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1. Raw protein is a basic nutritional requirement for all living cells, and has been eaten by traditional societies for centuries.
2. Protein is composed of peptide chains made of amino acids.
3. Eight of these amino acids are classified as essential because our bodies cannot synthesize them. (We must therefore eat them). The rest of the amino acids are classified as non-essential, and are both ingested from food and synthesized within the body from the essential amino acids. In addition, another two amino acids, Histidine and Arginine are often considered essential during growth and tissue regeneration, for growing children, and perhaps in some people with a predisposition to manufacturing them poorly from what are normally considered the "eight essential amino acids."
4. Protein is digested to varying degrees and is absorbed into the bloodstream, sometimes as tripeptides or even macromolecules. It is then absorbed into human cells in a process called Pinocytosis. It is a myth that all protein is broken down to single amino acids prior to its absorption from the gut into the blood, or from the blood into the cell. (According to a peer-review science journal article quoted by author Ronald F. Schmid in his book Native Nutrition. For further understanding of this concept please see point 31 in this document.)
5. Protein is used in the formation of hormones, neurotransmitters, and enzymes; the structure of muscles and other tissues; and a myriad of other functions in the body.
6. Close observation of the iris has shown empirically over the years that synthetic amino acid formulations (containing l-form amino acids) tend to be associated with regression of the iris fibres, indicating a decrease of vitality in the body tissues. (Dr. John Ray)
7. Similar observation has revealed that many bulk-building protein powders (often based on whey and fractionated egg-white) seem to produce lymphatic congestion/trabeculae signs, indicating congestion of the intracellular spaces with undigested material. (Dr. John Ray)
8. Therefore it is recommended to avoid bulk-building protein powders, and synthetic l-form amino acids, and formulations containing them.
9. Soy-based protein concentrates contain antinutrients and goitrogens and are best avoided. For more information on this go to website www.westonaprice.org and read the articles.
10. High-temperature-extruded breakfast cereals contain toxic protein-derivatives and are best avoided.
11. Synthetically hydrolysed proteins and textured vegetable proteins are questionable and may contain toxic substances, including MSG.
12. Lysine and Tryptophan are two essential amino acids that are modified or denatured by heat at 110 degrees Fahrenheit. (Barely warming it up) Therefore cooked proteins can be considered as deficient in these two of the essential amino acids, which could theoretically also produce deficiency in the other amino acids that the body manufactures from these two. (This information, and the information in point 13, are based on personal communications with Dr John Whitman Ray about information he received from a research scientist in Swannanoa, Virginia, USA and elsewhere. With these understandings Dr Ray recommended raw protein to every client, every day. Viktoras Kulvinskas also made a reference to Lysine denaturation in his book Survival into the 21st Century. Any other references or discussion on these points are welcomed.)
13. These two amino acids are required to manufacture many of the hormones in the body. To manufacture Thyroxine, 18 amino acids are required. To manufacture Human Growth Hormone, 20 amino acids are required. For the pineal gland to manufacture Melatonin, Tryptophan, in particular, is required. Melatonin shuts the body down in response to environmental darkness, thereby facilitating sleep. This is very important information for those with insomnia, and any hormonal problems. (Dr. John Ray)
14. We are the only animal in nature that cooks protein and eats it.
15. It is essential to source natural raw proteins on a daily basis, ingest them, and ensure they are digested well, to build health and vitality and manufacture necessary hormones.
16. To fully digest proteins, stomach and pancreas function should be optimized, and proteolytic enzyme supplementation may be helpful. The vegetarian-sourced enzymes are more effective than animal-sourced enzymes, as they activate first in the upper fundic portion of the stomach, and again in the small intestine, giving a double-action.
17. A healthy beneficial gut flora is also very helpful in good nutrient assimilation. Consider the Grainfields probiotic products from AGM Foods.
18. From where then, can we obtain our raw protein on a daily basis? There is some kind of an objection to almost every source, from some people. Yet this basic biological requirement for cell maintenance and regeneration still exists. This is an area of personal responsibility in health choice. On the following pages are some information and personal opinion. Good luck!
