Irene,

> All I know is that after several months on a strict 100% raw vegan diet,

That naughty VEGAN word!

> little things started happening which sent me to steaming some veggies,
> cooking some starches and adding animal food to my diet again.  Skin

Sounds like your 100% raw diet was deficient in animal protein and
starch...

> I think that cooking proteins is harmful depending on the way it's
> cooked and the type of protein that it is. I think that cooking some
> proteins is also necessary (in spite of carcinogens) in order to make
> certain nutrients available.  I don't have any references, just a
> feeling.

I've read that cooking coagulates about 50% of the protein and does a
lot of other nasty things to it and to fats, etc..

To illustrate, put your hand into a hot frying pan...discern what this
does to the meat, etc...

Or crack open a raw egg into a hot frying pan and watch the coagulation
and alteration happen big time.

Heat is destructive, no doubt about it.

I know of no true positives for cooking proteins/fats... More con's than
pro's as far as I can tell, and as far as the references I've provided
show.

Wes