F-reezing...!

Like many raw fooders, I have enjoyed on occasions a little 'raw ice-cream' (using a frozen-banana base). I've also been sampling lately frozen (and freeze-dried) durian. I've been telling myself that, whilst freezing might affect the enzymes and nutrients in food a little, it doesn't nearly as much as cooking, and, after all, freezing has been used as a method of food preservation for thousands of years. But, then, people have cooked food for thousands of years, and I've always resisted the notion that just because 'everyone' has done something 'for ever' it's gotta be the right thing to do... So, I thought I'd find out a little bit more about the effects of freezing on food.

Firstly, needs to be said that frozen vegetables on sale in shops will have been 'blanched' before freezing. Blanching is cooking food for a short while in boiling water and one reason it is carried out is to 'neutralise' enzymes to maximise shelf life. So, as raw fooders take care to preserve the enzymes in food to minimise the burden on our own digestive enzymes, we won't be buying supermarket frozen veg (note that some juice and smoothie bars use frozen fruit, although fruitarian Anne Osborne has contacted companies selling frozen fruit, and it would seem that frozen fruit is seldom blanched).

But what about foods we've frozen ourselves, without blanching, then dethawed? To what extent is freezing a method of food preservation? Is everything preserved?

My son Joe, in his first week of a BSc in Nutrition, learned that 'when food or solution is frozen, only the water molecules turn to ice and anything else is trapped in vacuoles - in effect dehydrating the food and often denaturing the cells in the food.' 'Denaturing' means changing the properties of the food. For example, when amino-acids (from which we make protein) are changed they can be less easily assimilated by our bodies.

So, freezing does change our food.

Susan Schenk ('Live Food Factor') describes the freezing process thus: 'Unlike most other chemical compounds that contract when they freeze, water expands as it forms ice, and the tiny ice crystals in all cells that contain water are like little bombs going off inside the food. These destroy enzymes, vitamins and all sorts of other molecules.' I happen to know Vitamin E is destroyed by frost.

So freezing does destroy some nutrients.

Enzymes are certainly destroyed through freezing, although there is some uncertainty as to how much. I assume the percentage varies by food, and it would also of course be dependent on how long the food has been frozen for (as pre-raw we all understood that frozen foods have a 'freezer life'). David Wolfe says that freezing destroys between 30% and 66% of enzymes. There is no consensus, but the lowest estimate I've seen puts the destruction at 20%.

So freezing destroys a significant percentage of enzymes.

Some believe that nuts and seeds are resistant to freezing. Susan Schenk says: 'nuts, seeds and dehydrated foods are not much damaged by freezing, and their enzymes are not destroyed because they have no water.' Some say that, certainly with nuts and seeds, freezing doesn't destroy enzymes but simply renders them dormant, and offer as proof for this the fact that nuts and seeds will sprout after freezing. And we all know that seeds can survive a harsh winter and grow into strong plants when the warm weather comes. But, is 'life' in a dark, airless freezer quite the same thing as life outside?

I decided to investigate this further. Firstly, a quick google revealed that nuts do actually contain a little water - they're about 5% water. On this basis I hypothesised that freezing would change and destroy things in nuts and seeds.

Here's how I tested this:

I took two 1/4-cups of wheatberries (wheatseeds). One lot I'd frozen for seven days. The other lot were fresh. I soaked each for 24 hours in same-size containers and same amount of water. I then drained them and left them to sprout.

In each pair of photographs, the berries on the left are the previously-frozen ones.

This is how the wheatberries looked after two days:

Some of the previously-frozen berries had started to sprout. All of the fresh berries had sprouted.

So, even though dethawed, the previously-frozen berries did not sprout as quickly as the frozen, which indicates enzyme activity had been affected.

This is how the wheatberries looked after five days:

The shoots of the previously-frozen are greener than the fresh, and longer. Is that good? Looks as if the previously-frozen are valiantly trying to make up for lost time, and more! But gardeners know that plants that grow quickly initially don't always stand the test of time. What we can definitely say is:

There was a difference in the appearances of the previously-frozen and fresh wheatberries.

I also shook the glasses so that any ungerminated seeds would fall to the bottom.

