The China Study Is not a 'Raw' Book

[Tenuho]

the China Study is a great book dont get me wrong...

but its not a book that advocates 'raw' eating....although obviously it outlines why to stay clear of the things raw food eaters are already aware of...

but as far as the whole

cooked vs uncooked food debate goes....

i dont believe there is any such book out there with that much scientific evidence behind it to support a view that raw food is healthier than cooked food....

but i may be wrong? am i? (i hope so)

obviously i signed up to a raw food forum so ofcorse im not saying raw food isnt healthier....i think we can feel the benefits of raw vs cooked food....ive never been a vegeterian or vegan or anything...i just went straight to raw...because i allways considered it the healthiest way of eating so when i could muster up the energy i switched over my diet to raw...

maybe one of you whos gone from vegan to raw could talk about the difference you notice?

Because things like rice, beans etc....theyre left out of a raw food diet but are we gaining from that or are we infact missing out?

plus there are many other issues.....

[Raw Angel Mom]

It advocates plant food and say strongly that the less cook the better so it does somehow promote eating our vegetable and fruits raw.

The study was conduct with plant food not necessary raw neither necessary cook. But what is great if cook plant can bring back your health, can you imagine the raw food.

I highly recommend this book, because it really gives you strong ground that we are on the right path.

I would love a study like this exclusively with RAW FOOD. The only catch is that it gives me nausea that they use animals for that.

The study has been done, i don't need more animal to suffer. If they do a study in comparison with someone that do raw and others that do cook plant food, i would be curious about it.

I read an amazing story of a surgeon who is 97 and still practice. His thing is to make time to give in the community. He doesn't eat raw food and it really does make you think of what has the greatest impact on your health. It comes down to our choice but especially our emotional choice. We can do raw food and still use raw food to cope with our emotions and attempt to push them down.

My father in law healed his pancreas cancer by doing microbiotic. Now you know this is cook, then it cames back again and guess what, he was eating dairy again. We bought him a copy of the China Study. Thank to goodness, he read it. Eliminating any animal protein from our diet is a major huge step. Adding more raw is without a doubt another major step.

If you find some material that did focus on raw food, let me know

[Bananna]

well right now I am just sitting at vegan/ half raw. I have been raw for extended periods of time however I and many can attest to the difference.

If I eat a cooked meal I feel semi-zapped. Not really bad, like if it was pizza, but just not Vibrant...possibly tired. Whereas if I eat a salad, I'm light and bright.

The difference is instantaneous really.

Also, you just have to look at the nutritional value of something like say rice. Compare that to salad and you'll see that it's pretty much filler food, leaving you with less room for better nutrition.

So it's about what you're eating on raw, but also about what you're not eating.

That said, I Personally Know that I can make myself feel like crap on raw foods too...if I eat lots of different kinds of nuts/gourmet recipes/lots of sundried tomatoes/stuff marinated in tamari/braggs/nama etc. all in the same day, I will feel like garbage. Not saying that stuff is bad, but for me it has to be in moderation.

Hope that helps, or have I confused you more? lol

[Aleesha Sattva]

cooked vs uncooked food debate goes....

Just so we are clear, here is the Mission Statement for this board:

This is a raw food board for asking and receiving questions and answers in regards to going and staying raw. This board is for the support of the raw food lifestyle, getting and giving advice and connecting with other people who are STRIVING TO GO AND BE RAW VEGAN according to the principles in Alissa Cohen's book Living on Live Food. It is not for debating whether this diet is good or bad or for posting questions that try to debunk the raw food diet. This does not mean that people cannot ask questions and seek answers but just as a raw fooder or someone believing in the raw food diet would not go to a meat board, a macrobiotic or an Atkins board and start debating those fellow board members beliefs, questioning their approach to their personal diets and interrupting and disrupting there place of support, so is this not appropriate on this board. This board is for people wanting support and connection.

There is enough fear and mistruth and debating about diet going on in all of the places outside of this Internet circle. This is not the place for that. It is a place to come and share your same interest in the vegan raw food diet, get support and feel connected. If you need information that you feel you are not finding here or are looking for opposing views about this diet and want to discuss these view, this is not the place to do that. Search the net and you can find all you want. You are welcome to ask questions and have different opinions but please be mindful and respectful that this is a raw food board whose members are raw, striving to be raw and/or are searching for vegan raw food information.

[Seedy]

the China Study is a great book dont get me wrong...

but its not a book that advocates 'raw' eating....although obviously it outlines why to stay clear of the things raw food eaters are already aware of...

but as far as the whole

cooked vs uncooked food debate goes....

i dont believe there is any such book out there with that much scientific evidence behind it to support a view that raw food is healthier than cooked food....

but i may be wrong? am i? (i hope so)

obviously i signed up to a raw food forum so ofcorse im not saying raw food isnt healthier....i think we can feel the benefits of raw vs cooked food....ive never been a vegeterian or vegan or anything...i just went straight to raw...because i allways considered it the healthiest way of eating so when i could muster up the energy i switched over my diet to raw...

maybe one of you whos gone from vegan to raw could talk about the difference you notice?

Because things like rice, beans etc....theyre left out of a raw food diet but are we gaining from that or are we infact missing out?

plus there are many other issues.....

