Bruno: > Sorted by the order of their "toxemic" effect we therefore have : > cosmic radiations (other than solar) - natural radioactiviy of the human > body (8.000 disintegrations per second) - tellurian radiations - solar > radiations, especially if exposed. > The cosmic and solar rays not only hit our body, they can also produce > abnormal molecules in the fruits, plants and foods destined to be eaten, > especially in the sunny tropical countries. The high energy radiations > will exactly in the same way violently break up molecules in the fruits > and give birth to toxines or new abnormal molecules that can create > "toxemia" in our body by ingestion of these foods. I don't think natural "toxemia" is generated by radiations alone. *natural phytotoxins do exist, some may even be carcinogenic. The assumption that the body is able to handle them perfectly seems a bit utopic. In Nature, there is a natural balance between predators and preys; preys do survive long enough to reproduce, but their average lifespan would certainly be higher without predators... *Mutations can occur. Here is a very rough calculation: suppose we eat 40g of proteins/day, which adds up to 10^6 grams in our life. Suppose 1 mol (6.022*10^23 molecules) weighs 10^4 grams: that makes about 6*10^25 molecules. If 0.01% of these molecules are produced by mutant genes, that makes 6*10^21 molecules, which is far from negligible (but that calculation doesn't mean anything, since we do not know the percentage of mutations that produce molecules we are not adapted to). *Stress can produce toxins in the body too, and our modern way of life is not the most ideal regarding that aspect. Moreover, maybe the slaughtering/hunting of animals produce toxins that we (I mean, RAFfers) ingest afterwards. *Since some Maillard reactions occur during cold storage too, certainly a few are produced naturally too. Best wishes, Jean-Louis.