This is an issue that every raw foodist, whether carnivore or vegan, needs to be aware of. Take a look at this link:

[crossroads.ws]

This is the single most important thing about diet, other than the rawness of your food.

I've been using my Brix meter for about 6 years now, and I have definitely noticed benefits to my health from avoiding low-Brix produce.

I really wish the raw gurus would emphasize this. It makes an enormous difference.

This is interesting, and people have posted on this before. Raw foods gurus probably don't recommend it because it's impractical for most people. Most of us aren't[can't] stop eating the fruits and vegetables available to us, perhaps with no alternative sources, because they don't "score" as high as the charts would recommend they do. It is something to think about if one is growing all of one's own food, certainly.

I wonder if John Kohler uses a Brix meter?

I believe that everyone would benefit from owning a 'brix' refractometer. They're cheap and accurate. And yes Tamukha, most of us don't really need a brix, cause of the points you've mentioned. But I bet your local market gardener owns one... The fellow at our farmers market used one to see if the ground he's using is of the best quality for growing such'n'such.

I bought one off ebay which came from China and cost me $35 incl shipping, whereas the locally sold one (exactly the same) was over $100. I buy some of my produce at the local 'organic' store, and you can save yourself heaps of dosh by using a brix to ascertain quality.

For example, I wondered at the quality of the grape juice I was buying by the 2 litre glass container. It tested 20 brix, which is pretty high up for grapes, so now I know that brand of grape juice is good, and I'm getting my monies worth.

Another test I do is on carrots, as sometimes the organic carrots are no better than non-organic carrots, so why pay double. I've told the owner of the organic store, so they can inform the grower. My guess is that the dirt the organic carrots are grown in, is depleated. I'm still waiting for the quality to improve, but in the mean time I'm buying non-organic carrots.

Cheers,
geo

Very interesting. Thank you for posting.

Coca cola is also a high brix "food" from what ive read, so not sure how solid the theory is, not something ive done any research on though.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Interesting, geo! Also interesting, powerlifer, but not in a good way Gonna look into this more, and in the meantime, ask the Brix users if, out of curiosity, you also test "bad" foods at the farmers market or grocery store, and how they rate?

I have never done any research on this subject so forgive my ignorance but isn't Brix merely about testing the sugar content of a food, which in my opinion has little to do with how healthy a particular food is.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Yes you are correct Powerlifer. I believe that is how they test the grapes for wine making for just the right amount of sugar content. I did some research on Brix (refractometer) a long time ago and while it probably is a fun toy to have it's not a necessity of course. Also you are taking samples from the food to use if I remember right.

In simplest terms, the refractometer works much like a prism Hahaha..well I just went to find out if my above statement was right and it is. I found that little blurb of how it works like a prism..made me smile. You do have to take a sample of the item to put in the refractometer.

After a number of years looking for just that perfect ripeness in fruits and veggies..this Prism does pretty well.

Love,
Prism



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2012 04:32PM by Prism.

Yes, it's mainly used to check sugar content, but doesn't that equate to good or bad quality? I know with sugar cane that when the soil is depleted the sugar content is low, so they rest that area of land. Also, when the measure gives a blured reading, apparently that equates to excellent mineral content.

Tamukha - I have, supermarket bought lettuce read a 3 brix, whereas excellent lettuce should read a 10 brix.

What to do in this day and age? Food that id pure sickness, food that rivals plastic food. (At least those may feed the dump with some biodegradable ingredients.) Maybe we're all tripping and it's just a bad trip. I think we're all going to wake up any minute now.

geo,

No, I mean, as per powerlifer, testing a Mars Bar with a Brix meter, or something else junky but high in Kcalories. If it tests this junk as "high" even though the nutrients are synthetic or badly sourced, then what is the device good for?

There was a frighteningly stupid article in this past month's ODE magazine, which was an excerpt from a book by Rob Lyons, Panic on a Plate, that basically argues that fast food shouldn't be considered "bad" because it has calories and macro and micronutrients. There was no consideration given to the sources of those nutrients; that they are synthetic or not bioavailable wasn't mentioned. It was exactly the way I heard dieticians talking in the 1980s, and even then, as I child, I remember thinking, "Hostess Apple Pie is NOT good for you just because it has apple in it. It's not an apple." I had hoped that this kind of fallacious thinking had gone the way of the Dodo bird[sigh] How horrible would it be if the Brix meter, because it doesn't make distinctions, could be used to legitimize junk food? Need to look into this more . . .

