More thoughts on rare vs raw

AGE's are stimulants and addicting. An addiction to cooked meat might
indicate their presence. It doesn't sound like you're getting addicted to
rare beef, Kirt. A way to tell if something is an addiction is when you
can't stop it without substituting another stimulant without adverse
effects.

Perhaps as Ward indicated, in cooking there's a trade-off between some
toxins and better digestibility. When meat is cooked there must be
produced--along with denatured protein AGE's, etc.--some digestible
peptides and amino acids. If this were not so, cooked meat would have no
nutritional value at all. Does anyone know if the amino acids produced
during heating are the same chemical form as the amino acids produced by
enzymatic hydrolysis? If they are different, perhaps adaptation has not
so much to do with digestion, but with whether the assimilated amino
acids can be used by the cells to build new protein.

In favor of rare vs raw: increased concentration of digestible protein
breakdown products.

In favor of aged vs fresh raw: faster digestion, since it is already
somewhat digested.

In favor of raw vs rare: Less demand on the body's digestive enzymes.

In favor of fresh raw vs aged: I'm reading about lysosomes. I assume that
the hydrolytic enzymes in lysosomes are specific for breaking down the
specific protein, or whatever, in the cells of that particular tissue.
The book lists some of the enzymes, but doesn't go into the kinds of
proteins, etc. in the cell, but it doesn't make much sense that nature
would do otherwise. This would mean that self-digestion by the live
enzymes in raw food might be more efficient than relying on digestive
enzymes, which are needed in the case of cooked meat. Also, the membranes
of lysosomes break in an acidic environment and the hydrolytic
enzymes usually prefer a pH range of 3-6.5, so that the acidity of the
stomach would be better for digestion than during aging. The temperature
of the stomach would be physiological and probably better for enzyme
action than when aging at room temp. I looked up at the medical library
one of the references the Picower Institute sent me. AGE formation in
vivo and in vitro is non-enzymatic and time related, so if it occurs
during aging, more AGE's might be formed than if the meat is popped into
the stomach fresh raw.

About how to tell if food is digested--the squirt method is news to me.
Someone told me once that if I digested everything, nothing much would
come out. Quantity not quality made sense to me. Why does whether it is
firm or loose indicate how much is digested. Maybe we should weigh in and
out? Sheila, can you help? I know that when I stopped eating raw juicy
fruit in the evening after protein, and was taking cassia, that I believe
my digestion improved, and for a period of about a month I put out huge
quantities of old stuff, fairly loose. Now I eat less and put out less
and my weight had stayed the same for a long period. I will sure watch
for loose or firm on days when I eat more fruit.

Kirt, I think you have a good point to shy away from the word
'instinctive.' Signals regarding smell and taste are subconscious
thoughts. Thought is thought whether it is conscious or subconscious. If
attraction is based on all the senses and integrated by conscious
cerebral thought, we might need a better term. I'm just playing around
with words. It's more like 'thoughtful eating', but I don't like that
much better. Any ideas?

Some questions: Were you having symptoms of hypoglycemia before the
experiment? If so, do you attribute the good effects to the loss of those
symptoms, more than to rare vs raw meat?
Did you begin eating cooked veggies at the same time?
How much rare meat and fruit did you eat each day?
You mentioned that you could "not eat raw aged meat for more than a
couple of days in a row." Was this because of loose stools as a sign of
indigestion, or loss of attraction?
Most important question: What and how much raw meat or fish were you
eating each day before the experiment? Was it fresh raw or aged? Wouldn't
you need to compare your results with a period of eating the same amount
and kind of meat fresh raw rather than rare? I usually have raw meat or
fish everyday and enjoy most of the benefits you describe
since your experiment with rare meat. Like you I also find that some days
I go back to eating a lot of fruit. I think this is based for me on how
tasty the raw meat or fish was, and also availability. I'm not doing any
aging. At times, raw but not aged mackerel is so delicious, that I cannot
imagine aging would make it better. I think this may have to do
with the fish rather than me.

About Diana--and I'd put money on this. Your bambino surely kicked out of
identification with Diana and to get Melissa to turn your attention to
the funeral. I'd vote for sainthood for Diana rather than Mother Teresa.
It was easy to do what Mother Teresa did, but for Diana to put her food
issues before the world and to get in touch with her feelings in a
repressive sick royal family was courageous and a sign of great spiritual
growth in my opinion. I loved that her brother got up and had his anger
at the funeral and reassured his nephews that they would be raised with
spiritual and emotional integrity, as Diana had wanted. Keep kicking
beautiful child :-)

My best, Ellie