ingredients of food alone determine whether they have physiological value for us or not. Such an
approach, however, is incomplete and misleading unless we include the common-sense understanding that
we need a well functioning digestive system to digest, absorb and metabolize these nutrient components
in order to benefit from them. A weak digestive system can even make poison out of nectar. The saying
“You are what you eat” is therefore only partially correct. You rather are the food you are able to digest
and metabolize. In other words, a long-term raw food diet is only good for you as long as you are able to
digest it properly. You are the ultimate judge whether raw food works for you or not.
What Makes Plants So Poisonous?
Every microbe, insect, plant, animal, and human being on this planet wants to survive. But there are
potential dangers out there that can lead to their destruction. For this reason, all living things, including
plants, have developed a sophisticated defense apparatus to ward off anyone or anything that wants to eat
or harm them.
It is only natural for the species of any life form to create difficulties for the invading or devouring
predators; otherwise ecological balance would be impossible. Despite innumerable numbers of lice, pests,
beetles and locusts, plants have managed to survive and keep the planet green and oxygenated. This is due
to their highly advanced “healthcare system.” Similar to our bodies, plants have immune systems to
ensure their own survival and health. They use prickly thorns, poison as in the case of the deadly
nightshades, or they envelop themselves in a wax-covering that is impenetrable for microbes and insects
such as lice, beetles, etc. If any of these predatoros somehow manage to enter the plant’s interior, inborn
defense mechanisms attempt to destroy the invaders, not dissimilar to our own defense responses.
Most destructive microbes that are present in the air, food and water never reach the inside of our
bodies. They are promptly neutralized by enzymes located in our noses, lungs, saliva and stomach juices.
The rest of them are taken care of by our immune systems with a sophisticated arsenal of antigens and
immune cells, including the macrophages and T-cells.
Plants, however, have to do more to protect themselves since locusts and animals, such as cows, mice,
or man, can eat them altogether. For this reason, they produce antibodies of which 20,000 kinds are
known to date, still only a fraction of what they are capable of producing. These antibodies, when
ingested by animals or humans (now considered antigens) can make them sick, which stops them from
eating the plants, or at least not eat up all of them.
Another potential sensitivity, that protects plant species from becoming extinct, is a reaction to toxic
salicylates—natural preservatives stored in the bark, leaves, roots and seeds of plants and found in many
foods. In vegetables, they're mostly concentrated in the peels and rinds or the outer leaves. The salicylate
content in fruit is highest when the fruit is not fully ripened yet, and decreases during the ripening
process. Properly sun-ripened fruits (cooked by the sun), versus those ripened after they are harvested,
have great beneficial effects on the body. In general, raw foods, dried foods and juices contain higher
concentrations of salicylates than cooked food. To avoid the natural poisons contained in many raw foods,
all major ancient civilizations traditionally prepared their foods.
Why Prepare Foods?
The populations of the High Andes were the first ones to introduce the potato to their cultures. But the
potatoes had to undergo vigorous cleansing procedures before they were considered edible. First, they
were spread on the ground to freeze them overnight. This ensured that the cells burst open. Then the men