PARENTS WANT THE BEST FOR THEIR CHILDREN
As parents, we can agree that a child’s physical well-being is the most important factor in a child’s life and that a child cannot survive without food (Why Nutrition 1). But we don’t want our children to merely survive, we want a healthy and disease-free future for them. We know that one’s long term health and the future health of generations in the family is affected by diet choice (Why Nutrition 2). While diets heavy on meats have shown to cause early deaths and degenerative diseases (Why Nutrition 3), vegan, vegetarian and diets low on meat, dairy and eggs have shown a reversal of diseases in various capacities (Why Nutrition 4).
As a Mama, whose child itched until there as blood on his bed because he was allergic to everything and who was thought to have a growth at 2 years old (what a scare that was!), I wanted to feed my child a healthy diet for all these given reasons. But I couldn’t fathom that a vegan or vegetarian diet high in GMO soy products or French Fries could ever be a healthy one. So I dug deeper.
The question I asked was what foods are the best for the body? The answers:
Foods that cure and prevent disease (Why Nutrition 2).
Foods that are naturally and easily accepted by the body.
Foods that do not disrupt the system.
Foods that are not seen as alien to the system.
A STUDY ON RAW, COOKED, PROCESSED FOODS
When an infectious illness or foreign substance is introduced into our body, the first reaction in our blood is to increase white blood cells in order to fight them off. In 1930 Dr. Paul Kouchakoff discovered that through the reactions of our white blood cells the body reacts differently to raw foods, cooked foods and processed foods.
RESULTS OF HIS STUDY
He found that:
- fresh, unprocessed, uncooked raw foods do not affect white blood cells
raw foods tested were unboiled drinking water, unboiled mineral water, sea salt, raw greens, raw cereals, raw nuts, raw honey, raw eggs, raw meat, raw fish, raw milk, sour milk, butter
- same raw foods (above) cooked causes an increase in white blood cells but the percentages in the blood formula remain the same
each food has a critical temperature that affects how the body reacts to them
| Critical Temperature in F | Foods |
| 191 | Water, milk |
| 192 | Cereals, cabbage, tomatoes, bananas |
| 196 | Butter |
| 197 | Apples, oranges |
| 200 | Potatoes |
| 206 | Carrots, strawberries, figs |
- processed and refined foods causes an increase in white blood cells, as well as changes the percentages in the blood formula
white sugar, chocolate bars, alcohol
- adding raw foods to a meal with cooked foods will not increase white blood cells, as long as the the critical temperature of the raw foods is higher than that of the cooked food
LET US AGREE THEN THAT:
fresh, unprocessed, raw foods in their natural state are easily and naturally accepted by our bodies
lightly cooked foods heated at temperatures lower than their intrinsic critical temperatures are naturally accepted by the body
foods that are heated at high temperatures and foods that are processed are seen as foreign substances that cause a false alarm in our immune system and increases our white blood cells in order to fight them
raw foods have the power to negate the ill effects of cooked and processed foods in the body
What exactly is raw foods? Keep posted.
|
Critical Temperature in F |
Foods |
|
|
|
|
191 |
Water, milk |
|
192 |
Cereals, cabbage, tomatoes, bananas |
|
196 |
Butter |
|
197 |
Apples, oranges |
|
200 |
Potatoes |
|
206 |
Carrots, strawberries, figs |
The Kouchakoff study was, quite honestly, crap. It’s never been replicated, which is a very bad thing from a scientific point of view, and if you actually read the study even Kouchakoff doesn’t go so far as to say that all cooked food is bad.
Digestive leukocytosis is pseudoscientific garbage, in summary. There are plenty of great reasons to eat raw fruits and vegetables, but this isn’t one of them and it drags down the credibility of the entire raw/vegan/vegetarian movement to make these fantastical and unsupported claims.
Hi Lexa,
Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate the time you took to write here. I agree that the study doesn’t go so far as to say that all cooked food is bad – but it does say that cooked foods cooked below its critical temperatures or cooked foods eaten with raw foods with higher critical temps than the cooked foods doesn’t cause the white blood cells to increase. I wish there was a study that tried to replicate the Kouchakoff study – or one that refutes it. Please let me know if you find one, I would appreciate more information. Another site you may be interested in that discusses vegan/vegetarian diets is – particularly the Kouchakoff study here: http://www.beyondveg.com/tu-j-l/raw-cooked/raw-cooked-1i.shtml The Kouchakoff study is used by many raw foodists to claim that cooked foods are seen as foreign matter in the body, but I see your point too.
I am sincerely interested to hear what your top reasons would be for kids to eat healthier – raw/vegan/vegetarian/otherwise.
Thank you for stopping by!
Carissa, a Mama who just wants the best food for her family and to share what she’s learned along the way
One thing I forgot to mention: Leukocytosis isn’t necessarily a bad thing in the first place. Exercise and pregnancy both cause it, and it’s merely temporary, just as it is with eating cooked foods.
i got married about 5 months ago and am just now realizing how bad my husbands food choices are. he has had a problem with recurring mouth ulcers since he was 17. he has been to many doctors and specialists to get a response of, “there’s nothing we can do about it”. even though he has a disconcertingly high white blood cell count.
the more research i do the more i think it has to do with the bad eating habits he acquired as a child (his family LOVES processed foods. . . it’s most of what they eat). he has a bad habit of drinking gallons of turkey hill iced tea – powdered tea sweetened with HFCS. YUCK!!! I recently read that lots of sugar can cause mouth ulcers (hmmm. . . i wonder where his are coming from) now this article about how too many processed foods raise white blood cell levels. BINGO!!! there’s the problem doctors can’t solve. it’s what you eat!!!
he will do anything to make the ulcers go away – except change his diet. what do i do!?!?!?!
Oh, this is a problem. Make a batch of fresh iced tea for him with a better sweetener to start with. Add some fresh smoothies/fresh juices too. Once he gets used to that, move on to unprocessed breakfast… once he gets used to that, add more unprocessed foods for the other meals. It make take a year! He might see the difference in his body just from a little change. What do you think? Is that doable?
i think so. he wants to kick the tea habit (thank goodness!!!). he has started to limit his tea intake. . .but if he has a bad day, he downs a ton of it. so he’s right back where he started. i thought that if i could make one that tasted just like it (it’s foul and too sweet for me) and then slowly i would reduce the sugar/sweetener until he would get used to a very mildly sweetened tea.
i like the idea of adding smoothies. a nice way to sneak some veggies in. i have also made it a habit to always have a salad with dinner. even if he picks the nastiest dressing right now, at least he is getting some raw veggies in his body. i know it will be slow going. but it is not only doable, for the sake of his health it has to at least be tried.
do you have any suggestions for how to encourage him to do his own research on diet? people are more likely to change and stick with a change when they are fired up by something they have discovered themselves.
Rachel, have you tried watching documentaries together??? Also, do you have a community of other wives going through the same thing? Inviting them over and having a chat about food is a good idea… esp if they have a hubby who has turned around. unfortunately, many only change their diets after an illness. Some documentaries we liked: The Cove, Food Inc, Farmageddon, Forks over knives, Blue vinyl, just to name a few. Here is a list of other fun edu-tainment ideas for kids if you have kids: http://mamainthekitchen.com/2011/01/19/how-to-market-fruits-and-veggies-to-your-kids-tip-5/