diet

[Guest guest]

I know I have long argued the case that cooked foods are more healthy than

raw foods. Just search our archives under diet, raw foods, etc. to

see past posts and debate on this subject. there is even modern scientific

data to support this position. However, after living in hot san diego

for a year after living in cooler climes all my life, I wonder.....

My students frequently take their patients to task for eating salads, but

I am beginning to wonder how bad this really is. Obviously cold foods

are hard on the GI tract, i.e. frozen or fresh out of the fridge.

But how about room temperature salads and fruit. In Fundamentals

of CM, it is noted that the term generally translated as raw may actually

refer to unclean foods. Since uncooked meat is clearly dangerous,

this is one obvious connection between raw and unclean. But the Chinese

still fertilize their fields even today with uncomposted feces (night soil)

in peasant areas. This means that freshly picked veggies are also

contaminated. Everyone knows one should not eat raw veggies in many

third world countries because they are contaminated, not merely because

they are raw. On the other hand, food borne infections from salads

are rare (but not unheard of) in the West. My Ayurveda teacher, Robert

Svoboda, suggests that raw foods are suitable for certain types and in

certain climates. So does macrobiotics. What evidence is there

that TCM actually prohibits uncooked food rather than merely unclean food?

The reason I bring this up is because I always tell my students that

disease is not caused by a deficiency of acupuncture and herbs, but by

the internal, external and miscellaneous causes of disease, amongst which

I consider diet to be a very prominent factor. So what we tell our

patients in this area of the utmost importance. My concern is this.

We all want our patients to eat an abundance of veggies. Yet the

truth of the matter is that most folks get a significant amount of their

meals outside the home. Thus they are at the mercy of what is available

in local eateries to satisfy this goal. So the question is whether

it is better to eat salads, which are widely available or the type of cooked

veggies one can get outside the home. Even if we can prove that raw

salads are inherently worse than steamed veggies, are they worse than chinese,

thai, and indian food that is commonly available. Studies have shown

these latter three to be very high in fat and the fat they are prepared

with is generally rancid polyunsaturated oils that been subjected to heat

and light and oxygen, making them massive free radical producers, thus

implicating them heavily in cancer and heart disease. Such foods

absolutely violate the TCM prohibition against overly greasy, spicy foods.

So are we doing our patients a disservice when we just tell them to avoid

salads if this results in them eating truly dangerous foods or just avoiding

veggies altogether. Be clear, this is not a call for veganism.

I consider animal protein to be a vital part of a healthy diet. But

is a salad with olive oil, lemon juice and mild aromatic spices really

a problem or is it even (dare I say it) good for you. As a final

thought, I would just point out that the japanese who exhibit the best

health in the world as a population eat both raw veggies (albeit often

marinated) and raw fish. Thoughts? Facts?

 

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