19. Nuts and seeds are vegetarian sources of raw proteins. They require an overnight soaking in water, followed by a morning rinsing, to leach out the enzyme inhibitors which prevent the enzymes in them from growing them into a plant. These same enzyme inhibitors also prevent your digestive enzymes from digesting the nutrients in them. Almonds, for example, also contain tannins, and prussic and tannic acids, which are leached out during the soaking and rinsing process. Brazil nuts are the best source on record that I could find for methionine, an amino acid essential in heavy metal detoxification from the liver, and often deficient in vegetarian diets. Soaked nuts are a great snack, go well blended into smoothies or eaten with porridge, and can also be dried again at very low temperature so they can be stored for prolonged periods of time, as discussed in Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions.
20. Legumes contain anti-nutrients and often require cooking. Legume sprouts can contain some anti-insecticidal compounds designed to repel insects which may otherwise eat the sprout as it begins to grow in the ground. This is a function of natural selection over many generations of these plants to increase their chances of survival. Unfortunately these compounds can be toxic to humans, sometimes cumulatively. Alfalfa sprouts contain l-canavanine, an unusual amino acid that has been known to result in some toxicity and joint stiffness in humans. Therefore, it is not recommended to use these as a primary daily protein source, although eaten occasionally they seem acceptable.
21. Bee Pollen is a concentrated nutrient-dense superfood. Rarely, SOME INDIVIDUALS CAN BE HIGHLY ALLERGIC, AND FOR THEM EATING IT CAN BE LIFE-ENDANGERING. Be very careful if you’ve never used it before. It is usually purchasable in a dried form, so the temperature of drying must be below 110 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is stored moist, it can grow mould, and from this can contain mycotoxins and a coumarin-like compound that may excessively thin the blood. Fresh raw pollen is fine moist, and can be stored in the fridge, although it can be difficult to obtain.
22. Raw dairy products (especially fermented) have been a traditional food for many cultures. Pasteurised dairy products are not raw – they have been heated. Raw dairy products can contain dangerous bacteria, as can any food. For more information refer to websites www.westonaprice.org and www.realmilk.com and Ron Schmid’s book The Story of Milk. Traditionally, dairy products were cultured and predigested with friendly bacteria. I have noted in clinical and personal observation that fermented raw dairy products seem to be better assimilated and make no or very little mucous, as compared with pasteurized dairy products. Also consider very carefully if the cows were pastured, or feed-lot.
23. Raw eggs can contain bacteria like salmonella, and mycotoxins/fungal toxins if the feed of the chickens contained mouldy corn, for example. The raw egg white contains avidin, a Biotin (one of the B vitamins) inhibitor. One Olympic Health Nut in England had 13 dozen raw eggs a week and managed to induce Biotin deficiency. He may be the only person on record as having achieved this, because it is very difficult to do. Biotin is contained in many foods, and to induce deficiency of it in animals is incredibly difficult, because so many foods contain it. (From memory the preceding two points were mentioned in A Diet of Tripe.) According to Edward Howell in his book Enzyme Nutrition, raw egg white also contains a decarboxylpeptidase inhibitor. It is my belief that the quantities of enzyme inhibitors in raw egg white are minimal, and not enough to disturb the balance of health of a person with a half-decent diet. On the contrary, I believe they may be an excellent source of raw protein, if ingested in small quantities on a regular basis. We are the only animal in nature that cooks eggs. You could try it cracked into warm porridge, a bowl of brown rice, stirred through a stir-fry on serving, blended into a smoothie, vegetable juice or salad dressing, or, if you can enjoy it, sucked or swallowed raw. If you choose to use these as a source, I recommend you crack the egg into a cup first, and smell it to ensure it is not off. This seems to be a superior test to the float method, as some eggs that sink in water can still smell off. Salmonella growth in eggs has been a concern to some health authorities, so the age of the egg since laying and it’s transport and storage conditions including termperature may be important to consider, as well as the overall health of the laying hens.