Hi Tenuho,
I understand your problem. I recommend Susan Schenck's 'The Live Food Factor'. There is a huge section of this book devoted entirely to the hard scientific evidence of the superiority of raw vs. cooked foods. Susan details almost 50 published animal experiments and goes into the scientific details of how cooking damages the nutritional value of food. As a chemist myself, this was exactly the book I have been looking for to break through my own natural skepticism. And BTW, you don't have to give up grains or beans. I sprout quinoa, oat grouts, buckwheat, wild rice, lentils, mung beans, etc and eat raw corn, raw sweet potatoes, raw butternut squash, etc. My diet is a raw variation of Joel Fuhrman's 'Eat to Live' program. The improvement I have seen in a raw vs. a low-fat cooked vegan diet has been in improved energy, bowel movements, and the ability too eat a much higher volume of food. I was always hungry as a cooked vegan and could not maintain my initial weight loss. I was lucky to have a bowel movement once a week. Now I eat until satiated and my weight is slowly but steadily returning to normal. Good Luck,
Seedy

[Ilse W.]

There are plenty of books about the benefits of eating our food the way nature intended. Most people make the mistake to believe that this is a new idea. Look for books that were written in the first half of the 20th century, before the modern food industry and Madison Avenue took over our lives and health. The China Study is one book that shows that animal protein is extremely unhealthy for humans. There is a legitimate debate whether it's the cooking process that makes animal protein carcinogenic, but I would suggest that raw animal flesh, although possibly not unhealthy, is unappetizing enough that our ancestors would only eat it when unable to find other food (for example people in extreme northern latitudes). Anyway, The China Study is important to those of us who have had cancer already and validation of the possibility of prevention for those who don't want to ever get it, but thought that it might be an issue of "chance", as the medical industry is trying to convince us. Check into "Natural Hygiene" to find the "scientific" arguments for the health benefits of eating a raw vegan diet. The first book I read on the subject was an inexpensive download: "Your Natural Diet: Alive Raw Foods" by Dr. T.C. Fry and David Klein. You can also find any numbere of free downloadable books at www.soilandhealth.org .

[Revvell]

As has been said, The Live Food Factor by Susan Schenck has it yet, for me, I don't trust "science". Any time they want to "prove" or "dis-prove" something, they can figure out a way to do it ~ even skew the "evidence" as has been proven numerous times which is why I like hearing peoples' personal testimonials, many of which are in Alissa's book.

No, The China Study is NOT about raw and it mostly goes into talking about a plant-based diet meaning, taking most of the animal products out. It doesn't address adding MORE fruits and veggies, although, when one leaves out something, SOMEthing has to be added to fill that void ~ and certainly doesn't address raw.

i dont believe there is any such book out there with that much scientific evidence behind it to support a view that raw food is healthier than cooked food....

but i may be wrong? am i? (i hope so)

[LilacLavender]

The China Study's usefulness to me was its ability to demonstrate why animal products in the diet put a person at a higher risk for illness

[gabriele]

Yes, all these types of books serve a purpose, whether they talk "raw" or not. There's something to learn from Dr. Fuhrmann, John Robbins, the Engine2 Diet, they are not raw necessarily but they point a lot of SAD people in the right direction, then later, maybe, those people can evolve into a raw eater, like i'm trying to do.

[Tenuho]

well right now I am just sitting at vegan/ half raw. I have been raw for extended periods of time however I and many can attest to the difference.

If I eat a cooked meal I feel semi-zapped. Not really bad, like if it was pizza, but just not Vibrant...possibly tired. Whereas if I eat a salad, I'm light and bright.

The difference is instantaneous really.

Also, you just have to look at the nutritional value of something like say rice. Compare that to salad and you'll see that it's pretty much filler food, leaving you with less room for better nutrition.

So it's about what you're eating on raw, but also about what you're not eating.

That said, I Personally Know that I can make myself feel like crap on raw foods too...if I eat lots of different kinds of nuts/gourmet recipes/lots of sundried tomatoes/stuff marinated in tamari/braggs/nama etc. all in the same day, I will feel like garbage. Not saying that stuff is bad, but for me it has to be in moderation.

Hope that helps, or have I confused you more? lol

no no it didnt confuse me lol.....it was useful, thanks...

the rest of you thanks....all pretty interesting responses...

and yea ive heard of the live food factor i was going to buy it but didnt like the promo on the site.....will have a look if you guys recomend it though...

and yea soilandhealth is cool

thanks guys....

oh and p.s this thread is not 'anti-raw' as i explained....

[RawKnitster]

The following is a paragraph from a post I wrote about a seminar at Bastyr University that was presented by the honorable Dr. Campbell.

After almost 90 minutes Dr Campbell took a few questions from the audience. Tom from Raw Vegan Source was there, he asked if raw cow’s milk was any better than pastuerized. The Doctor said no, as it is still an animal protein. Another question was about a raw food diet. The Doctor’s response was that if a vegan diet is a good thing, a raw vegan diet is probably better. Less cooking is an advantage, not sure if 100% is necessary, and that there have been some problems associated with it. Maybe it was just me, but I felt a tension in the room, and I think the Doctor did, too. At that point he introduced a member of the audience and Bastyr graduate, Vesanto Melina. She is a consultant/author of nine raw food books. Including Raw Revolution Diet. She stood up to a round of applause.

When he made that statement about problems being associated with a raw food diet there was a silence and collective holding of breath in the room. He obviously was aware of it because he seemed flustered for a moment, then immediately introduced Vesanto Melina. The round of applause given to Vesanto Melina by the audience very enthusiastic. I know I applauded long and loud as a way of protesting his statement. Maybe it was just me, but I don't think so. There were a lot of raw foodists in the audience.

After the seminar there was some speculation in the book signing line about what he meant by that statement. It was the same tired old conversation about Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D, and about some raw foodists not getting enough variety in the foods they choose.

Here is a link to the thread this is posted on where you can read about the seminar, and read comments from other raw foodists who endorse the information in The China Study.

Whether "The China Study" is "not raw" is of NO consequence to the important facts it contains.

[Tenuho]

IS??.......

woops i nearly put my foot in it huh...edited!

Rawknister thanks for that post....sounds like it was a good seminar