Raw Foods Contain More Than Just Hippie Fantasies: Part I

If you come from a vegetarian, vegan, or god bless you, a raw vegan background, it's likely that you've heard the term "living food." While I liken this term to "detox," and throw up in my mouth a little every time I hear it, it's exactly what I've been researching this week.

Before this post gets misconstrued as some kind of testament to my newfound raw-Nazism, I'll clarify that I'm more interested in learning the mechanisms behind the success of my raw buddies; Lex Rooker, Stepan Stastny and Joshua Trentine, than proving some unknowable truth about diet.

Skeptic or not, raw animal foods and to a lesser extent raw vegetable and fruits contain interesting compounds that are wiped out by cooking. In the case of vegetables, cooking them deactivates many of the high levels of anti-nutrients they contain.

Animal foods and fruits however are a different story. The vitamins, digestive enzymes, and the "master antioxidant and detoxifier of the cell," glutathione, are rapidly degraded in the presence of heat.

Let's talk about glutathione first and we'll traverse into the fantastical world of enzymes in next weeks post.

Raw Foods & Glutathione

I've mentioned glutathione a few times on this blog. It has its role in hair loss (PDF) as well as being integral in assisting the liver in real life detoxification.

Several months ago, Chris Masterjohn wrote a brilliant article entitled; The Biochemical Magic of Raw Milk. I really love this article because it was the first time I had ever thought about foods (not supplements) increasing glutathione levels.

Chris summarizes the role of glutathione (GSH):

"On top of all these antioxidant functions, our cells use glutathione to make drugs and toxic chemicals more water-soluble so they can be excreted. Without glutathione, the antioxidant system breaks down, and toxic chemicals hang around to wreak havoc in our cells and tissues."

I can't walk to the market without inhaling exhaust from some Bro's Ford F-150, so I'm assuming the more GSH we have, the better. How do we maximize exogenous consumption of GSH? Chris explains how this can be achieved with raw milk:

"Humans appear to make about 185 milligrams of glutathione per day when they meet the requirement for protein and sulfur amino acids. A “milk fast” on 1500 calories of raw milk per day would provide the requirement for protein and sulfur amino acids and supply an extra 100 milligrams of glutathione-boosting power."

Chris also points out that those who have trouble with dairy may be able to substitute egg whites with the same effect:

"Raw egg whites contain a similar concentration of the unique glutathione-boosting glutamyl-cysteine bonds. If indeed these bonds are responsible for raw milk’s glutathione-boosting power, raw egg whites might have similar power." 

Raw meat, especially grass-fed, is another source of GSH:

"The results show that dairy products, cereals, and breads are generally low in GSH; fruits and vegetables have moderate to high amounts of GSH; and freshly prepared meats are relatively high in GSH"

Vitamin C also increase GSH synthesis. Whole fruits or orange juice (raw if you can get it) would be a great way to supply some extra vitamin C, especially in combination with raw animal foods.

Who knows, perhaps this is another reason those crazy 811ers initially do so well.

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