24. Raw animal tissue foods contain cathepsin, lipase, and other enzymes and nutrients which are not present in these foods once they are cooked. These enzymes result in autolysis (self-digestion) of the food, as its own enzymes digest it, making its nutrients more available. In all cases of raw animal foods, or animal foods in general, and particularly with brain tissue, it may be wise to ensure the health of the animals was excellent, and that no unnatural feeding habits or diseases were present. (e.g. Mad Cow Disease, BSE, TB) Transport and storage conditions including temperature may also need to be considered.
25. Raw fish has been used as a traditional food in many places in the world, including Japan, the Arctic circle, the Polynesian and Melanesian islands, and parts of Asia. It can contain parasites, or parasite eggs. These eggs have a protective coating that is eroded by acid, allowing them to hatch out. As the food bolus moves through into the small intestine, it is alkalinized by the watery bicarbonate solution secreted by the pancreas. This protects the newly hatched parasite from prolonged acid immersion, which would kill it, and so it lives to potentially enter the body of the ingester. This explains the tradition of acid-marinading (soaking) raw fish for 6-8 hours before eating. By this method, the parasite eggs hatch out in the acid, but there is no watery bicarbonate solution to save the hatchling parasite, and it perishes in the acid. For this acidic use, lime juice, lemon juice, strong kefir, cultured whey, Grainfields B.E. liquid, and various types of natural vinegars can be used. Rollmops are another raw fish food tradition. It is worth considering, that the further up the food chain (trophic scale) the fish you select comes from, the more it may have had a chance to bio-accumulate toxic methyl mercury. For this reason, predominantly smaller vegetarian fish may be a better choice than larger carnivorous fish. Ciguatera toxin can occur in reef fish in certain areas of the world at certain times of the year, and may be better avoided.
26. The following information is from my good friend and colleague, Douglas W. Morrison. “Not all parasites can live in humans, but really only those found in fish that exist near humans to where a parasite could conceivably have a life cycle that involves both that fish and humans. For example, one student who'd spent a lot of time on remote islands in Micronesia noted when I mentioned this idea that the people there eat raw any fish that they catch outside the lagoon, but cook anything that is caught inside the lagoon. The idea being that fish, etc. inside the lagoon have access to human excrement, and vice-versa.” (My two concerns here are: that so many human settlements channel their sewerage out to the ocean these days, and I don’t know how long a parasite egg will last in sea water; and that some parasites seem to be able to cross between different species.)
27. In her excellent book The Coming Plague, Laurie Garrett presented information concerning an outbreak of cholera in Peru from the consumption of the traditional raw seafood dish “Ceviche”. Please see the second last point in this article for some further information, or read her book (it’s rather thick! Around page 560 should help you to find the relevant section).
28. Raw beef was eaten in France (Steak Tartare), Africa, and other countries. Raw lamb was eaten in Lebanon (Kibbeh – with pounded sprouted wheat). Sally Fallon, in her book Nourishing Traditions has indicated that according to the Food and Drug Administration in the USA, the parasite risk for raw animal tissue is removed by freezing for 2 weeks before eating. I find that thin-slicing and an acid-soaking similar to the method with fish above are also acceptable. There are several food traditions that involve raw dried meats, like Biltong, and Jerky, and also meats predigested with friendly bacteria. Nutrition researcher Francis Pottenger used many raw animal foods, including brain, thyroid gland, and liver.
29. Some excellent products exist which are composed of either vegetable proteins, or mixtures of dairy and vegetable proteins that have been predigested by friendly bacteria (probiotics), and left in liquid form, or dehydrated at, or very close to, body temperature. (These are available from Grainfields. Refer below for details.)
30. Please understand carefully, the purpose of this document is to encourage people to find a raw protein source that they feel is safe, and eat it everyday, if not twice per day. I am not suggesting that ALL protein ingested should be raw. I am saying that the body’s utilization of all its ingested proteins will be greatly enhanced by the inclusion of some raw protein on a daily basis. This is a must for serious regeneration and hormonal health.
31. Health is a personal responsibility. I believe everything I have written here, but you are still responsible for the consequences of your health choices. I am not willing to take responsibility for the outcome of your actions. If you make a decision based on information in this document, it is your decision, and I am not willing to accept responsibility for your decision. Do your own research. Question everything I have written. And then take responsibility for your own decisions and their outcomes, whatever they are.
