Cancer Is Major Killer In Thailand

[george]

Cancer is major killer

Cancer is the top killer in Thailand, claiming as many as 66,000 lives in 2006 alone.

The number of cancer patients has also been growing, according to the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

"Last year, we paid Bt1.4 billion to hospitals for treatment given to cancer patients under the universal healthcare scheme," NHSO deputy secretarygeneral Dr Veeravat Prankrut said Monday.

-- The Nation 2008-03-18

[Trevor]

Not surprising, really, considering the Thais' predilection for all things sweet and sugary -- which tumours love to death. Not to mention tobacco, alcohol and their ridiculously-over-fried foods. Why fry a banana for God's sakes, when it is already healthy, delicious and ready-to-eat raw? Sadly, their healthier ancestral diet has given way to the ad-men's admonitions to line the food industry's pockets by eating their garbage and junk.

The savvy will get into chemotherapy and radiological training to 'treat' the coming hordes of cancer-sick. Of course I could say eat only raw foods and avoid cancer, read www.primaldiet.com & www.wewant2live.com , but there's no money -- or following -- in preventative health care in 21st-century society.

[wilko]

Which kinds of cancer? How does this compare with road deaths, drink related deaths...old age...lets platy with some stats here.....

[terryp]

I have often thought that all the takeaway food & drinks in plastic bags can’t be too good…you are eating & drinking chemical residue …plus all the bottled water in plastic bottles often in direct sunlight…these is little wonder that the Thais are getting so much Cancer

[girlx]

i would like to know what it is that causes these cancers- have heard that it's air pollution, chemicals in the food, chargrilled meats, alcohol.... also would be interesting to know what types of cancers they are.

[Trevor]

Cooked and heated foods are at the root of most cancers. Stress and environment are lesser factors. Our bodies, like those of raw-eating animals, never evolved to handle the alien chemical compounds like heterocyclic amines and acrylamides created by cooking. Pasteurised and homogenised milk is also a killer.

Unfortunately cancer has become a multi-billion dollar business for the medical mafia, so don't expect them -- or their sidekicks in the media -- to tell you that something as simple as eating raw will avoid getting it. Bad for business. How do you think doctors maintain their late-model Lexus's in their driveways? Certainly not by giving honest preventative health-care information!

[taxexile]

Cooked and heated foods are at the root of most cancers. Stress and environment are lesser factors. Our bodies, like those of raw-eating animals, never evolved to handle the alien chemical compounds like heterocyclic amines and acrylamides created by cooking. Pasteurised and homogenised milk is also a killer.

Unfortunately cancer has become a multi-billion dollar business for the medical mafia, so don't expect them -- or their sidekicks in the media -- to tell you that something as simple as eating raw will avoid getting it. Bad for business. How do you think doctors maintain their late-model Lexus's in their driveways? Certainly not by giving honest preventative health-care information!

a somewhat cynical view , could you show some facts to back up your statements on heated foods and milk.

the high death rates from cancer are probably down to the lack of free screening programmes , very low early detection rates and unavailablity (unaffordability) of the expensive medication and treatment necessary to cure.

if detected and eradicated early enough the survival rates for the commonest cancers are good.

[girlx]

i think raw foods in thailand are just as contaminated with chemicals as cooked anyway

[junkofdavid2]

Cooked and heated foods are at the root of most cancers. Stress and environment are lesser factors. Our bodies, like those of raw-eating animals, never evolved to handle the alien chemical compounds like heterocyclic amines and acrylamides created by cooking. Pasteurised and homogenised milk is also a killer.

Unfortunately cancer has become a multi-billion dollar business for the medical mafia, so don't expect them -- or their sidekicks in the media -- to tell you that something as simple as eating raw will avoid getting it. Bad for business. How do you think doctors maintain their late-model Lexus's in their driveways? Certainly not by giving honest preventative health-care information!

Some stuff may be true... but conclusion is not.

Since we've been cooking for hundreds of years, our bodies no longer have many of the enzymes to digest raw stuff, nor the antibodies to fight the dangerous bacteria in raw meat. Wana feast on e-coli, samonella (to name just a few), go ahead.

If our ancestors did it, it must be best for us right? Of course!

By the way, are you aware of the lifespans of these ultra healthy ancestors of ours with their ultra healthy raw diet? And not only that! They weren't victims of the modern day medicine mafia so they were even healthier...

"Archeologists discovered seven such skeletons in a storage pit in Slillfried/March, lower Austria. These Bronze Age peoples died at the approximate ages of 3, 6, 8, 9, 30, 40, and 45 years."

http://www.wonderquest.com/LifeSpan.htm

Also, to be really healthy, we should live in tents or in the wilderness, not in "artificial futuristic shelters" like we do today...

Again, if our ancestors were doing it, it must be good!

Edited March 18, 2008 by junkofdavid2

[BigSnake]

Yes it is, maybe a cure some day, in the mean time we all just have to make the best of it.

[PeaceBlondie]

Most of the claims made so far, in this topic, appear unsubstantiated. Nonetheless, I recall a story written about a Black American lady who grew up in the rural south in the early twentieth century. Cancer had a name, but its occurrence was almost unknown.

