[www.drfuhrman.com]

Its very interesting...What do you think of it?

I just read this yesterday when I was looking for info on enzymes. The paragraph where he says that we make enough enzymes for digestion directly contradicted other info on webpages I had just read that said that the pancreas enlarges itself to make more enzymes to digest enzyme defficient diets!

Frankly the guy has no clue. He probably did a bit of reading on raw food and got confused and posted his confused observations, or he had a patient that got well on raw in spite of him and he's grumpy about that.

There is quite a bit I agree with:

1. there are benefits to consuming plenty of raw fruits and vegetables.
2. These foods supply us with high nutrient levels and are generally low in calories too.
3. Eating lots of raw foods is a key feature of an anti-cancer diet style and a long life
4, Raw vegetables are dramatically low in calories and we probably only absorb about 50 calories a pound from raw vegetables
5. when food is baked at high temperatures—and especially when it is fried or barbecued—toxic compounds are formed and most important nutrients are los
6. Many vitamins are water-soluble, and a significant percent can be lost with cooking
7. Similarly, many plant enzymes function as phytochemical nutrients in our body and are useful to maximize health. They, too, can be destroyed by overcooking
8. the roasting of nuts and the baking of cereals does reduce availability and absorbability of protein
9. Plant foods do not supply enzymes that aid in their digestion when consumed by animals. (Most raw foodists would disagree with this, but there is absolute zero proof supporting that enzymes in raw foods aid in digestion)
10. In conclusion, eating lots of raw foods is a feature of a healthy diet. I always encourage people to eat more raw food
11. Raw food is necessary for digestive efficiency, proper peristalsis and normal bowel function
12. Certain foods, especially fruit, avocado and nuts undergo significant change with cooking and are best eaten raw
13 Baking, frying, barbecuing and other high heat cooking methods that brown and damage food form acrylamides, which are carcinogenic
14 Browning and other high heat cooking methods should be avoided
15. Eating raw food is necessary for good health and is an important feature of a healthy diet


So what are the high nutrient foods (by nutrients I mean the non-energy components of foods)? Greens. If Fuhrman were proposing a low fat raw vegan diet plus some steamed greens, I might agree that perhaps these foods are more nutritious than just the low fat raw vegan. But nobody eats like that. The main component of a vegan diet in terms of energy is typically starch.

Most people don't eat their starch plain. Why not? Because there isn't much taste to it. So people add flavorings - salt typically, but spices, vinegars, condiments, etc. These spices and condiments have problems of their own.

And most people don't eat their cooked greens plain either. Why not? Because a lot of the flavor is gone. So they add salt or condiments again.

And how does all that starch digest if eaten plain? Does it just sit there like a brick, or does it move? To aid in the movement through the digestive system, these cooked starches require digestive aids - salt, pepper, spices and condiments. Imagine eating a mono meal of only steamed brown rice, and only eating that steam brown rice for an entire week - no condiments. I wonder how that sticky stuff is going to move through the digestive system.

Certainly mono-eating watermelon would have no digestive issues if one lived on that for a week.

But hey, a low fat raw vegan diet plus steam greens and some steam starches still isn't all that bad. But does it end there, or are there other problems?

Legumes are a digestive challenge, even heavily cooked. In fact, take out the salt, spice, and condiments, and mono eat legumes for a week, and you would find you had a LOT of gas. Fun. Plus, they have too much protein. So you would probably be eating away at your skeleton if you mono ate legumes.

Those grains also are acidic, and if you mono ate them for a week, expect to see bone loss.

As for the condiments - they are all poisonous. How can you tell? Try mono eating any condiment for a week, and see how you feel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2008 05:44AM by Bryan.

Ever since I started adding enzymes from the sunfood nutrition (sun is shining) I have never felt better.

SOME foods are made more absorable by cooking, like tomatoes. BUT they are few and far between and in my opinion, does the benefit outweigh the negatives? I don't think so.

"Our caloric needs cannot be met on a raw food diet without consuming large amounts of fruits, avocado, nuts and seeds. This may be an adequate diet for some people, but in my 15 years of medical practice catering to the community of natural food enthusiasts, raw foodists and natural hygienists, I have seen many people who weakened their health on such raw food, vegan diets. Frequent fungal skin and nail infections, poor dentition, hair loss and muscular wasting are common on such fruit-based diets."

Ok, he lost me with that..are large amounts of fruits, avocado, nuts and seeds supposed to be BAD? As opposed to what alternative? Smaller amounts of equally fatty cooked, processed, genetically modified, low nutrient content food?

I don't understand how increasing the quantity of food is bad, if they have a smaller amount of calories to begin with? And the fat in avocados and nuts are better and good for you-its hard to overdose on them. Your body will tell you when you are full on those, as opposed to cooked, process foods with addictive substances such as sugar, GMO's, sodium,and white flour!

Also, who says raw foodist eat a high content of FRUIT only? Yes, if you eat only fruit you probably WOULD weaken your health, as eating only ONE thing is never good in my opinion-only some people have had good success with fruit only. EVERY body is different.