There were more ungerminated seeds amongst the previously-frozen seeds.

(This leads me to question Susan Schenk's statement that freezing doesn't destroy enzymes in seeds.)

At the five-day point I decided to submit each to a 'taste test'. I tasted the fresh wheatberries. Lovely - sweet. I was just about to taste the previously-frozen wheatberries,

but was put off by the smell!

Please bear in mind I am no Gabriel Cousens and this 'home experiment' would need to be replicated under rigorously-controlled conditions to draw any firm conclusions from it. I simply share my experience with you.

And Marti Fry, Natural Hygienist, in her article 'Does Freezing Harm Foods?' felt that we're OK freezing nuts and seeds as they have 'little water content'. On the other hand, she's not happy with freezing other foods, such as fruit. She summarises the nutritional losses as follows:

1) Cell walls burst and cell contents are spilled due to the internal water expansion; hence the cell's life is lost. When cells burst, certain of their organelles release self-destruct enzymes called lysosomes. While these enzymes are not active during freezing (and some are even destroyed), those which remainintact will speedily decompose the cell contents upon thawing.

2) Oxidation occurs where air reaches the frozen foodstuff; hence nutrients are lost.

She further comments 'Does this mean that banana 'ice cream', fruit smoothies made with frozen bananas, and other frozen foods aren't truly healthful? Well, unfortunately, YES.'

Raw fooders that follow a 'high raw' rather than 100% raw diet may feel just as happy including a little previously-frozen food in their diets as they do cooked food occasionally, and I'd be the first to say this flexibility can make all the difference in being able to stick to a raw food diet (having started out at 75% myself). And, of course, a high-raw diet is still light years healthier than the standard UK diet, with many experiencing big positive health changes on it. But, if you are going to eat food that has been previously frozen, I'd suggest giving it a (sort of) 'pass mark' only if, when dethawed, it looks, smells and tastes just as it did in fresh state and be aware that there is bound to be some nutrient loss.

And those of us who are 100% raw - er - aren't we being just a shade 'inconsistent' if we proudly claim that not a morsel of food heated above 117 F passes our lips (in order to conserve vital enzymes and nutrients) and then tuck into frozen ice-cream or durian. And I will have to say at this point...'oh bother!' (or words to that effect). Thinking about the freeze-dried durian in the cupboard, it does occur to me that, if food is dehydrated before freezing, then there may be no water in it to expand and denature the food? Marti Fry does at least give some comfort here: 'dried foods which are frozen are not harmed because of their extremely small water content: there's not enough water to expand and burst the cell walls.' Good...perhaps I'm OK (!), as long as, of course, the drying temperature doesn't exceed 118 degrees F...:-)

Drum roll...Raw Fooders' Favourite Foods (International Top 10)

On the international giveittomeraw.com forum recently, Philip McCluskey (lovingraw.com) asked raw fooders for their top 10 favourite foods.

I couldn't resist analysing the 70 or so replies that came in to find out which foods unite raw fooders around the world. And, here they are! In order of popularity...

1. Green Leaves, various (spinach clear leader)

2. Avocado

3. (joint) Apples, Tomatoes4. Cucumber

5. (joint) Cacao, Young Coconut
6. (joint) Mango, Blueberries

7. Watermelon

8. (joint) Celery, Dates, Bananas

9. (joint) Figs, Peaches

10. (joint) Cantaloupe Melon, Strawberries, Oranges

Runners-up: hempseeds, almonds

We like our greens, don't we! And isn't it great to see the humble apple 'top fruit', above the more exotic fruits? What also cheered me in this list was seeing the appearance of several foods that are not only easily available in the UK, but relatively low-priced, and easy to grow ourselves, such as green leaves (of course!), apples, tomatoes and cucumber.

So, we may envy those Californians their climate and raw food restaurants, but good to see that when they visit their farmers' markets they're just as likely as we are to be filling up with spinach, avocados, apples, tomatoes and cucumber (oh, and young coconuts perhaps...Tesco does sell them occasionally, they can be found at 'ethnic' markets, and you can buy them at Kensington Wholefoods any time! That is, if you have an arm and a leg to spare.)

