Hi Kirt,

This may not be a well thought out reply, but I'm hoping to hear about my
paper this week, which will mean I may be away from the raw food forum
for a while.

The book on lysosomes says they contain acid lipase, which might be what
you refer to for digestion of fats. Whether these enzymes are destroyed
by the acid in the stomach, I don't know--the book doesn't comment about
digestion. I'll keep looking for how acid the stomach gets, but suspect
in the absence of disease, it may not be acidic enough to denature
enzymes. In the lab we used to have to dump conc. HCL into our
homogenates down to pH 1-2 to end enzyme reactions. Maybe as Howell says,
the digestion occurs in the upper part of the stomach and the lower parts
may be more acidi--and kill parasites.

I am  interested in temperature. Howell says it takes 160 F. to denature
enzymes and that they are more active as temp. rises up to this point, so
this could account for the benefits of aging at warm temp. or some
cooking for the pre-digesting of meat. If the pemmican is not heated
above 160  in melting, it might still have active enzymes.

My physiology book supports what you said about the body being choosy
about assimilation, or rather, absorption. It says we preferentially
absorb what is needed. So if we choose the wrong food, this is another
protective mechanism.

I'm at a dead end about the whole sugar thing and AGE's, and have written
to Jennie Brand Miller and the Picower people for answers. I am impressed
by Aajonus' claim that natural sugar helps NIDDM. JB Miller says his
claims are nonsense. She says it is not only refined sugar that raises
blood sugar. She says the main culprit is starches and is doing
studies. I'm confused about it all and what really causes NIDDM.

I wonder if there are any people who have eaten RAF and diets high in
natural sugars, ie. fruits long term. I had pancreas damage from
pancreatitis and maybe from my sugar addiction. I was very hypoglycemic
and had symptoms after eating refined sugar. Since 95
I've eaten a lot of good sugar, dates and honey along with RAF. What
amazes me is that home tests with Chemstrips and some lab tests (one lab
where I got tested was quite concerned), show that my blood sugar goes
sky high after eating honey, and I would be
diagnosed as NIDDM. It may have to do with the damage from my pancreatis
and not a sign of pre-diabetes. My doctor says I am not diabetic, my
glycosylated hemoglobin, cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar,
etc. show no signs of my being diabetic and I have no symptoms of
hypoglycemia any more. So, I wonder if the high blood glucose
after eating honey has to do with good sugar flushing out some bad
sugars, mutant sugars, which are in the blood and give a high reading? I
still get leg cramps after eating honey, a detox symptom?? This would
support Aajonus' theory, but is all speculation on my part.

I wonder if the all cooked Paleo people may be in trouble eventually,
just like the people on Atkins diet, many of whom develop hypothyroidism.
I think this kind of hypothyroidism is a response to increased toxicosis.
When the sympathetic nervous system--sns--is stimulated to help detox
reactions, epinephrine increases cellular metabolic rate so much that the
thyroid doesn't need to put out so much hormone. People go to the
doctor when they are sick (i.e. detoxing) and are often diagnosed
hypothyroid when there is no pathology in the thyroid gland. But there
may be toxicosis elsewhere because of AGE's. BTW, incresed sweating
sounds like an increase in sns activity and could be a sign
you are detoxing something.

My best, Ellie