Human Studies
In 1950, Dr. Masavore Kuratsuna, head of the Medical Department of the University of Kyushu in Japan, used himself and his wife to validate previous studies comparing the effects of raw and cooked foods on humans. Both of them followed a raw version of the World War II prisoners of war diet that the Japanese had given to their prisoners. It consisted of only 728-826 calories per day: brown rice, vegetables and a little fruit, 22-30 grams of protein, 7.5-8 grams of fat, and 164-207 grams of carbohydrates. They followed a raw version of it for three different periods: one hundred twenty days in Winter, thirty-two days in Summer, and eighty-one days in Spring. During this time, Mrs. Kuratsuna was breast-feeding a baby and found that nursing was less of a strain than before the experiment. Both continued to do their usual work and found themselves in good health. Then they switched to eating a cooked version of the same diet. The symptoms of the hunger disease that devastated the inmates of the Japanese camps, edema, vitamin deficiencies and collapse became manifest. They proved that even this inadequate diet could maintain health and even the health of a nursing mother, if eaten raw.
Digestive Leucocytosis
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At the Institute of Clinical Chemistry in Lausanne, Switzerland, Paul Kouchakoff did extensive research on digestive leucocytosis. Digestive leucocytosis is a phenomenon in which, simply put, white blood cells (leucocytes) rush to the intestines as cooked food enters.
Before Kouchakoff?s work, digestive leucocytosis was thought to be perfectly normal. But Kouchakoff found that when food is eaten raw, digestive leucocytosis does not occur. In fact, he found that if something raw is eaten before something cooked, this phenomenon does not occur.
If one?s leucocytes flock to the intestines every time one eats, day after day, how can the immune system function optimally for the rest of the body? The fact that eating raw foods leaves the white blood cells free for other tasks can only help in the effort to resist disease.
Chapter Three: Common Foods
Nuts
Let?s explore what some distinguished authorities had to say about nuts. Dr. William Esser, ran a fasting and raw food retreat in South Florida from 1950 until the year 2000. He still played tennis and enjoyed good health when he retired in his nineties and had much to say on the topic of nuts.
In his book, The Dictionary of Natural Foods, Dr. Esser states the following: \nutritive value, nuts are superior to any food stuff per pound that we know. It is a common opinion among lay people, as well as medical doctors, that the nut, as a source of protein, is of a
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low grade and insufficient in supplying the needs of the body in building materials. It is thought that without animal proteins of fish and meat, a high state of health is impossible. This is entirely erroneous. According to scientific investigations carried out by Professor Myer E. Jaffa of the University of California, Prof. F. A. Cajori of Yale University and Van Slyke, Osborne, Harris and others, the proteins in nuts are superior to those of animal origin.”
Dr. Esser also says: “Nut butter made from fresh, raw nuts can be used to the advantage for those who are toothless. Nuts are not difficult to digest when eaten raw and, in proper combination, unsalted. Roasting and broiling in oil at high temperature causes a release of free fatty acids and the addition of sodium chloride (salt), is sufficient cause for inducing indigestion for even cast iron digestion.”
John Harvey Kellogg, MD, inventor of, you guessed it, Corn Flakes! Said this:
“Nuts are free from waste products, uric acid, urea and other tissue wastes which abound in meat. Nuts are aseptic, free from putrefactive bacteria and do not readily undergo decay either in the body or outside of it. Meats, on the other hand, as found in markets, are practically always in an advanced stage of putrefaction. Ordinary fresh dried or salted meats contain from three million to ten times that number of bacteria per ounce, and such meats as hamburger and steak, often contain more than a billion putrefactive organisms to the ounce. Nuts are clean and sterile. Nuts are free from trichinae, tapeworm and other parasites as well as other infections due to specific organisms. Meats are not”.
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Soaking raw nuts that have brown skins is a good practice if one has the time and is seeking optimum digestion. For example, the skins of almonds contain enzyme inhibitors but these enzyme inhibitors are mostly inactivated when submerged in water for at least six hours. The almonds swell up and become sweeter. Since almond skins are indigestible, I sometimes go one step further and peel the skins. Just place chilled and soaked almonds in very hot tap water for a few minutes. After doing this most almond skins can be removed by pinching the almond between the thumb and forefinger. In the ancient Indian system of Ayurveda, it is recommended to soak almonds. I find that walnuts leave a brownish color to the water after they have been soaked and also taste much better. Nuts without brown skins such as pine nuts and macadamia do not contain enzyme inhibitors so there is no need to soak them.
Have you ever eaten a raw chestnut? I have. They taste better raw than roasted! I can?t figure out why people roast them.
The Nutrient Data Table on the following page is reprinted from The Cracker, January 2000, Published by the International Tree Nut Council.
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Nutrients in 100 Grams of Tree Nuts
Nutrient Units Almond Cashew Hazel-MacadPecan PistachiWalnut Calories Kcal 578 574 628 716 691 567 654 Protein Total Fat CarbohydratFiber Sugars Calcium Iron Magnesium Phosphorus Potassium Sodium Zinc Copper Manganese Selenium Vitamin C Thiamin Riboflavin Niacin Pantothenic Vitamin B6 Folate Vitamin B12 Vitamin A Vitamin E Saturated MonounsaturG G G G Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg McMg Mg Mg Mg Mg Mg McMcIU Mg G G 21 51 20 12 5 248 4 295 474 728 1 3 1 3 8 0 0.2 0.8 4 0 0.1 29 0 10 26 4 32 12 12 0 120 15 46 33 3 Na 45 6 260 490 565 16 6 2 1 12 0 0.2 0.2 1 1 0.3 69 0 0 1 9 27 8 8 0 158 15 61 17 10 4 114 5 163 290 680 0 2 2 6 4 6 0.6 0.1 2 1 0.6 113 0 40 15 4 46 8 8 0 96 8 76 13 8 4 70 3 118 196 363 5 1 1 3 4 1 0.7 0.1 2 1 0.4 10 0 0 1 12 59 1 1 0 114 9 72 14 10 4 70 3 121 277 410 0 5 1 4 6 1 0.7 0.1 1 1 0.2 22 0 77 4 6 41 22 21 1 102 21 46 27 10 8 108 4 120 485 1033 1 2 1 1 8 2 0.8 0.1 1 1 1.7 50 0 533 4 4 25 14 14 0 214 15 65 14 7 3 104 3 158 346 441 2 3 2 3 5 1 0.3 0.1 2 0.5 98 0 41 3 6 9 47 38 9 72 ated Fat PolyunsaturatG ed Fat Linoleic Acid Linolenic Phytosterols G G G Cholesterol Mg 0 0 0 35
0 0 0 0