Also, almost any longer term SUCCESSFUL raw foodist will tell you, their diet consists of a variety of raw foods. Some people actaully NEED a high fat diet, myself included. I work out a lot, and have a fast metabolism. I would rather eat thee avocados then three cheeseburgers or three giant bowls of cooked pasta (which is about what I'd need to feel equally full on raw foods)

I really lost interest at this point but I will say quickly some other problems i had with it:

*he states scientists speculate,or we "think" a lot...no real statistics
*he also says that a "healthy" body creates the right amount of enzymes...but if you are eating cooked, process foods...how healthy are you?
*


I will say I liked this part:
"Baking, frying, barbecuing and other high heat cooking methods that brown and damage food form acrylamides, which are carcinogenic. Browning and other high heat cooking methods should be avoided. Cooking techniques like steaming vegetables, stewing foods in a pressure cooker and soup making, do not have these drawbacks. They do not brown foods or form acrylamides."

I suppose that makes sense to me because it is a "natural" form of cooking...and I think if you are going to cook, that is the least destructive. And I really doubt that adding in a little bit of low-heat cooking will harm anything-and I even think most raw foodists advocate if you are going to cook, that you should do it on a low heat anyways!

Cheers

I think Dr. Furhman is right. He doesn't say all raw is bad, just that he has seen that some people have some problems with it in his practice. I pretty much agree with him. He's seen other people that don't have problems with it.

Mostly raw + small quantities of cooked legumes, steamed non-starchy vegs, and steamed sweet potato is a very healthy diet. If it helps you to stick to mostly raw, then by all means do it. It's a heck of a lot better than SAD.

mira Wrote:
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> [www.drfuhrman.com];
> qindex=4
>
> Its very interesting...What do you think of it?


In "Eat to Live" Fuhrman advocated four pounds of greens per day, half of that raw and half steemed.. noting the limitations on the amount of fiber a person could handle as I recall

The way I remember it was 1 lb raw and 1 lb cooked.

mira Wrote:
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>
> Its very interesting...What do you think of it?

They're kind of jumping on the Raw Food Bandwagon,
but Compromise the whole concept by allowing some Cooked......WY

my body knows better

so does my spirit

which bypasses things written

I wonder about this...I'm not a scientist

but my Experience is my partner made plain steamed broccoli las nite--& it stank, before the lid even came off the pot !

Furhman also ignores food combining. Shelton, may have been a little rigid, but paying attention to combinations is vital to my health and comfort.

i do think that hes right on alot of things...

And im a bit scared when he says : " I have seen many people who weakened their health on such raw food, vegan diets. Frequent fungal skin and nail infections, poor dentition, hair loss and muscular wasting are common on such fruit-based diets. "

What were these people eating? What are the consequences of a long-term raw vegan diet? There are not alot of old raw foodists out there, and not alot of studies either...

I totally agree with Bryan's post except I dont know if strches require condiments to digest, best to not eat many of them in the first place I guess.

mira Wrote:
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I have seen
> many people who weakened their health on such raw
> food, vegan diets. Frequent fungal skin and nail
> infections, poor dentition, hair loss and muscular
> wasting are common on such fruit-based diets. "



That is such crap.....I laugh when people say that about fruit based diets....because that means that they are basing their info on people that are not long into their raw food journey when people have all kinds of healing crisis going and on top of that they are not even looking for long term raw foodists because they could surely go to any raw food guru right?....and even if they found one they would constantly raise the bar so they could always find fault.

As it happens there are many, many ,many long time raw foodists out there, some turn into guru's but other's you never hear about because most of them just wanna get on with their lives in peace without constantly being scrutinized....I'm a little bit like that myself but I feel it my duty to give back to others that want to follow this path.

F1





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2008 12:57AM by fruitarianfitness.

arugula Wrote:
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> The way I remember it was 1 lb raw and 1 lb
> cooked.

And this is consistent with his current website, so I believe this is true.

F1 your the man. You give me strength to continue when my faith in raw is failing. Detox is my life right now.

WorkoutMan Wrote:
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> F1 your the man. You give me strength to continue
> when my faith in raw is failing. Detox is my life
> right now.

Hey...I've been there buddy, it feels like forever...but it's just a matter of time, understanding and faith in your body to do the right thing.


F1

happyway Wrote:
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> but my Experience is my partner made plain steamed
> broccoli las nite--& it stank, before the lid even
> came off the pot !

Broccoli can get very stinky if it's overcooked.
It also gets stinky when it's past its prime even raw.
I think this is mostly due to oxidation of the sulfur
compounds it contains. The other crucifers have this
same problem.

It's best very fresh with a blueish tinge.

A light steaming of fresh broccoli, so that it still
has some crunch, should not be stinky.

and...lets not forget....broccoli farts.
Horrible.

mira Wrote:
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> and...lets not forget....broccoli farts.
> Horrible.

You had to remind us? LOL