Roberta,
<<  I'll just let others think I'm a vegetarian (or something) like you do,
and eat my RAF in private.  >>

Since I would rather not turn every social event into a discussion of health
or nutrition, I try to keep my personal diet invisible.  At a restaurant I'll
eat the salad bar.  If there isn't one, I just order a salad, or some fruit,
or steamed vegetables if that's all there is, or nothing if I can get away
with it.  I figure it certainly doesn't hurt me to skip a meal anyway - as
long as it doesn't turn into the topic of conversation.

I've also become a master (mostly by studying how some children I know do this
so skillfully) at the art of not eating an entire plate of food and having no
one notice, by pushing things around on my plate, mushing them and cutting
them up and making a mess so you can't tell if any has been eaten or not, and
clever ways of knowing at what moment to have to go to the bathroom, be busy
drinking water if the attention is on me, etc. - all so that I can not eat
food I don't want to eat and not offend anyone or be a bother, or turn into
the food police, or end up working when I'm trying to have some social time.

Kirt,  I think it was you who mentioned Dr. Kenneth Seaton and his albumin-
level theory of aging.  Well I called the number that you or someone posted
for the book and soap package, and according to the company, their soap is
just a margerine-sized tub of antibacterial soap which evidently is comprised
of non-toxic chemicals.  Their theory is that bacteria are transmitted from
fingernails to the mucous membranes of eyes and mouth, and other anti-
bacterial soaps are made of poisons.

National Public Radio did a piece about a month ago in which they spoke with a
number of scientists, Center for Disease Control, and soap companies, and the
very clear message from all parties (even reluctantly the soap companies) was
that bacteria do not stick to your skin, and can in fact be rinsed off with
cold water with 100% effectiveness. Soap (not even the anti-bacterial kind)
has no purpose whatsoever as far as bacteria are concerned (it's useful for
getting certain stains off, etc.).

So this company's special anti-bacterial soap is just another scam, it seems
to me.  I asked about Kenneth Seaton's book, and it is self-published.  But
they will sell you the book by itself, without the special soap (which costs
$60!!!), for $14.

Anyway - thought I'd mention this conversation for you, or whoever it was, who
said that they were thinking about ordering the package.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After picking up and putting down Dr. Edward Howell's book "Enzyme Nutrition"
so many times over the past 20 years - I finally decided to buy it and read it
once and for all.  It seems to me that the entire book is based on his premise
that there is a limited supply of enzymes. He spends the first 1/3 of the book
promising over and over to prove this theory beyond a doubt, but never does.
He just keeps repeating over and over that the theory is true, and citing
research that is sometimes somewhat related and sometimes not at all related,
I think in an effort to appear as though there's some scientific legitimacy.
It says in the intro, or somewhere, that this book is a shortened version of a
comprehensive publication of his research, so maybe something has been left
out - but I suspect not.

I've read a few interesting things - like the comparisons of relative lengths
of various animals' caecums, and his idea that maybe the human caecum was
meant to function as a "holding tank" for foods to digest themselves using
their own enzymes, and that it has "atrophied" to its current small size
because of disuse.
Also some of what he says about relative weights of the pancreas in rats and
geese fed raw or cooked foods is interesting.

So this is the famous book!  I'd be interested to hear other's opinions on
this book. Am I right in thinking that this book is the "classic" text on the
enzyme  theory, upon which much of the justification for raw-food eating is
based?  Or are there others that express this theory maybe more convincingly?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roberta,
<< Fish is excellent, and usually offered live/fresh in tanks - you won't get
fresher anywhere. >>

I would love to find fish that I didn't have to worry about! Where is this
fish raised, that it is so fresh?  We have a small Chinatown here in
Washington, D.C. - and lots of Asian grocery stores around Maryland and
Virginia.  What types of fish do you recommend, and why?  Thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John,
<< If you take a look at some of the older text on these cultures, you'll see
they have been notorious for eating a large percentage of uncooked fare,
minimal animal products, >>

John I think this is not entirely true.  I guess we should be naming which
cultures we're talking about, but here's a bit of a post I just wrote on that
"other" raw list (it seems the discussion threads often go along in tandem):

" You are probably thinking of the Georgians (Abkhasians), Armenians, and
Azerbaijanians.  Their diets consist of both raw and cooked and preserved
vegetables and tubers, lots of yogurt, milk and cheese, cooked grains, nuts,
cooked meat, and a number of strong spices. They drink a fair amount of
alcohol, and some smoke.  And they share what seems to be a common practice
among all the long-lived peoples - they eat very few calories.

The traits that appear to be common to long-lived cultures around the world
are: lots of sleep, vigorous outdoor excercise every day, hard work to the end
of their lives, marriage, very close tightly knit communities, they eat slowly
and not very much, lead unhurried lives, and have cheerful and happy
personalities. "

There are some good places on the web to read up on longevity research - I can
suggest some if you'd like!

Love,  Liza May ([log in to unmask])