'Drink your greens!'

I dragged my feet buying a juicer, having really gotten into smoothies, and feeling quite virtuous in the knowledge that in the smoothie I was getting the whole plant, that is, the nutrients inside the leaves and the fibre. However, I became sold on green juices after being served a truly delicious one by the raw chef Russell James, and further sold when my husband, who dislikes the texture of smoothies ('it's like drinking a pudding'), declared he liked 'the juices with the greenery' - praise indeed from one who, a year ago, would have laughed if anyone had told him he'd be happily starting each day with 'spinach juice'!

Why green juice?

Well, for me, it's the taste and texture of green juice that wins over green smoothies, and any nutritional losses are at least partly outweighed by the fact that my family are far more willing to 'drink their greens' in a juice than a smoothie. It's a great way of consuming far more green leaves than we might feel like eating in a salad, so juices made from, for example, spinach or kale can pack in the Vitamins A, C, K, the minerals magnesium, iron and calcium, and other vital nutrients. And the 'wasted' pulp? Returns to the ground via the compost heap.

Juices, like smoothies, are easy to digest, meaning that our bodies can divert energy to detoxification ('house-cleaning'). Juices made from green leaves are highly alkalising. Our daily activities produce acid, and alkalising foods help our bodies achieve balance. Illness will thrive in an acidic body, and processed food, cooked meat, fish, dairy, grains and alcohol all contribute towards making our bodies over-acidic. My husband, although he's more raw than he used to be (due to my delicious raw meals of course) still consumes some cooked food and alcohol. But, after his first green juice he actually rang me from work to say how surprised he was that he hadn't experienced the usual 10 am 'gnawing' feeling in his stomach. That 'gnawing', that is so often felt by cooked-food eaters, even just a few hours after eating, is often confused with hunger, resulting in cravings and over-eating. It's also sometimes experienced by those in the early stages of a raw diet, as the body adjusts. Here's William Hay, MD, on that: '...arrange the feeding habits so that no gnawing will ever again occur, even when the stomach is entirely empty. Every gnawing feeling is evidence that the stomach contains a very uncomfortable amount of acid, the acid debris that follows the meal...' In my second year of raw, I never experience that 'gnawing', even after 24 hours without food.

Before moving on, there is one investment needed for green juicing, but one that will be repaid so hugely in terms of your health and enjoyment.

Which juicer?

Basic 'centifrugal' juicers (£30-100) juice by cutting and straining. They can do a terrific job with fruit and many vegetables, but won't 'cut it' with green leaves. For these, a 'masticating' juicer is needed (but note that even the popular Champion doesn't cope well with fibrous greens - and it doesn't juice wheatgrass). So, if you're going to be juicing greens as well as fruit and other veg, make sure that the juicer you buy is up to the job. There are several masticating juicers in the medium price range, including the Oscar, Matstone and Samson (£100-200) that will juice all types of greens. These are 'single gear' juicers.

Top of the range are the Green Power/Kempo/Hippocrates (around £300, so shop around). These are the most efficient juicers of all, and also include magnets which produce a magnetic field which helps extract more minerals during the juicing process.

I have an Oscar 900 and, although it squeaks a little (not sure why), has faithfully juiced everything put into it every day for several months now. And I can take it apart and clean it in a minute or two.

So, what about the taste...

Some say the cleaner the body, the better a juice made exclusively from green leaves will taste.

Personally I quite like the taste of green leaf-only juices, but love them when they're sweetened with apple, so perhaps my body has a little way to go! In the meantime, I'll share with you a recipe for a juice that should be popular with raw and non-raw people alike.

The key ingredients are (apart from the star of the show of course!): celery (the salt element) and apple (the sweet element).

Juice: 2 cups of spinach (tightly-packed), 1 long stick of celery, 1 apple (I use a Granny Smith).

Here's a pic, taken next to my 'Christmas Rose' , or helleborus (that actually never flowers before February).

Variations: Replace 1/2 to 1 cup of spinach with other green leaves, such as lambs lettuce, rocket or kale. Try adding a little mint, and floating a sprig on top.

Drink it up quick!

