Nutritionally Speaking: Raw vs Cooked Food/ Soft Drinks/ Nutrition Conference 1975

Dear Dr. Meinig: In a previous article you mentioned eating raw vegetables. Aren’t they awfully hard to digest? – D.B.

 

Dear D.B.: There is a common misconception that cooking makes food more digestible. While this is true in a few isolated incidences, on the whole it is utterly false. Cooking or heating often makes a bad food safe to eat, but it never makes it a better food.

To test this quite simply, I suggest after eating corn that you take a moment to observe the number of undigested kernels of corn in your stool. Then the next time you eat corn on the cob, without cooking it, you will be amazed at its tenderness and improved taste. But at the same time, when you observe your stool, you will be surprised at how much less undigested corn is present: The reason, of course, is that cooking made it less digestible–it is more difficult for the digestive juices to break it down.

Those of you who say that you just can’t eat raw vegetables without getting a stomach ache have this occur not because the food is raw but because your digestive system is deficient. Half of the public, at the age of 50, is short of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, and 15 percent are at the early age of 20. Many also have insufficient pancreatic and liver digestive juices. Shortage of any one, or combination, gives digestive disturbances such as gas, diarrhea, and constipation and these, of course, are common to many individuals. The whole subject of digestion is probably the most overlooked phase of human health care.

 

Dear Dr.: Just why are soft drinks bad? – C.A.

 

Dear C.A.: First, all soft drinks are made with a solution of phosphoric acid. This is, in part, what gives them their kick. Phosphorous is a very active element, having the ability to combine with calcium. Most people have a poor calcium intake. The phosphorus then pulls the calcium from their storage warehouse–that is, their teeth and bones. The result is osteoporosis–that is, loss of density of bones, back and disc trouble, pyorrhea and, of course, decayed teeth. The sugar, three to six teaspoons full per six ounces of soft drink, of course, multiplies the problem. The T.V. song goes, “Join the Pepsi generation”, but if you do, it really means you join the Pepsi DEGENERATION.

 

Dear Dr.: I understand a nutrition conference was held at the White House last year. What proposals were made? – Andrea W.

 

Dear Andrea: The powerful influence of food manufacturers at such meetings waters down considerably the reports of scientists. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration itself has 22 key members out of 55 who have conflict-of-interest positions. That is, they work for the very industries they govern. As for the meeting at the White House, 80 industrial, consumer, and government representatives were present for a conference on nutrition research education. The only food served to them was coffee and doughnuts. There seems to be a message there somewhere.

Incidentally, for two years now, our Santa Barbara-Ventura County Dental Society, at its monthly meeting coffee breaks, has served fresh fruit or raw vegetables, along with pitchers of clear, cool water, instead of coffee and sweet rolls. There were some qualms at first as to whether this would be accepted, but the supply is always quickly exhausted, and a good deal of enthusiasm accompanies it. I am rather proud that we are one part of the health profession that is practicing what it preaches.