Enzymes ???

[Guest guest]

I'm VERY confused about enzymes. I have heard all sorts of comments

about them and mostly contradictory.

 

As we all know, or should know, there is a lot of bad science and

simply wrong information spouted (sprouted?) in our community.

Someone of supposed credibility will make a pronouncement, the

audience will hear it and repeat it over and over until it becomes

accepted and unquestioned " fact " .

 

I have heard people say we eat raw to preserve the live enzymes in

our foods and we dehydrate below something like 115 to avoid killing

the enzymes. I have heard others say enzymes are not " live " , they

are chemicals and are not destroyed by heating over the magic number

or steaming / stir frying, etc. Which is true?

 

I have heard people say your longevity is directly proportional to

your " live " enzyme consumption. I have heard others say, nonsense,

the body manufactures the enzymes it needs from the foods we eat and

that all food is broken down into components which the body then

makes what it needs from. Which is true?

 

I know I feel better when I eat mostly raw and that my medical issues

have responded well, even though I am at best 80% raw.

 

I have seen people with nasty medical challenges recover completely

on a strict 100% raw diet. BUT, then I have also seen people get the

exact same results on completely cooked macro diets.

 

In my observation either vegan way of eating and those in between ALL

seem to get good results. Vegetarians, unfortunately seem to get

very little in the way of noticeable results. I think this is

explained by the fact that the vegetarians are still eating milk,

cheese and butter and a lot of grains.

 

So, I'm left feeling like raw sounds good, it's trendy and I want to

say I'm a raw person, but what exactly is different as far as what

the body assimilates from say some raw zucchini and some that has

been lightly steamed over the magic temperature? Leave any sort of

oil or other ingredient out of the equation, just a bunch of raw

vegetables and the same bunch that have been lightly steamed. Also,

let's just focus on what get's assimilated by the body, NOT what

might be different going down but what is different when the body

goes to use the food.

 

Thanks for any serious, knowledgeable answers.

 

Mark

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark,

Enzymes are proteins, they are not living organisms in any sense of the

term. You can look in any number of basic chemistry/biochemistry texts, and

they will all speak uniformly on this matter, you will simply not find any

exceptions. Howell speculated -- as scientists often to -- about this " life

force " idea, and also about the lifetime enzyme potential idea, and others,

not comprehending, apparently, that he was speculating, have since turned

his speculation into " raw food truth " . Unfortunately, these two speculations

on his part were incorrect, and no amount of repeating what he said will

ever cause them to become correct, any more than repeating " The Earth is

flat " will ever cause it to be so.

 

In my view, one's choice of diet should simply reflect the results one

wishes to achieve. If one wishes merely to achieve an absence of diagnoses

or overly cumbersome symptoms, then many diets will indeed serve reasonably

well, though some will serve better than others. But if one wishes for much,

much more, then the range of choices diminishes very quickly. I invite you

to (re)read post 26941 for some thoughts on this.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

_____

 

rawfood [rawfood ] On Behalf Of

mstrong56

Sunday, January 07, 2007 8:53 AM

rawfood

[Raw Food] Enzymes ???

 

I'm VERY confused about enzymes. I have heard all sorts of comments about

them and mostly contradictory.

 

As we all know, or should know, there is a lot of bad science and simply

wrong information spouted (sprouted?) in our community.

Someone of supposed credibility will make a pronouncement, the audience will

hear it and repeat it over and over until it becomes accepted and

unquestioned " fact " .

 

I have heard people say we eat raw to preserve the live enzymes in our foods

and we dehydrate below something like 115 to avoid killing the enzymes. I

have heard others say enzymes are not " live " , they are chemicals and are not

destroyed by heating over the magic number or steaming / stir frying, etc.

Which is true?

 

I have heard people say your longevity is directly proportional to your

" live " enzyme consumption. I have heard others say, nonsense, the body

manufactures the enzymes it needs from the foods we eat and that all food is

broken down into components which the body then makes what it needs from.

Which is true?

 

I know I feel better when I eat mostly raw and that my medical issues have

responded well, even though I am at best 80% raw.

 

I have seen people with nasty medical challenges recover completely on a

strict 100% raw diet. BUT, then I have also seen people get the exact same

results on completely cooked macro diets.

 

In my observation either vegan way of eating and those in between ALL seem

to get good results. Vegetarians, unfortunately seem to get very little in

the way of noticeable results. I think this is explained by the fact that

the vegetarians are still eating milk, cheese and butter and a lot of

grains.

 

So, I'm left feeling like raw sounds good, it's trendy and I want to say I'm

a raw person, but what exactly is different as far as what the body

assimilates from say some raw zucchini and some that has been lightly

steamed over the magic temperature? Leave any sort of oil or other

ingredient out of the equation, just a bunch of raw vegetables and the same

bunch that have been lightly steamed. Also, let's just focus on what get's

assimilated by the body, NOT what might be different going down but what is

different when the body goes to use the food.

 

Thanks for any serious, knowledgeable answers.

 

Mark a

 

<http://geo./serv?s=97359714/grpId=5520395/grpspId=1705015482/msgId

=26953/stime=1168185464/nc1=3848446/nc2=4025323/nc3=3>