On Mon, 11 Feb 2002, Jim Swayze wrote:

> There may be exceptions to the general rule of edible raw.  But they are
> exceptions not by virtue of the fact that we've had enough time to adapt to
> the use of fire to make them edible, but because there's something to the
> foodstuff that cooking process makes less bad.  Personally, I'm not
> interested in "less bad", so I'll stick to the rule of edible raw.

"Less bad," however, is about as good as it gets.  The
"something" in the foodstuff that cooking makes less bad is what
Annette Stahl calls the secondary compounds, and these are
present in many edible raw foods too.  I think you are right to
say that the thing about fire is not that we are adapted to it,
so much as fire adapts the foods to us.  And of course,
fire/cooking is not the only such technology.  Chewing plant food
helps to break open the cellulose chambers, making nutrients more
available.  Pounding with stones is a technique of pre-chewing,
making the food more edible.

Todd Moody
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