pH, unlike plant enzymes, which work under a broad range of acidity or alkalinity. Since they come from an animal and cannot be heated to sterilize (or they would kill the enzymes and not work), common sense tells me to beware.
Vitamins
The word, “vitamin” appeared in the English dictionary in 1934. It is described as an organic substance which the body requires in very small amounts to carry out thousands of building-up and breaking-down functions.
The vitamins in our foods are sometimes rendered inactive before we get a chance to consume them. The Taber’s Cyclopedia Medical Dictionary, Edition 17, has this to say about vitamin loss (page 1562): “Loss of vitamin content in food products because of vitamin instability, especially in oxidation and during heating. Methods of preserving foods add to the loss of vitamins. Pickling, salting, curing or fermenting processes usually cause complete loss of Vitamin C. Commercial canning destroys from fifty to eighty-five percent of Vitamin C contained in peas, lima beans, spinach and asparagus. Pasteurization, unless special precautions are observed, causes a loss of from thirty to sixty percent of Vitamin C. Freshly prepared applesauce retains only from twenty to thirty percent of the Vitamin C value of the apple. Vitamin B1 is lost through milling because the wheat embryo, rich in Vitamin B1, is removed from wheat flour in milling. Some vitamins are unstable, being readily
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destroyed by oxidation, heat, especially in an alkaline medium of strong acids, light and aging.”
The Vitamin Chart in this prestigious medical dictionary states the following (edition 14, page 1725):
? Vitamin A, “destroyed by high temperatures when oxygen is present.”
? Vitamin B1, “destroyed by exposure to heat, alkali or sulphites.”
? Vitamin B2, “unstable in light, especially in the presence of alkali.”
? Vitamin B6, “rapidly inactivated in the presence of heat, sunlight, or air.”
? Folic Acid, “destroyed by heat at low pH, loss in food stored at room temperature” (edition 19 page 2399).
? Vitamin C, “easily destroyed by oxidation; heat hastens the process. Lost in cooking, particularly if water in which food is cooked is discarded. Also loss is greater if cooked in iron or copper utensils.”
? Vitamin B Complex, stability, “long continued cooking or high temperature cooking destroys Vitamin B.”
? Vitamin B12, “unstable in hot alkaline or acid solutions” (edition 19 page 2399).
? Vitamin E, “destroyed by heat” (edition 19, page 2399). Vitamin B12 is heat sensitive but not entirely destroyed by cooking. Research has shown that between 23.7% and 96.4% of B12 is destroyed by boiling or baking, depeding on the type of food and length of time cooking. (Conscious Eating by Gabriel Cousens, MD)
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The Vitamin E Fact Book by the Vitamin E Research and Information Service (1989) states that almonds are a rich source of Vitamin E in their raw state but they lose eighty percent of the vitamin in roasting.
Vitamin C is a very interesting vitamin. Practically all animals make it in their bodies so they don?t have to eat it. The exceptions are fruit-eating bats, guinea pigs, the red-vented bulbous bird and primates including man. Linus Pauling, a famous Vitamin C researcher, postulated that humans used to make it. However, from eating a fruit rich diet, we lost the ability to produce it. It is widely known that if we don?t get Vitamin C through our diets, we develop scurvy.
Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin.” In other words, when our bodies are exposed to sunlight, (usually twenty minutes is sufficient) we are supplied with our daily need for vitamin D. A baby can get all the vitamin D it needs with only its cheeks exposed to the sun for about twenty minutes.
There are large numbers of illnesses that can be caused by vitamin deficiencies. Volumes can be written on this topic alone (excluding all other nutrients). Just to name a few, lack of vitamin A can cause the eyes to weaken. Lack of vitamin B can cause beriberi. Lack of vitamin C can cause scurvy and lack of vitamin D can
cause
but
rickets. most
The
government
has
set that
dietary these
recommendations for these vitamins to prevent deficiency diseases
researchers
believe
recommendations are less than optimum. Every individual has a different need for vitamins that changes constantly according to
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lifestyle factors. In the case of water-soluble vitamins, if over ingested, they will usually leave the body through the urine and not cause any problems. Fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K, are stored in the liver and fatty tissues until the body needs them. The body can survive weeks of consuming foods that lack them without any deficiency signs for this reason. However, there is a major drawback to this. The capacity for storage sets the stage for toxic buildup should an excess be ingested. Excess of vitamins A, D and K can easily reach toxic levels if over consumed. For example, a man diving an Alaskan dog sled got lost, and in an attempt to save himself from death, the stranded man ate the liver of one of the dogs and then died of Vitamin A toxicity. If however a human ate an excess of plant foods, toxic levels of vitamin A would never be reached because plants contain carotinoids that are changed into vitamin A only as the body needs them.
Synergistic and opposing relationships exist between some vitamins. For example, Vitamins A, D and E are mutually antagonistic to each other and it is well known that hyper-vitaminosis A can be treated by vitamin D supplementation. In addition, an excess of vitamin D in the body can be successfully treated with vitamin A supplementation. An excess of the mineral calcium in the body can cause a vitamin A deficiency and a deficiency of the mineral zinc can prevent the body from accessing Vitamin A that is stored in the liver. Vitamin D can become deficient if excess magnesium is present. You can see how indiscriminate supplementation or eating an excess of fortified foods can cause imbalance. Foods in their natural state as the
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creator has designed them, excluding genetically
modified/hybridized foods have the vitamins and minerals in highly useable ratios. With normal consumption of a good variety, they will not cause imbalance. However, if we eat refined and processed foods that have been enriched with synthetic vitamins and laboratory manipulated minerals and then consume synthetic supplemental vitamins in high doses, there is a possibility of throwing body chemistry out of balance. If you use supplemental vitamins, be sure to use quality products from a health food store and never from discount stores, pharmacies or supermarkets. Sometimes these supplements contain artificial chemicals that can cause ill health.
According to research done by Dr. David L. Watts, some vitamins have been classified as having either a stimulating or sedating effect at the cellular level. For most people, the vitamins A, C, E, B1, B3, B6 and B10 are stimulators while vitamins D, B2 and B12 are sedatives.
I have often wondered if the high dose of vitamin D absorbed from the sun is the reason why most people feel so sedated after a day at the beach.
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