Not only is raw food veganism oftentimes claims to cure pretty much every disease and malady known to man, a lot of times they delve into pseudoscience to explain things.
Let’s go back to top and go after Allison Cohen. All of her magical thinking with regards to raw foods is wrapped up in language that gives the appearance of science. However, there aren’t any links or references to actual peer-reviewed articles, just testimonies by some M.D. she found, very much in the spirit of the workout dietary supplement infomercials that has some moron in a lab coat saying how great crack is for your body to give the product a sheen of legitimacy. Of course, I can find my own M.D.s that say pretty much the exact opposite.
One of the arguments is that enzymes are broken down by the act of cooking and if left raw, then they aid in digesting of same food and make it so they body doesn’t have to use its own to digest it. Yeah, not so much. Turns out the acidic nature of the stomach breaks a lot of those down before they have a chance to really do much (but not all).
If you want to see how it’s really done with regards to making a point about plant enzymes, Allison, this is the way to wow me. Peer reviewed references, discussion of specific enzymes, discussion of specific metabolic processes, and limited beneficial claims.
The other major claim is that a raw food diet readjusts the acid-alkaline balance of the body because cooking, preservatives, food processes, i.e. anything that isn’t raw makes food more acidic. Yeah, vitamin C, you acidic bastard. And vitamins B5 and B9, you aren’t getting off the hook either. You know what this claim of restoring balance reeks of? The removal of body thetans by Scientologists, using magnet therapy to reduce pain, or the use of crystals to achieve harmony.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Raw chef Dan // May 25, 2008 at 9:47 am
Dude your missing the whole point. That fact that anyone thinks food or drugs is what heals is blind. That is the exact thinking that got us into this mess. The body heals its self constantly, just how much crap you want to pout in and get in the way if that process is up to you. Raw Food is a consciousness of this truth and therefore preaches using as little processed food as possible. Using fresh, unadulterated food “Raw Foods” to create your meals this eliminates most of the plethora chemical and other non food additive into the human machine. It’s that simple, stop feeding yourself the poisons and let your body recover for Christ sakes. It is difficult to bring the world around to a know consciousness because we now focus so much on what was “Proven” in the past. But regardless of what is said, I know I am healthier. I often say “I don’t need a study from a reputable university to tell me I no longer have hay fervor, I no longer have asthma, I no longer have sleep problems, lower back pain, blotchy skin, greasy hair, pimples, afternoon spaciness or the fact I haven’t had so much as a sniffle for eight and a half years”. Argue all the studies and statistics you want but I know hundreds if not thousands of people who no longer suffer from the common, acceptable everyday discomforts of life; from a common could to cancer it’s all gone because they changed their diet.
2 Kevin M. // May 25, 2008 at 1:44 pm
@Dan: Going to a nearly entirely raw food vegan diet to eliminate harmful additives in processed food is like running a marathon to get away from a mugger. Just don’t eat processed food, make it all yourself.
It’s not that difficult for people nowadays to be an ordinary vegan or vegetarian that cooks their food to eliminate food additives like high fructose corn syrup, excessive salt, and preservatives. Hell, you can even be a conscious meat eater and eliminate things like rBGH if you know where to shop.
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