32. This point is referenced from point 27 above. (From The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett) Here is an attempted summary of the changes that seem to have produced the cholera outbreak in Peru in early 1991. (This point may expand into an entire future document on microbial ecology.) Fecal waste from humans (there are too many of us! And we mix our bodily waste with drinking water which we then have to dispose of, instead of composting it!) and domestic animals/livestock (we have grown too many of them to feed too many of us); garbage, fertilizers, silt, and agricultural runoff goes into rivers, streams, and seas. (Now remember that humans and their domestic animals use lots of antibiotics, thus producing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which we now know can swap genetic material and teach lots of other microbes how to be resistant to these same antibiotics.) UV light making its way through the ozone layer formed by our human pollution may drive a higher mutation rate in organisms living on the sea surface. As a result oceanic algal blooms increase in size and frequency. (Basically we’ve polluted our own giant bathtub and now we’re floating in it with a bunch of bugs that live happily with our best antibiotics and teach other bugs how to do likewise!) Concurrently, marine ecosphere biodiversity overall declines from our coastal developments, sewage and pollution wastes, and fishing industries. As the population of plankton/algae eaters (like whales) decreases, nature fills the ecological niche of algae control with viruses to keep blooms in check. Cholera hides and mutates in algae, and enters the oceanic food chain. It is moved through ocean currents and freighter bilge water drawn in one location and discharged at another. Humans eat raw fish and their immune systems face a type of cholera that has never been seen before to which there is no immunity, even in those immune to other types of cholera. Obsolete/nonexistent public water purification systems, inadequate sewage, and aquired chlorine-resistance in the type of cholera, combined with airplane travel created a health crisis from our human perspective.
As reported by Garrett on p.566-567:
“…the cholera microbe defecated by a man in Dhaka (India), for example, got into algae in the Bay of Bengal, lay dormant for months on end, made its way via warm water blooms or ship bilge across thousands of miles of ocean, and killed a person who ate ceviche at a food stand in Lima (Peru).” (parentheses mine – remember the cholera is breeding and mutating while “dormant”.) Researchers “saw a complex interplay at work, involving global climate changes, pollution, and the microorganisms.”
…”In Epstein’s view, algal blooms were giant floating gene pools in which antibiotic-resistance factors, virulence genes, and plasmids, moved about between viruses, bacteria, and algae… And terrestrial microbes were constantly being added to the gene pool, he said, in the form of human waste and runoff.” (P. R. Epstein, T.E. Ford, and R.R. Colwell, “Marine Ecosystems,” Lancet 342 (1993): 1216-19; and P.R. Epstein , “Cholera and the Environment,” Lancet 339 (1992): 1167-68.)
This type of information raises many types of concerns, including potential health concerns from the consumption of phytoplankton (like Spirulina) by many species, including flamingoes and humans!
33. So the health of animals and their environment, including the oceans, must be carefully considered in making our raw protein choices it seems. I have pondered the connection between consuming animal proteins raw, and inevitably, some of their microbes, and the role this may play in generating an oral immunization effect in the populations that consume these foods traditionally. That is to say that perhaps eating raw fish with some cholera over time helped to maintain a dynamic balance and functional immunity between the humans consuming these foods and the microbes that inhabit them. Where the normal fear response to such outbreaks is then to avoid all raw food from the oceans, perhaps there is a wisdom in continuing to participate traditionally in foods which do give us exposure to microbes, and thus educate our immune systems. It occurs to me that the traditional lactic methods of fermentation may carry the “memory” of lactic bacteria killing other potentially pathogenic microbes into our own digestive tracts, and educate our own immune systems to be resistant to them. This is pure hypothesis at this point, but I believe some research should be done in this area. The “memory” and/or toxicity left in raw beef from animals that have been vaccinated as compared to animals that have not could also be interesting to consider. Please do your own research, follow your own intuition if you wish, and reach your own conclusions. Then take responsibility for whatever course of action you choose to follow. I personally will still eat raw acid-soaked fish, but may be a little more careful how much at once, and from what waters it was fished from.
