Sydney: >I would really appreciate some references, sources and/or any other >corroborating evidences about "the critical temperature of foods" some >contributors to the list are citing or referring to. Thank you. Sydney, welcome to the list. Since posting the message I called the 800 number of Pacific Research Laboratories (800-370-3447) to do just that and discovered that it belonged to a local naturopath that I know called Robert Marshall. He is a very difficult man to get hold of but if/when I do, I will report back to the list what the evidence is for his statements on leukocytosis. Anybody who cannot wait for me to do this is very welcome to try calling him themselves - being a colleague maybe you Sydney would have easier access to him than I would. The article does confirm a suspicion that I have had for a long time about claims from raw-food advocates that all raw foods are "dead". Has anybody on the list read the actual Paul Kouchakoff proceedings or know how to get hold of them? If they are in German only maybe Stefan could translate them for us? Stefan: >It is known, that enzymes are destroyed above 104F, not 190F. What is your source for this statement? >Some months ago I accidentally overheated avocados in my riping box and >applied app. 120F to them. After the meal I noticed, that I was not >satisfied, which never happens to me with raw avocados. Later I watched >that digestion of these slightly heated avocados was bad whereas raw >avos always digest fine. There could be many other explanations for why these avocados were not satisfactory to you, and until you begin to experiment with heated foods on a larger scale like Kirt is doing, you really do not know if gently heated foods in moderation will do you any harm or not be just as good or even better for you than eating them all raw. >I don't believe in the findings of that article nor in the temperatures >that "don't harm". What I understood from the article is that gentle, low heat cooking is many times less harmful than refining foods or heating them at higher temperatures. If this is just half-way true, I find it to be of great significance. Best, Peter [log in to unmask]