Do drink freshly-made juice straight away, as juices start to oxidise as soon as they're exposed to air. In as little as 20 minutes they can lose a lot of their nutrition. David Wolfe ('Sunfood Diet Success System'): 'We can see the colloidal leaf minerals (eg calcium, in green leaves) precipitate out of freshly-made, green juices if we allow the juice to sit and lose energy. As a juice loses energy (zeta potential) it begins to change from an alkaline medium to an acid medium; it no longer has the energy to hold minerals in suspension.' There...(you knew that, didn't you)

.

Just before Christmas, I was feeling a little pathetic one evening (I moan when it's cold, despite being raw - I haven't managed to emulate the Boutenko family, who sleep outdoors in the winter). It was the sort of evening that, in a past-never-to-be-revisited, would have called for a g & t. I made a green juice, served it in a wine glass (thanks to Karen Knowler for that idea!) and snuggled by the fire. It was...nectar. Cheers!

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RawforLife E-zine February 2008

Just a short message to let you know that the RawforLife monthly e-zine no 1 has just been sent to subscribers. If you are currently a subscriber, I hope you enjoyed it!

If you'd like to sign up for the e-zine, please go to the RawforLife website at www.rawforlife.co.uk and enter your e-mail in the sign-up box on the front. You should then receive an 'activation' e-mail, and it is essential to click on the link in that to complete the subscription process.

If you are wary of signing up for yet another 'newsletter', please let me assure you that the RawforLife e-zine is different. Yes, I do mention my 'products' (currently two day classes) but this comprises a tiny fraction only of the content. The RawforLife e-zine contains articles, other information and fascinating facts for you - all given to you without your having to spend a bean.

If you'd like to have a look before considering whether to sign up for the March issue, the February issue can, at least for a few days, be viewed here:

http://www.rawforlife.co.uk/newsletter/newsletter.html

The Olive - 'One of the Most Perfect Foods'

I was a 'foodie' in the Eighties (in the days when I ate...everything) and, on the raw food diet, still am - always on the lookout for the best ingredients, the most delicious taste experiences! One food I missed in the early days of raw was olives, but oh how that has changed, due to my discovery of truly raw olives (more later).

The Roman poet, Horace, described his own very simple diet thus: 'As for me, olives, endives and smooth mallows provide sustenance.' How can this be? We are always being told we need to consume a wide variety of foods for a 'balanced' diet. But, unless Horace was fibbing, apparently just three foods were supplying his nutritional needs! Well, as raw fooders know, it is possible to be healthy eating a relatively small number of foods, provided those foods are whole, and undamaged by heat.

The olive was described by the philosopher Lord Monboddo as 'one of the most perfect foods'. And 'the science bits' can explain why. The olive is a fatty fruit, but the fat is mostly monounsaturated (the good kind, that lowers cholesterol). It also has an alkalising effect on our bodies (disease thrives in an acid environment). Olives are loaded with beneficial omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids (the ones some would have you believe are only contained in fish). They're also high in Vitamin A (carotene) and Vitamin E and are full of antioxidants (that destroy the 'free radicals' that can cause cancer). They're rich in calcium and magnesium and high in amino-acids (which our bodies use to make protein). And of course the olive plays a starring role in the (cooked-food) 'Mediterranean diet'.

But of course these precious, and so delicious, little powerhouses of good things will only contain the full complement of nutrients if they're raw, ie not damaged by heat.

Since going raw, I've been aware that there is some confusion as to whether olives on sale at retail outlets are raw or not, whether it's possible to obtain raw olives, and if indeed raw olives would be good to eat; as a grecophile with a passion for olives I'm pleased to tell you that not only can I supply answers to these questions but I can also tell you where you can buy the most delicious, truly raw olives.

Are olives commonly on sale in the UK raw?

In 99% of cases, no - not even those sold in the deli or farmers' market. They'll have been pasteurised (heated to around 80 C for a few minutes). But, these premium olives, if soaked in brine only with no additives, are relatively close to the raw olive. So, if you're not 100% raw, and happy eating pasteurised olives, these are the ones to buy.

