raw and ethnicity

[themindless]

i was just wondering if ethnicity would affect how you react to raw. i'm asian. my mom, grandma and so, rarely ate raw except for fruits i believe. i was wondering if my genes would make it harder for me to digest the raw foods. how did other asians react to raw?

[PomegranatePip]

That's a good question. Different ethnic groups do digest and metabolize differently. I'm not sure how it would relate to raw, though, since most cultures have gotten away from eating raw.

I'm from a British background, so that background should help me digest things with very few enzymes (thanks to the practice of cooking almost everything to mush). But, strangely, after a few days of going mostly raw, I noticed that it was becoming harder to digest the cooked food! Counter-intuitive, if it's all in the genes...

[justinesmith]

My feeling is that it is less about ethnicity and more about individuality. There are some people who don't digest sweet fruits very well while others thrive on them (like me!) for example. Genes do play a role but they are not the whole picture. Storm Talifero is a great example of this (www.gardendiet.com) and my dh is too! The ENTIRE side of his moms family has high cholesterol with heart disease and cancer peppered throughout. Even his younger brother was diagnosed with high cholesterol at 25 (picture a fit, healthy, weight lifting 25 year old). My dh was diagnosed at 29 with cholesterol in the 280's and triglycerides in the 480's (normal is below 90 ~ or was at the time, they seemed to have raised that # in the last 5 years). His blood work is now completely normal and he is about 50-75% raw. He is also the only one in his family that will correlate diet with health. The dr.'s think he is just lucky. I say he is just responsible for his own health. We all are, genetics aside.

[Linda1970]

Hello,

I'm Chinese, and I've been eating high raw for about 1.5 years. I think I react very well to it. Like Justine, I believe it's more individual rather than ethnicity. I really love eating this way and can't see myself eating any other way anymore.

[Nurse in the Raw]

My Japanese friends eat a lot of raw foods. Sushi is raw. I would think that Asian people would do well with raw since it is apart of their heritage.

[TheAvocadess]

There is no such thing as race other than the human race. National Geograpic's Genographic Project proves we are ALL from the the same small tribe in Africa. There is no diffrence in us under the skin, just physical geographic differences. That's it. Other than looking a little different, we are all from the same gene pool - which I think is very cool, but to answer your question, according to science and genetics, all of us should be raw. :)

[dreamrawalwz]

In the works there may soon be genetic testing for a personalized diet. I am actually very interested in this field and may actually make a career of it. Nutrigenomics is how genes affect diet and how diet affects genes (mutations, diseases, etc.).

[RawHeaven]

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[greenfeline]

The Avocadess is correct about no race except for the human race. I have a sociology background (most anthropologists and archaelogists hold this view as well) and race and ethnicity are studied as social constructions, not genealogically or biologically.

[trinity082482]

I personally am European. I am Portuguese. My body loves raw foods.

[menat]

There is no such thing as race other than the human race. National Geograpic's Genographic Project proves we are ALL from the the same small tribe in Africa. There is no diffrence in us under the skin, just physical geographic differences. That's it. Other than looking a little different, we are all from the same gene pool - which I think is very cool, but to answer your question, according to science and genetics, all of us should be raw. :)

However, race does affect genetics and how we metabolize foods. African Americans, Native Americans are eating a mostly Northern European lifestyle and it is messing up our health. The British (English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh) taught us how to fry foods. Africans nor Native American fried their foods before European colonizations. Northern Europeans lived on that diet for centuries and they can metabolize fat better and tolerate dairy better as well.. Africans and Native Americans boiled, roasted or ground baked their foods nor drank dairy. With the exception that some Africans had butter. Northern Africans (influenced by Europeans) may eat goats cheese, but they eat it far less than Europeans do. Native American have worst health than Afro-Americans, because they hunted and foraged for their foods. So having foods available, plus fried makes most Native American obese and diabetics by the time they are teenagers.

Yes, we are all the same human race, but you ethnicity along with genetics still makes us different in how we metabolize foods.

[PomegranatePip]

Yes, we are all the same human race, but you ethnicity along with genetics still makes us different in how we metabolize foods.

Exactly. I think people get caught up in the semantics and miss the point sometimes. "Race" is used by many people when they really mean "ethnicity". And there are differences in our bodies based on ethnicity, physical appearance merely being the first one you notice.

[honeydew]

However, race does affect genetics and how we metabolize foods. African Americans, Native Americans are eating a mostly Northern European lifestyle and it is messing up our health. The British (English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh) taught us how to fry foods. Africans nor Native American fried their foods before European colonizations. Northern Europeans lived on that diet for centuries and they can metabolize fat better and tolerate dairy better as well.. Africans and Native Americans boiled, roasted or ground baked their foods nor drank dairy. With the exception that some Africans had butter. Northern Africans (influenced by Europeans) may eat goats cheese, but they eat it far less than Europeans do.

Yes, we are all the same human race, but your ethnicity along with genetics still makes us different in how we metabolize foods.

Mostly true, however Africans did drink milk, albeit fresh from the goat/cow. They also used peanut oil to fry different dishes, although much less often than African Americans consume now, with far less additives, transfats...poisons.

Most Africans did enjoy a diet comprised mostly of fresh produce along with boiled rice, boiled wheat based dishes, and stews. The meat consumption varied upon location but was usually infrequent unless the village was near an area suitable for fishing or raised chicken or goats. I guess what I'm trying to say is Africans did eat eggs, milk, and some cooked food, but it was for the most part organic, and much less processed than the food served in homes today. So if most African Americans are descendants from these people, with bodies developing from years of eating such a diet, I agree that the raw food diet is definitely the best thing genetically for them.

I'm 50/50 Egyptian and Nigerian, and the diet seems to agree with me most definitely!:D I've never felt this energetic, my skin has never GLOWED this flawlessy and creamy, and I've never had such a general sense of well being, before this diet. It should be called the Garden of Eden Diet. seriously.

[eachpeachpearplum]

This is a very good question! :)

I am a "blender child" i.e. a mix of Scottish, African American, Irish, & American Indian! Add to the mix for my kids some English!

I have always had issues assimilating SAD I just didnt know that cooked, especially hybridized grains were the problem.

My system recieved "Raw" with open arms and makes me I feel like The Bionic Woman. When not raw I am constantly ill in a variety of ways. My system also finds cooked extreamly addicting.

Both my children also react badly to cooked. My daughter is unable to "pass" cooked/processed food. Eating cooked has caused her several hospital stays. Both children thrive on a raw foods diet.

My husband is English/caucasian and while I am sure he would fair better on raw he never had the issues our children and I suffer.

And lastly we need to keep in mind that we (humans) have only been cooking our food for a very small period of time in the scope of how long we have been on the planet and it takes much longer than we have had for evolution to kick in and adjust our bodies to eating cooked. :rolleyes:

[tinystrawberry]

i am very very german. i seem to need more fat but thats about it.

cool thread:cool:

[honeydew]

And lastly we need to keep in mind that we (humans) have only been cooking our food for a very small period of time in the scope of how long we have been on the planet and it takes much longer than we have had for evolution to kick in and adjust our bodies to eating cooked.




great point!