I read something a while ago and it's been bugging me ever since.

In the book DINING IN THE RAW by Rita Romano (which has both raw and cooked recipes) she says this about enzyme inhibitors.


...."Therefore, in order to healthfully consume substantial amounts of raw nuts, seeds, grains and beans, it is necessary to germinate them first or supplement with external enzymes. Sientific studies have documented serious physical degeneration in small animals when fed large quantities of raw foods containing enzyme inhibitors over a period of time. Dr. Howell applied this research to the process of human consumption. Overall, it is more beneficial to eat cooked foods without enzymes, than raw foods with inhibitors intact.

Research with laboratory animals further indicates specific harmful effects from ingesting inhibitors. They include, gastrointestinal problems, an extremely enlarged pancreas, excretion of large quantities of wasted enzymes and a condition of overall poor health. In addition, the total loss of pancreatic enzymes will lead to death. In conclusion, it is most important to soak or sprout your nuts, seeds, grains and beans or eat them with supplemental enzymes or cook them to avoid the harmful effects of enzyme inhibitors."

This sounds a little "over the top" to me. I mean, wouldn't you have to stuff yourself into the microwave and go for a spin in order to incur a total loss of pancreatic enzymes?

Most of the time I manage to come home from the health food store and soak pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds and then get them into the dehydrator. But there's those pesky little flax seeds and I don't know how to deal with them.

Anyhoo, what do you all think?


Life is Good - and sometimes confusing!

alive!

> "in small animals when fed large quantities of raw foods containing enzyme inhibitors over a period of time"

Would this be feeding small animals a diet which is not their natural diet (and whose usual food is nothing like human food)?

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

Hi alive!,

I definitely agree that Dr. Howell's conclusions from those experiments are a little "over the top". First of all, Dr. Howell doesn't state whether or not he gave the animals ONLY unsprouted stuff, with nothing else at all in the diet. That might cause problems for anybody, and it's not how most raw fooders eat. Also, the first sentence about eating "substantial amounts of raw nuts, seeds, grains and beans" is troubling because not many raw fooders eat any unsoaked grains or beans at all. They're too hard to chew! That definitely seems to be one major flaw in applying his research to human consumption.

Regarding one of the responses to your post, this forum can be a challenge sometimes, yes? I think your posts are great!

Best wishes, -Ally