Give a wide berth to canned olives (often sterilised to 125 C for half an hour and mixed with preservatives). Also, be aware that green olives are (usually) unripe olives. As you know, they taste quite different from black olives. Did anyone enjoy their first taste of a green olive? I believe it's a taste we shouldn't have 'acquired', as fruit should be eaten when it's ripe and not before. Beware of 'black' olives (in jars or tins) that include ferrous glucomate. They're often green olives in disguise. Ferrous glucomate is variably listed as a stabiliser or colour, but the effect is to darken the colour of the olive. I used to find these sorts of olives didn't taste very nice either. They can often be found on cheap pizzas or in 'healthy' salads at fast food chains.

Is it possible to buy olives that have not been heat-treated at all? Yes, it is.

Are olives in their natural state bitter?

When writing the first version of this article, I asked Waitrose whether their olives were raw or pasteurised and they informed me that 'you can't eat olives raw - they'd be too bitter.' Well, you certainly can! Some on-line raw food stores sell unpasteurised olives, and they taste very good! However, some of the varieties are cured (salted) and perhaps what Waitrose meant by raw was not only unpasteurised, but not cured, ie 'from the tree'.

And many people do believe that olives from the tree, not cured (unsalted), are 'inedible', and 'too bitter'.

However, I have recently had the good fortune to sample uncured Greek olives. I found them delicious, and sweet (with a wonderfully crunchy texture)! These were ripe olives, air-dried. Unripe raw olives, by all accounts, don't taste good, but neither does any unripe fruit. Raw, uncured olives that are ripe, whether they've ripened on the tree or after falling to the ground, taste quite different. I wonder if the reports of uncured olives being 'inedible' possibly come from the fact that those producing olives pick them unripe?

I've heard there are differences between varieties, and although I find the raw, uncured Peruvian olives currently sold by the online stores palatable, I can't say that I enjoy them nearly as much as the Greek ones - they're less sweet. Although it's not really fair of me to tell you that, as the particular Greek ones I'd tried aren't on sale - yet. (But there's a very good alternative - more later!)

Perhaps the reason some describe raw olives as inedible, and others love them is simply because tastes do vary, as did those of the raw mother and daughter in this account:

Victoria Boutenko ('Twelve Steps to Raw'): 'During our travels that spring, we visited our friend Marlene. Marlene had a beautiful olive tree. There were olives underneath the tree already starting to rot. Valya said, 'I want to try them. Oh they are delicious.' I tried them. To me they were too bitter. Valya enjoyed the olives so much that she gathered them up in plastic bags to take with us.'

Curing

Heat is not necessary. Provided olives are salted only, and not heated, the vital nutrients should be left intact. Most olives sold throughout the world are cured, ie left in salt water for several months (some commercial processes speed up the curing by artificially oxidising the olives then adding caustic soda, then heat-treating to kill bacteria).

So, in order to enjoy cured olives as close to the natural state as possible, find suppliers that salt the olives in the gentlest way possible and do not pasteurise before sale. Or, ideally, find suppliers that do not use salt in the curing.

And, hey, in the UK, we're lucky enough to have one! Gina Panayi of therawgreek.com is selling delicious UNSALTED, RAW Kalamata olives! They're soaked in olive oil, so if you want your olive is near to 'off the tree' as possible, just rinse off the oil. I much prefer these to the Peruvian type - Gina's are plump and moist - like the Kalamatas we ate in our 'previous lives'!

***

Raw olives certainly cost more than the pasteurised cooked variety. But it's worth it for the preservation of all the nutrients the olive was designed to give us, not to mention the taste!

Do you eat the pips?

Were you ever told that, if you ate apple pips, an apple tree would grow inside you? Do you leave the core of apples? Do you happily eat pumpkin seeds, but remove melon pips?

Many believe that we're missing a trick health-wise if we don't eat the pips. For example, Arnold Ehret, one of the founders of the naturopathic health movement 'followed a high-fruit diet consisting mainly of apples and raisins with some green leaves.'

And in Ehret's time not only the apples but also the raisins would have included seeds, which would have supplied fat and other nutrients, suggesting that as long as we eat whole undamaged foods we can be healthy on a surprisingly 'limited' diet.

