>> I doubt you would make this [Brix matters] argument in regards to a
>> cow...

Rex:
>But Peter, this is exactly where I make the argument.  Go out and pull
>grasses from various pastures belonging to various farmers.  Squeeze a
>bit of juice in each location and record the Brix result.  Put the
>piece of paper in your pocket.

Rex, you are not following me.  If you feed a cow a diet of high brix
tubers or a lion a diet of high brix grasses, they will not do well on
these diets despite the high brix quality of these foods because they
do not provide the balanced macronutrient profile that these animals
are biologically designed to eat.  Likewise, if humans are not designed
to eat high fruit diets, no matter how high the brix of the fruits
consumed, it will not be able to make up for the macronutrient
imbalances in such diets.

Rex:
>Brix is nothing I've dreamed up.  If anyone here is annoyed with
>Brix, they can take it up with an organization like the Florida
>Department for Agriculture, who conducts tens of thousands of Brix
>evaluations very year.  Those people full well know that they can't
>evaluate quality without that Brix factor.

Rex, you are preaching to the choir.  Nobody here is doubting the
validity or importance of brix.

Peter:
>> ...so I am curious if not what you are saying is that you believe
>> that humans are ecletic omnivores who can thrive on a great range of
>> diets so long as the foods eaten are of a high brix quality?

Rex:
>I'd like to think I haven't espoused any particular diet.  Mainly,
>I've tried to simply say: "You guys say 'this' works or 'that' won't,
>but how can you be sure if you don't factor the quality in?"  However,
>I will go on record as saying that I think (suspect) that one can
>safely minimize the variety of their diet IF they make sure the
>quality is superb.  If that causes you or others anguish because it
>can be twisted by some wacko fruitarian, I'm sorry.

Repeat after me: A high brix, imbalanced diet is less detrimental to
health than a low brix, imbalanced diet and brix never can make up for
fundamental imbalances of macronutrients in a diet. ;-)

Peter:
>> If this is your position are there any diets that you would regard
>> as exceptions to this rule (such as an all snail and spinach diet or
>> an all leaf and organ diet) and if yes, what criteria these
>> evaluations are based on.

Rex:
>Sorry Peter, but I don't have any dietary ideas---I'm a student here.
>OTOH, I'd like to express my appreciation for all that you guys have
>taught me about raw---a good thing.  Perhaps a few of the readers will
>recognize my student status and quit getting so pissed when I say,
>"But professor, what about the quality?"

Nobody on this list has gotten angry with you for your stressing the
importance of quality - on the contrary we all owe a lot for keeping us
so well informed on this vital topic.  It is when you consistently
imply that quality can make up for fundamental dietary imbalances that
you provoke the sensibilites of some of our more logically
inclined members. :)

Rex:
>BTW, I'd also like to make contact with an Instincto in the
>Washington, DC area.  I want to do an experiment to see if the famous
>'stop' on any particular fruit or veggie will disappear if I trot out
>a higher Brix item of the same produce.

That would be an interesting experiment.  Maybe Ellie in NYC would be
willing to volunteer her palate?  Ellie!?

Rex:
>Was the 'better' corn simply more addictive?  Whatever the answer to
>that, I can tell you that other farmers mineralize only a portion of a
>pasture (as an experiment) and routinely report the cows will stay in
>the treated portion until the grass is completely gone.  They will
>then move to the untreated portion.

If I had to venture a guess, the instincts of the cows were less
corrupted than those of the pigs from their feeding on mainly fresh
grasses.

Rex:
>No Peter, I do not know the answers.  I'm a student.  I use a
>refractometer because it helps me visually see what my degenerated
>sniffer and taster aren't so good at.  Quality does matter and its a
>handy tool to help me get my share of the good stuff.

Have you ever compared the brix of wild fruits and greens to that of
their modern hybridized counterparts?

Rex:
>BTW: the 'macro nutrients' (calcium, magnesium, phosphorous,
>potassium, and, according to some, sodium) need to be in a particular
>'balance' for best (think healthiest) vegetative growth.  That
>balance, reflected in the plant, seems to be best (think healthiest)
>for the animals eating thereof.

What you are describing here are macro minerals.  Macronutrients
are fats, proteins and carbohydrates - macro minerals are usually not
included in this category.

Rex:
>Even as the listproc here sends out the next few messages, feed labs
>around the country are *testing* feed samples from various farms.
>Even as the posts on this list are being debated, farmers and their
>feed consultants are comparing actual test results to various mineral
>interrelation charts to see where they are getting too little AND too
>much of various macro & micro nutrients.

What kind of testing are you referring to? - surely not brix for the
general health of farm animals in this country is not that good.

Rex:
>I insist that trying to understand human nutrition without
>understanding animal nutrition is fruitless.  (A pun, guys, a pun)

Rex, you cannot fool us with another one of your poorly veiled plugs
for fruitarianism. ;-)

Best, Peter