34. The following is quoted from Enzyme Nutrition Therapy: Beyond a Raw Food Diet, by Mark Rojek, 2003 in Nexus Magazine, Dec 2003-Jan 2004:
“A macromolecule is a compound of 1,000 or more atoms bound together. There is overwhelming evidence that macromolecules do, in fact, cross the gut lumen intact. In 1904, Drs. Ganghofer and Langer demonstrated that large protein molecules were absorbed across the intestinal gut with-out being degraded and were still capable of functioning.(Ganghofer, D. and Langer, J., “Uber die Resorption gewisser Eiweisskorper im Magendarmkanal Neuborener Tiere und Sauglinge”, Med. Wochenschr. 51: 1497 (1904)
Morris documented the intact absorption of gamma globulin in newborns. He recounted how infants’ first milk is colostrums, which sets up the infants’ digestive immune function.(Morris, I.G., “Gammaglobulin Absorption in the Newborn”, Handbook of Physiology 75:1491-1512 (1978) Both gamma globulin and colostrums are proteins. Professor Seifert of the University of Kiel not only demonstrated the absorption of gamma globulin but proved by means of immunological testing that the proteins were intact, entering the bloodstream unaffected and in full molecular size.(Seifert, J. et al., “Quantitative analysis about the absorption of trypsin, chymotrypsin, amylase, papain and pancreatin in the G.I. tract after oral administration”, General Physician (Allgemeinarzt) 19(4):132-137 (1990)/Seifert, J., Ganser, R., Brendel, W., “Absorption of proteolytic enzymes of plant origin from the G.I. tract into the blood and lymph of adult rats”, German J. Gastroenterology (Z. Gastroenterol.) 17:1 (1969)/Seifert, J., Siebrecht, P. et al., “Amylase absorption and transport via blood and lymph after oral administration”, Digest Biol. Sci. 41:1593 (1986))
Walker and others documented extensive work on the intestinal uptake of marcromolecules in relation to immunization.(Walker, W.A., Isselbacher, K.J., Bloch, K.J., Intestinal uptake of macromolecules: effect of oral immunization”, Science 177:608-610 (1972)/Walker, W.A., Isselbacher, K.J., Bloch, K.J., “Intestinal uptake of macromolecules. II. Effect of parenteral immunization”, J. Immunol. 111:221-226 (1973)/Walker, W.A., Wu, M., Isselbacher, K.J. et al., “Intestinal uptake of macromolecules. III. Studes on the mechanism by which immunization interferes with antigen uptake”, J. Immunol. 115:854 (1975) Gardner specifically wrote about the gastrointestinal assiilation of intact proteins.(Gardner, M.L.G., “Gastrointestinal absorption of intact proteins”, Ann. Rev. Nutr. 8:329-350 (1988)/Gardner, M.L.G., “Intestinal assimilation of intact peptides and proteins from the diet – A neglected field?”, Biol. Rev. 59:289-331 (1984)) Other animal and human studies have described numerous intact proteins including animal-based and plant-based enzymes being absorbed into the bloodstream following oral administration.(Jacobson, I. et al., “Human beta-lactalbumin as a marker of macromolecule absorption”, Gut 27:1029-1034 (1986)/Andre, C. et al., “Interference of oral immunization with the intestinal absorption of heterologous albumin”, Eur. J. Immunol. 4:701-704 (1974)/Dannaeus, A. et al., “Intestinal uptake of ovalbumin in malabsorption and food allergy in relation to serum IgG antibody and orally administrated sodium chromoglycate”, Clin. Allergy 9:263-270 (1979)/Pelot, D., Grossman, M.I., “Distribution and fate of pancreatic enzymes in the small intestine in the rat”, Am. J. Physiol. 202:285-388 (1963))”
He also references Ambrus, J.L., Lassman, H.B., De Marchi, J.J., “Absorption of exogenous and endogenous proteolytic enzymes”, Clin. Pharm. And Therap. 8(3):322-328 (1967) and Papp, M., Feher, S., Folly, G., Horvath, E.J., “Absorption of pancreatic lipase from the duodenum into lymphatics”, Specialia 13(9)1191-92(1977).
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