Scientific Data

[dreamrawalwz]

Does anyone know of any websites or books that provide scientific data about raw foods/veganism. I mean, with numbers, statistics, talk of enzymes, etc. that I can use to support myself during my nutrition classes if I ever need to presernt my side? I mean Alissa's book states about how cooking basically removes 50% protein in the animal after it's cooked, then you only absorb 2-3 grams of the cooked protein once assimilated. I'm not sure that would work with the teachers. I need things like where she got that information, or other types of sources. (don't worry alissa, it's not that i don't trust that information! It's the professors that would want more!).

[Revvell]

You might check out Craig Sommers' book, Raw Foods Bible. He's done a lot of the scientific stuff. He's also a Certified Nutritionist and Naturopathic Dr.

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/catalog/books_RawFoodsBible.html

[SharonC]

Just found these websites - have not had a chance to read them...
http://www.rawfoodnetwork.com/clinicalstudiesandfinding.html
http://www.thegardendiet.com/science/index.html

From Hallelujah Acres...
http://www.hacres.com/diet/research/HallelujahVegetariansandNutritionScience21.pdf
http://www.hacres.com/diet/research/fibromyalgia.pdf
http://www.hacres.com/diet/research/nutrient_intake.pdf
http://www.hacres.com/diet/research/nutrition_and_cancer.pdf

http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html

http://www.drfuhrman.com/ - prescribes nutrition for diseases, recommends vegan diet as optimal - at least half raw I believe. Discusses the discovery of the hundreds of phytochemicals in plant foods and all the studies that back up that plants foods prevent/reverse disease and should be the majority of an optimal human diet. The only mainstream practicing doctor I know of that has gotten this far. Besides allowing cooked vegan foods and soy, his recommendations are good and definitely far beyond the standard medical community. He does refer to scientific research throughout his book 'Eat to Live'. I have mixed emotions about studies - not terribly impressed by them, but they are helpful in cases such as yours and for those who feel they need them. His book is also recommended by Oprah's Dr. Oz (who recommends patients to Dr. Fuhrman) - this usually helps to impress/convince many people. Sometimes I have to use more mainstream resources (and well known people) for those who still look to the medical community for health information.

You may want to also mention that there is not much funding for studying food, especially since there is not a lot of money to be made.

Quote from Joel Fuhrman, M.D....(Books - 'Eat to Live', 'Disease Proof Your Child', and 'Fasting and Eating for Health')

"Blended Salads or Green Smoothies
Eating raw greens and fruits blended together to make a smooth, creamy treat is quick and convenient. The greatest benefit of blending is the increased absorption of important nutrients. All plants cells are surrounded by a cell wall that must be broken open to release the nutrients inside. As a result, most of the valuable nutrients contained within these cells never enter our bloodstream. Blending raw, leafy greens guarantees a higher percentage of nutrients absorbed into your bloodstream. By just chewing your food you absorb about 15 - 25% of the nutrients, but blending makes your body able to absorb up to 95%!"http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/bul...ewsletter.html

Quote from Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. from his book ' Health and Nutrition Secrets that can save your life' ... (Also wrote, 'Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills' - he is a retired Neurosurgeon)

"Unlike animal cells, plant cells contain a wall that we cannot digest, and therefore must be mechanically cracked open to get to the phytochemicals. We do this by chewing. Unfortunately, most of us do not chew our vegetables until they are a mush - which is the optimal state for nutrient absorption in our bodies - but, you can blenderize them to achieve the same effect.

If you're unable to prepare ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day, I highly recommend using a blender to make up a liquid supply. If you eat whole vegetables, your body can absorb only about 30 percent of the available nutrients, whereas juicing or blenderizing allows up to 90 percent absorption.

Drink at least twelve ounces twice a day of your blend. At first, this may provide too much fiber, and may cause diarrhea. In that case, dilute the blend by half with distilled water. Once you adjust that, gradually increase the amount of blend and reduce the amount of water. It may take a couple weeks to accomplish this.

The vegan diet - which disallows all animal products, including eggs and milk -is one of the healthier diets you can follow. In particular, the Hallelujah Diet, developed by George Malkmus, contains an excellent blend of furits and vegetables that has been shown to significantly reduce disease rates, and in some cases, produce dramatic improvements in some very serious diseases."

Be strong and think positive - you have the truth on your side!!

[being]

dream,

i wish i would've kept my favourites (websites) from awhile back. i went through a huge research phase and came across lots of (heavily scientific) articles and journal articles etc, that, while not directly referring to or discussing raw foods, offered a solid backing for many raw claims...

one site off hand that might at least give you an idea of names and books to look into, and a basis for research is this site:

http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/index.html

also, in the china study's bibliography i recall seeing quite a few articles that focused on the effects of cooking foods, absorbability of macro/micro nutrients, explanations of denaturing proteins and fats when exposed to heat... that sort of thing... so if you have access to the book, the back would be a wealth of information and point you in the direction of solid science.

i'm not aware of a website that has done all the research for us unfortunately :rolleyes: if i were a websavvy person i'd put all my spare time into such a project, because i love research, and i love raw foods, and i know lots of people would find it helpful..

another site i have browsed, but not looked closely at, that "might" have solid science backing raw claims is http://www.waisays.com/index.html... i know there is stuff on there about cooking converting healthy proteins and fats into toxic forms.. worth a glance perhaps.

good luck, i hope you are able to find what you need :)

ps- i just looked at some of the h.acres pages sharon posted and it looks pretty good! lots of peer-reviewed, published articles. i know this is what post-secondary peeps look for.

AND since you are in school, you should have access to a huge database of science journals for free, try looking for some of these titles??? http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=TitleSrchURL&_method=submitForm&sterm=nutrition&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_userid=10&md5=d04a3a91c097a984926d9a59789d3637 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=TitleSrchURL&_method=submitForm&sterm=nutrition&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_userid=10&md5=d04a3a91c097a984926d9a59789d3637)

[dreamrawalwz]

Thank you everyone so far! I'll have to open them up and save them to "favorites" tonight.

[NYbutterfly]

"The China Study" is about 360 pages of pure scientific facts backed by a century of research. That should help.

[tinystrawberry]

Yeah - the China study is totally full of statistics
i loved it:D

[honey_bee]

I would try contacting the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center (run by Dr. Gabriel Cousens). http://www.treeoflife.nu
I know they have a Masters Degree program in Vegan Live Food Nutrition. Maybe they could give you some scientific info, or point you in the right direction. I dunno......just a thought

[dreamrawalwz]

oh yea, the China Study! I have that book lol.

Honey_bee, that's a wonderful idea!

[chilove]

Here is a great resource for you:

http://www.rawfoodlife.com/Articles___Research/Toxins_Created_by_Cooking/toxins_created_by_cooking.html


Also check out the other articles on that site. Lots of great info!

Blessings,

Audrey