Many believe there are health benefits in consuming all sorts of seeds. For example, raw food promoter David Wolfe recommends eating orange pips as 'they are nourishing and contain anti-fungal qualities'. David also advocates eating fiery papaya seeds, to 'burn out' parasites in the digestive system, but I find myself thinking that their hot, and, to be honest, not very pleasant taste might just be an indication that we shouldn't be eating them...(this would be the Natural Hygiene view)

Some people are loath to eat apple pips because they've heard they contain cyanide. Well, they do (as do the seeds of apricots, peaches and other fruits) but in such tiny amounts that you'd have to eat a very large amount to experience any ill-effects. Also, recent research suggests that cyanide, when present in tiny amounts, might have had an undeservedly bad press in the past, with evidence suggesting that the cyanide and vitamin B17 present in certain pips can fight cancerous cells when it comes into contact with them. Please note that I am NOT suggesting anyone swig pure cyanide, as that would be dangerous :-) However, others claim that if the cyanide fights cancerous cells, it's just as likely to 'fight' healthy cells too...I'd suggest that we shouldn't worry if we accidentally consume a few with our apples, but perhaps not crunch them up in large quantities...

Leaving apples aside, as they may be a 'special case', should we swallow or chew? Well, perhaps we should just 'eat' without thinking too hard about what we're doing, as any or all of the following could happen (none of which would be a problem): some pips might fall out of the fruit as we're eating it, unchewed pips may 'go straight through us' (and after all, if we lived in the wild without toilet facilities, those pips would move from us into the ground to grow more food - how wonderful that would be), and pips that are chewed would provide our bodies with nutrients.

Arguments for eating pips are persuasive, and many people do eat pips that others would discard (in Thailand melon seeds are sold as a snack). And let's ask the supermarkets to put the pips back into our grapes! The more pips in our fruit the closer to the natural types they are. The less seeds, the more hybridised and weak the strains.

What do I do? I cut open a watermelon recently and ate the flesh and the pips (feeling a bit of a daredevil). It was much less fiddly than removing them and I enjoyed it just as much if not more than usual.

And this is what remains of the last apple I ate. But I didn't try too hard to chew the pips...just in case!

Intro!

Hi everyone

Welcome to the RawforLife Blog!


I’m not normal. I’m a bit odd. I follow a 100% raw food diet. That basically means that I eat no food heated higher than 118 F, the point at which research suggests enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients in our food are damaged or destroyed. And I have NEVER felt better!

Raw transforms physically and psychologically; it's shown me what I’m here to do. For 10 years I was a communicator (advertising) and the next 10 years I was a teacher. I’ve always been interested in health topics, and…love my food! Everything in my life to date has come together to provide me with the skills to join the many raw fooders who enjoy encouraging and disseminating information to others in the raw food community. And, as I LOVE talking to people about raw – I’m feeling high just typing these words! – what better medium in which to do that than a blog?

Those who know me from the Raw Food UK Forum know how enthusiastic I get when I hear about great testimonials to raw, sources of truly raw ingredients, delicious raw recipes and fascinating information - I just love researching! There’s a lot of conflicting information out there (especially from the ‘raw gurus’), and I hope that in presenting and summarising different viewpoints I can help people steer their own path through them.

I’m also pretty much surgically attached to the computer, keep up with the raw network sites, and do lots of raw socialising. What this means is that I have my ear to the ground and can let you know about developments in the raw world minutes after they’re posted in cyberspace!

I’ll try neither to confuse nor patronise. If you’re new to raw and I use a term you’re unfamiliar with, ‘google’ it! If you’ve been raw for years, I’m sure you’ll find little bits of info every so often that you hadn’t been aware of. And even if you’re not a ‘raw fooder’ you should still find some of the articles of interest.

Now in my second winter of raw, with not a cough, cold nor any sort of illness in that time, and having waved goodbye to a host of niggling ‘normal’ health complaints, I’m just as passionate about raw as I was on Day One (actually that’s not true – I’m more so!). Raw is more than a diet. If you’re new to raw, know that raw will change you. Start running on the best fuel. Do you really want ‘normal’ any more? Who wants ‘normal’? Be extraordinary!