cancer.  It alters
the flow of calcium into the cells.  EMF is high near power lines. TV sets
should be more than 6 feet away from you. EMF is a complicated issue; minimize
your exposure to EMF.

Tachyon beads - sounds nice but is probably nonsense.

The #1 complaint to doctors - fatigue. Caused by toxic overload on the liver.
Minimize environmental toxins, eat a good diet so the liver can detox the
environmental poisons. Most people need supplements, as our soil is devitalized.

Contact Info:

Raymond Francis
P.O. Box 150578
San Rafael, CA 94915
U.S.A.

Phone: 415-459-2050
Fax:   415-453-7588

Raymond Francis has a newsletter, audiotapes of some of his talks, and is
working on a book. The bimonthly newsletter is called "Beyond Health News", and
costs $34.95/year in the U.S.

Comments (by the note-taker):

1. An excellent talk, very informative! This is the logical, constructive,
positive (and honest) way to discuss cooked vs. raw foods - with real scientific
data, rather than the misleading, incorrect, zealous slogans used by some
raw-fooders.

2. Instead of soap and/or shampoo, one can use a paste made with finely ground
chickpea/channa flour and water (get the flour at an Indian store - the flour
sold in health food stores is not ground fine enough). Such flour is of the
type sold as "besan" in Indian stores: channa besan.

3. The books by Debra Lynn Dadd are excellent for detailed information on
minimizing environmental toxins in the home.

Tom Billings