XPOST: Dehydrating and dehydration; Maple syrup

[Guest guest]

Well Siri, great question! There's no " right " or " wrong " to any of this,

only choices and the outcomes we experience afterward.

 

In this case, the idea of dehydrating foods at a low temperature arises from

a long-standing RF notion about food enzymes. Food enzymes are destroyed at

temperatures ranging from less than 100 degrees F all the way to 161 degrees

F, or so, and depending upon the length of exposure. But in the RF world,

the idea has taken hold that food enzymes are destroyed at around 117-118

degrees F, so many teachers tell people to dehydrate and warm foods below

these temperatures.

 

Rule of thumb: As long as the temperature of the food itself remains

comfortable to your tough, then you are generally " okay " .

 

Also, the ambient (air) temperature inside the dehydrator is warmer than the

temperature inside the food (just as the ambient temperature inside a

standard oven is also warmer than the temperature of food being cooked). As

long as there is still moisture inside the food, that food remains at its

own, internal temperature, as regulated by its water content. Only when the

food begins to " feel dry " (beginning at the surface) does its internal

temperature noticeably rise. Because of this, some people speed up the

dehydrating process by starting at a higher temperature (say, 130 degrees

F), then lowering the temperature quite a bit (perhaps all the way to 95

degrees F), to keep the food at around human body temperature as it finishes

drying.

 

But all this aside, there is another issue WRT dehydrated foods that most

RFs simply do not want to hear about. And it is the act of dehydration

itself. The human body is a water-based system, predominantly, and the

digestive system depends upon moisture to move and break down foods during

the digestion process. Whenever we consume dehydrated foods, the body must

add water into the digestive tract, in order to have even a prayer of moving

the material through and out the other end (much less actually " digest "

anything to the point where nutrients become absorbable).

 

This water is supposed to be integral within the food itself. Whenever this

is not the case, the body begins immediately to divert water from elsewhere

within and redirects that water into the digestive tract. Even if we then

notice feeling thirsty and drink water, the body has already initiated the

diversion, and we experience a certain degree of dehydration for at least

awhile thereafter (hours).

 

We can all observe one consequence of this diversion of water ... that

" full " , heavy feeling in the abdomen as the material we have eaten becomes a

partially rehydrated blob within us.

 

Often, we notice a " tired " feeling. Our nervous system is electrical in

nature, and when we deplete the water and oxygen supply to the nervous

system, nothing functions at " full speed " , so to speak.

 

So as I say above, all these things are choices, available to us freely and

without judgment, each choice with its own consequences. As we become

healthier and more vital, we tend to notice these consequences with

increasing clarity. For every gain in vitality brings to our entire system a

greater capacity to function, both expansively and defensively. The

healthier we become, the less we find ourselves willing to undergo the

symptoms that inevitably result from certain choices, the more we prefer to

choose acts that reinforce and enliven us.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

PS: Regarding the maple syrup, not boiled, but steamed at around 190 degrees

F for three days or so to remove about 97-98% of the original moisture

content (water) from the sap, as I understand it. E

__

Siri Betcher

Tuesday, February 06, 2007 2:39 PM

RawSeattle

RE: [RawSeattle] maple syrup

 

Hi Elchanan:

 

Using my own dehydrators at 110 degrees F. or below is alright for the raw

diet, isn't it?

 

Consuming hydrated maple syrup is out because the manufacturers boiled it

into syrup beyond 110 degrees, right?

 

Thanks for clearing my confusion,

 

Siri