> When you cook meat, it kills all the enzymes
> in it that would normally help in its digestion...

From the Nutrition News Focus

Raw Food Diets

Although nutritionists encourage consumption of raw fruits and vegetables,
there is no scientific justification for consumption of raw food diets.
These are characterized by cooking as little food as possible. Remember that
cooking serves several useful purposes. It sterilizes food by killing
harmful bacteria that are naturally found on many foods. It denatures
proteins; that is, the three- dimensional structure is broken down to
improve digestion and makes some proteins (common is beans, seeds, and
sprouts) nontoxic. It makes foods softer to chew and digest.

A research paper in the March 1999 issue of Annals of Nutrition and
Metabolism reported on 500 people who consumed raw food diets for an average
of almost four years. Subjects reported losing 10-12 kg (22-25 pounds) and
the body-mass index (BMI) was below normal range (<18.5) in 15% of men and
25% of women. About a third of the women stopped menstruating. The higher
the proportion of raw food consumed, the more likely for women to have
stopped menstruating.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Although there is some loss of a few vitamins
when food is cooked, there is no other proven detriment of heating food and
there are several benefits. The biggest myth that we need enzymes from food
is completely without basis. Most enzymes we eat are inactivated by our
stomach acid and digestive enzymes.

09.16.99


Live Enzymes From Your Food

This is a myth that refuses to die. Some people advocate the consumption of
raw plants that contain "live" enzymes to aid in digestion. Well, if these
enzymes were really important in digesting food, wouldn't the plant digest
itself? The enzymes our stomach and pancreas make to digest most of our food
are not found in plants. In fact, our own digestive process actually digests
the enzymes in the food we eat. Enzymes in food are not active in our body.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Some older people may not produce enough
enzymes to digest large portions of food comfortably. They may require
supplements of pancreatic enzymes, not those from plants. The confusion
comes from a few exceptions. There are some enzymes in plants that can help
break down some food components. One common example is from pineapple, which
contains an enzyme that prevents the setting of gelatin. But none of the
enzymes from plants can duplicate the body's digestive enzymes.

04.1.99

Rob