On Tue, 11 Feb 1997, Chet Day wrote:

> I had a lengthy conversation with a long-time Health & Beyond reader
> last night. This man has been on the Sheltonian fruits, vegetables,
> nuts and seeds diet for about 14-15 years and this past year the
> bottom has absolutely dropped out of his health. And his weight has
> fallen from 140 lbs to just over 100 lbs. A fast at Goldhamer's made
> things worse, and he's since started to add a variety of other foods
> to this diet. Has seen some improvement but not much. I was of no

I've been meaning to follow up on the earlier posts on zinc.  I would say
that there is a good chance that this guy has developed a serious zinc
deficiency.  I would recommend a zinc supplement and eating whatever foods
he craves and as much as he wants.  In general zinc is most available when
it is bound to an amino acid.  Vitamin C also helps zinc absorption.  So
you basically want a zinc supplement where the zinc is bound to an amino
acid.  Personally I've been using the Rainbow Light "Daily Zinc" recently
and that seems to work pretty well.  The main food sources of
bio-available zinc is animal foods - mainly meat, eggs, and shellfish.  I
suspect that one of the reasons people do better on RAF is because of the
zinc.  And a lot of the problems people report on a vegan raw foods diet
sound similar to the symptoms for zinc deficiency.

I did a web search for information on zinc deficiencies.  I came up with
three related web pages.  They are:

http://www.healthhaus.com/sszinc.htm

http://www.coldcure.com/html/warning.html

http://www.grouper.com/minerals

(The last is about mineral deficiencies in general.)

I will send out these pages in separate posts.

I found some interesting information in Laurel's Kitchen, the old first
edition, p.509 paperback.  "Zinc is involved in the enzyme reactions of
most of the major biochemical pathways of the body, and is essential for
the growth and repair of tissues, perhaps because of its role in the
synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids like DNA and RNA.  Almost all of
the zinc is bound up chemically where it is, so there is no reserve pool
of zinc available which the body can draw on when needed for the synthesis
of new cells.  Therefore, zinc in the diet is required for growth and
tissue repair and to replace losses in sweat.  In growing people,
deficiencies result in loss of appetite, failure to grow, and immaturely
developed sexual organs.  Taste and smell become less acute and wounds
heal slowly when zinc in the diet is inadequate."

They go on to say that most of the zinc in a vegetarian diet is bound up
with phytic acid which makes it hard to absorb.  Also "Vegetables
(including leafy greens) and fruits are poor sources ...".  And "As with
many other trace minerals, animal food sources are the most concentrated
and the most easily absorbed".

In another section of the book they discuss phytic acid, or phytate, which
binds many of the minerals in a vegetarian diet making them hard to
absorb.  The body produces an enzyme called phytase which is used to break
the phytate-mineral bond, allowing the body to absorb the mineral. But to
produce phytase the body needs ... Vitamin D.

There has been an ongoing mention of the fact that some people do well on
a vegan raw foods diet but most don't.  Rather than this being solely due
to genetic factors my guess is that a lot of it has to do with sunlight
and vitamin D levels.  Many of the people (formerly) on this list who were
ardent vegan raw foods advocates, namely NFL and that guy in Australia -
the latter being a long term largely fruitarian - were living in warm
climates and getting lots of sunlight.  This sunlight could be allowing
them to produce large amounts of vitamin D which in turn would allow them
to absorb more minerals from their diet, including zinc.

Meanwhile the person living in a more northern colder climate and not
getting much sun and not taking zinc or vitamin D supplements may slowly
develope a deficiency and conclude that raw foods just doesn't work for
them.

Personally, in the past I didn't take the admonitions from writers like
Paul Bragg and Arnold Ehret to get plenty of sunlight too seriously.  But
now I think that this was a mistake.

Currently its a little chilly out for sunbathing.  I have been taking a
zinc supplement and have been definitely getting stronger with workouts.

My current diet is pretty much raw for breakfast and lunch and steamed for
dinner.  Lunch during the week is a bowl of soaked sunflower seeds (and I
don't exactly worry about going over 2 ounces), a zinc supplement, and an
apple.  Soaked nuts and raisins for a snack during the day, and more
apples. A smoothie with sesame seeds, frozen strawberries, bananas, and
maybe dates for breakfast.  Steamed vegetables and raw milk cheese, olive
oil for dinner.  This is pretty much the same as it was before I started
taking the zinc supplement.  I have felt a definite improvement since
starting and attribute it to the supplement.  I might also occasionally
take vitamin E, selenium, multi-mineral, multi-vitamin/mineral supplements
but not very regularly.  The zinc has also clearly increased my sex drive.
(Since I'm currently single don't know if that is a plus or not ;-))

If I got any of my facts wrong please feel free to post corrections.

Thanks.

Michael