Tamukha, thx for the clarification. I see what you mean, but I don't think it could be misused, since even as a child, you knew the apple pie wasn't as good as an actual apple. Now that was very astute of you to be able to make that kind of a distinction at an early age...I too, used to reason that there MUST be something better than our then society, and I felt alien from everyone until I became a 'hippie' and embraced that alternative lifestyle.

I think, if we keep our common sense, it's good to test the juicy foods, and Prism pointed out it's great for checking ripeness. So many of our foods are picked too green, before they're able to attain their best nutrition. So a brix can do this, and why spend top dollar on food that is too green and has only half the nutrition?

I rarely do any checking at the point of sale, as we do get to know by looks if a food is ripe or not. However, I do check at home, and if something I've bought is not up to scratch, then I look for any tell tale signs for when I go shopping next time, or tell the owner.

Cheers, geo

How would one be able to check at the store or market? Isn't it an invasion measure and what happens if it's not optimal to buy that piece of fruit..do you leave it there for someone to come along and buy it?

Then of course what if you are buying a lot of one thing..like 20 oranges. And many times I've bought a watermelon that may have been a little unripe on the outer portion but is perfect just a few inches in from the shell portion.

Geo..can you tell us exactly how you handle a piece of fruit for testing and what the procedure is.

Love,
Prism

Hey, thx for the quiry Prism. Like I said, I rarely do any checking at the store, well actually only twice, and of course I bought the grapes and the tomato that I checked. It's really not that easy to do, cause you feel like your doing something bad, but I just puncture the thing and squeezed out some juice. No biggy. I check the vegies when I juice them, so I know which store buys in the best produce IMO. I hope that answers your question Prism.

reminds me of that *dont squeeze the charmin* commercial from the 70's

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Hahahah aahhhh the seventies, what a great decade, esp for music.

Thanks Geo for the info. and I also appreciate that you use the Brix at home. I wouldn't want to be an unsuspecting person that buys a punctured piece of fruit.

As to the ripeness of our produce, sometimes you just have to get items that are picked unripe and some ripen after being picked like bananas and pears, some things don't ripen.

Many times I want to buy some degrees of ripeness..since I don't shop daily. I'll buy a number of ripe bananas and a bunch that isn't ripe yet.

I still think it's more a tool for things like vineyards testing sugar content of their grapes, not so much for the average person.

Love,
Prism

I've seen John kohler use a brix meter in a couple of his vids

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Well, that answers my question, Jodi.

Today, I bought mangos that were tinged with red, though rock hard, and I thought, "Hmmmmmm, these wouldn't pass the Brix test." Ha-ha! You guys got to me!

If you have the links to John's vids using the refractometer..post one or 2 here if you would be so kind.

Tamukha..what do you buy rock hard mangos for? Do they ripen? I always have bought only mangos I thought were ripe and while some were a little firm around the stone mostly they were ripe.

Love,
Prism

i will see if i can find them again Prism he has over 1000 videos uploaded so i may not be able to find the episodes again.. it might be faster to directly ask him yourself

nevermind found one lol [www.youtube.com]

and here [www.youtube.com]

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2012 02:50AM by Jgunn.

Thanks Jodi for the links. So raw foods seems to get even more complex!

When I first read about raw foods what grabbed me was the simplicity of the diet.

Anyway, if people want to play and use their Brix..I have no problem with that. It's interesting learning about the process. I might even like to play around with it too.

Maybe if you were growing your own food then it might really help in learning what seeds end up producing the superior fruits and vegetables.

Love,
Prism

Oh cool, thx for the links Jodi :-)

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, that answers my question, Jodi.
>
> Today, I bought mangos that were tinged with red,
> though rock hard, and I thought, "Hmmmmmm, these
> wouldn't pass the Brix test." Ha-ha! You guys
> got to me!


Uhh, no it doesn't answer it.

