Just wanna note that I may not have time to get to all the replies right
now, but I'll get to them!

Anyway, Jean-Louis said:
>As you may know, some tubers contain some mild toxins (potatoes
>contain solanine and chaconine, etc), independently of being cooked or
>not. That might be an explanation. May I ask you which tubers caused
>skin eruptions and sinus congestion?

Well I am aware of GREEN potatoes containing solanine, but if they're not
green, there should be no solanine in them. The green/solanine happens
when potatoes are exposed to sunlight. Regular potatoes do however
contain cholinesterase inhibitors, and for that reason probably are best
not eaten. Sweet potatoes & so forth t
hough, are no problemo!
BTW, Never heard of chaconine.

I had said:
>> This evening, I had a meal of all raw sunflower seeds, a sweet potato, beet,
>> carrot, corn on cob, cabbage, and romaine lettuce. I feel simply phenominal.

Jean-Louis said:
>i.e. most of the starch was from the sweet potato. Did you experience
>skin eruptions after eating only 1 (ONE) cooked sweet potato??

No, not just the sweet potato. Also the beet (a whole beet), corn on cob,
and carrot. These are all high starch/complex carbohydrate foods. The real
raw "jet fuel"!

And as for the skin eruptions via eating cooked starches, yes I got them
after just 1 regular potato. Let me explain. Back in March, I was 100% raw,
but I was 1) not ready for it yet, and 2) I really didn't know what the
heck I was doing!

Anyway, I re-implimented some cooked food (baked pot
ato) into my diet. The
main result: skin eruptions. Boiled potato/sweet potato/yam did the same.
Cooked starches are toxic (to me, again won't generalize :) ). It was all
that useless cooked garbage that I put into my body. Cooked tubers are
dead. No life force, no "electricity"; and the wholeness is destroyed, the
whole food is altered and destructured. The starch is broken down and is
deadly to blood sugar, etc.. In other words, the food acted as a toxin in
my body. Walah - pimples and sinus congestion. No surprise. These are two
avenues the body uses to deal with toxins, i.e. detoxification.

>Otherwise, I agree with you that starches give you energy, are more
>warming than fruits, etc. But that applies to cooked starches as
>well; and not everyone is ABLE to eat raw starch on a regular
>basis. Some time ago, I used to eat celery roots or artichoke every
>day; it lasted a few mont
hs, and then I had enough (impossible to
>swallow them for several months). Even carrots: despite their high
>sugar content, I can't eat more than once or twice a week these
>days.

Yes, I reiterate: most fruits are cooling and breakdown foods. You don't
maintain/gain weight with most fruits. They also cool the body - not good
to eat too much fruit in cold weather! And as for the raw starch - each to
our own. Cooked starches were awful for me. The difference between raw
starch foods and cooked is like comparing a whole/unbroken vase to one
which has been shattered into smitherenes/dust. Seriously. BTW, I wouldn't
recommend artichoke unless you have a lot of time on your hands to eat ;).
Carrots are best in moderation due to sugars. Again the key lies with the
starchy tubers (conventional and wild) and even grains which are also great
raw.

I said:
>> Regarding calories in the
diet: while I believe raw calories are obviously
>> superior to cooked calories,

Jean Louis said:
>A calorie is a calorie. Once digested, one gram of glucose yields
>4 calories, one gram of fat 9 calories, etc. With cooking,
>digestibility can be improved (e.g. starch, or some tough and fibrous
>vegetables...) or reduced, nutrient (vitamin, minerals) availability
>can be improved or reduced.

No... There are whole calories and there are damaged calories. Cooked foods
are damaged goods. We can't compare a raw yam to a piece of white bread
and say, "It's just starch!" It doesn't work that way. And I don't believe
that cooking makes starch more digestible. That is fallacy. Raw starch
contains a full compliment of food enzymes which break down the molecules.
I know from experience. Results speak for themselves.

I invite all to check out this very intriguing link regardin
g raw starch in
the diet.

http://www.newveg.av.org/raw/staffoflife.htm

Wes