I've bought mushy-ripe mangoes that were 8 or 9 Brix many times, and weren't worth eating. I've also bought rock-hard green mangoes that were 18 or 19 Brix.

So the ignorant assumption that Brix=ripeness is, to say the least, often incorrect.

Granted, wine grape growers DO use Brix to know when to harvest, as do orange growers who are growing oranges for juice. HOWEVER, if the soil is poor, then the fruit will simply never reach a high Brix, unless you foliar-feed the plants. Foliar feeding involved spraying a liquid nutrient solution directly onto the leaves.

Rex Harrill knows a strawberry farmer that grows his strawberries in terrible-quality sandy soil in Florida. The farmer would get 4 Brix berries without foliar feeding, but he gets 16 Brix by foliar feeding consistently.

So yeah, good soil, or good foliar feeding, or low Brix. Those are your choices.

Test for yourself. Buy a $40 Brix meter off eBay and start testing. The truth will come to light.

And read every word of that link [crossroads.ws]

It's far more thorough and informative than this thread.

cherimoya-kid,

Yes, yes it does, because Jodi was responding to my query concerning whether John Kohler uses a Brix meter. You know, John Kohler.

Also, the reason those mangoes were mushy and oughtn't to have passed a Brix test is because they were almost certain to have been imported ones shipped with various calcium additives, to give an artifical appearance of ripeness, and to have suffered fiber destruction as a result. So in that case, Brix read your mangoes correctly.

I have tested tree-ripened and vine-ripened fruit of many different kinds, that actually got soft and ripe while still on the tree. Some have Brixed very HIGH, and others have brixed very LOW. It depends...on...soil...QUALITY. The only other option besides building the soil is foliar feeding.

In my own backyard, that has relatively poor soil, I've gotten 11 and 12 Brix peaches that ripened beyond perfect ripeness on the tree. The soil is poor. That's that. Peaches can reach 20 Brix or more, in the right soil. I've also gotten 5 Brix cherry tomatoes from my garden, that ripened well beyond perfect ripeness on the vine. Again, poor soil. Cherry tomatoes can hit 15 or better in good soil. They can reach higher Brix than regular tomatoes, because they are smaller, and the nutrients are more concentrated.

I've even tested wild blackberries that were perfectly vine-ripened, and they tested at 7 or 8 Brix. Why? Poor soil.

yes, poor soil equals poor quality produce, that's just common sense. So I don't see the problem here, I think there's been a little misunderstanding. I'd love the organic stores to show a brix reading for there produce, just like in that vid. And if the store tested each shippment prior to buying (very easy to do), it would also keep the grower honest.

It seems that a lot of people are willing to buy produce that may be a little funny looking, not the color they are used to, not as shiny, and maybe even not as ripe if it's organic. Holding that farmer to a standard of perfection may do more harm then good in the long run. They have plenty enough to worry about. Using the Brix for their benefit for an overall view of their crops year to year in order to improve growing conditions and best seeds used would make more sense.

When did raw fooders and others want bells and whistles along with just getting the stores to carry organic, or better tasting and healthier foods.

I'm just asking..or debating..

Love,
Prism

You're certainly free to ask that, Prism. However, the Brix experts will tell you that organic, in and of itself, doesn't make a difference in terms of Brix. Rex Harrill even says that N-P-K fertilizer in small amounts can actually be a good thing. Granted, a lot of the herbicides and pesticides are problematic because they are fat-soluble, and therefore tend to build up in your body fat and organs over time, as well as in animals/fish.

It's complicated.

Some fruits/veggies really don't need herbicides/pesticides much, like avocadoes and mangoes. You'd be much better off with a 16 Brix non-organic avocado than a 4 Brix organic avocado.

OTOH, some fruits/veggies, like peaches, are very heavily sprayed, and eating a lot of the conventional versions of THOSE fruits/veggies over time can quite possibly cause health problems for at least some people, particularly if you eat the skin or outside of the fruit/veggie, or if the skin is thin and permeable to pesticides.

this appears just to be a hand held device to screen dissolved solids in liquid. [en.wikipedia.org] It tells how much sugar is in a food? Seems a little simplistic for quality. It cannot tell antioxident content or fresheness. Just seems like a reach for a hand held device.