If sugars caused cancer, I would have died in 1965. Tobacco causes cancer. Does alcohol abuse cause specific cancers? Exposure to sun causes skin cancer. What else?

[taxexile]

Does alcohol abuse cause specific cancers?

implicated in cancers of the mouth and throat.

[Tammi]

Cooked and heated foods are at the root of most cancers. Stress and environment are lesser factors. Our bodies, like those of raw-eating animals, never evolved to handle the alien chemical compounds like heterocyclic amines and acrylamides created by cooking. Pasteurised and homogenised milk is also a killer.

Unfortunately cancer has become a multi-billion dollar business for the medical mafia, so don't expect them -- or their sidekicks in the media -- to tell you that something as simple as eating raw will avoid getting it. Bad for business. How do you think doctors maintain their late-model Lexus's in their driveways? Certainly not by giving honest preventative health-care information!

The human intestines are not designed to process meats. How many yards long are they? Think of meat rotting in there! Yuck!

[taxexile]

The human intestines are not designed to process meats. How many yards long are they? Think of meat rotting in there! Yuck!

processed meat is something bought in the supermarket.

the human digestive system is quite capable of and has perfectly evolved to digest meat , which is simply protein and fat.

enzyme action in the stomach and small intestine breaks down the proteins into polypeptides which are then absorbed and reconstituted as necessary into the proteins our bodies need , excess protein is stored as fat.

if our digestive system was incapable of digesting meat then it would be excreted undigested (as happens with vegetable derived fibre) , and that clearly is not the case.

Edited March 18, 2008 by taxexile

[PeaceBlondie]

Thanks, taxexile. Man has been eating cooked meat since he invented fire.

[John_Rambo]

It would be interesting to know what the incidence of cancer is like in the general population in Thailand, compared to other countries in the world.

As a guy with hopefully a lot of life left to live, who is still undecided as to where he will eventually settle, i do occasionally ponder what the long term health implications are of staying in Thailand. Is this a healthy place to stay?

[FBN]

Which kinds of cancer? How does this compare with road deaths, drink related deaths...old age...lets platy with some stats here.....

Quote from: Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2005 Jul-Sep;6(3):276-81

"Cancer incidences greatly differed from region to region. Lung cancer was the commonest in Chiang Mai and Lampang in the Northern region in both sexes. The incidence of liver cancer in Khon Kaen in the Northeastern region outnumbered all the others in both sexes; cholangiocarcinoma was the major type of liver cancer. In Bangkok, lung cancer was the most important cancer in males and breast cancer was in females. Though it was lung and cervix uteri cancer that ranked the first in men and women in Songkhla, the rate of oral and pharyngeal cancer was exceptionally higher than in other registries. The geographical variability in cancer patterns in Thailand reflects exposure of the population to different risk factors unique to the different regions."

[sylviex]

Which kinds of cancer? How does this compare with road deaths, drink related deaths...old age...lets platy with some stats here.....

Quote from: Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2005 Jul-Sep;6(3):276-81

"Cancer incidences greatly differed from region to region. Lung cancer was the commonest in Chiang Mai and Lampang in the Northern region in both sexes. The incidence of liver cancer in Khon Kaen in the Northeastern region outnumbered all the others in both sexes; cholangiocarcinoma was the major type of liver cancer. In Bangkok, lung cancer was the most important cancer in males and breast cancer was in females. Though it was lung and cervix uteri cancer that ranked the first in men and women in Songkhla, the rate of oral and pharyngeal cancer was exceptionally higher than in other registries. The geographical variability in cancer patterns in Thailand reflects exposure of the population to different risk factors unique to the different regions."

Alcohol abuse is one cause of liver canver. Livers weakened by hepatitis may be more susceptible, but that is just me speculalting.

"Cholangiocarcinoma" would tell an oncologist something about the likely cause.

Women are not having breast screening or PAP smears, so the results on female cancers are no surprise.

Interesting to see that lung cancer in Lampang is high in both males and females ( betel nut, smoking or the power station ?)

Edited March 19, 2008 by sylviex

[Prakanong]

Which kinds of cancer? How does this compare with road deaths, drink related deaths...old age...lets platy with some stats here.....

Quote from: Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2005 Jul-Sep;6(3):276-81

"Cancer incidences greatly differed from region to region. Lung cancer was the commonest in Chiang Mai and Lampang in the Northern region in both sexes. The incidence of liver cancer in Khon Kaen in the Northeastern region outnumbered all the others in both sexes; cholangiocarcinoma was the major type of liver cancer. In Bangkok, lung cancer was the most important cancer in males and breast cancer was in females. Though it was lung and cervix uteri cancer that ranked the first in men and women in Songkhla, the rate of oral and pharyngeal cancer was exceptionally higher than in other registries. The geographical variability in cancer patterns in Thailand reflects exposure of the population to different risk factors unique to the different regions."

Alcohol abuse is one cause of liver canver. Livers weakened by hepatitis may be more susceptible, but that is just me speculalting.

"Cholangiocarcinoma" would tell an oncologist something about the likely cause.

Women are not having breast screening or PAP smears, so the results on female cancers are no surprise.

Interesting to see that lung cancer in Lampang is high in both males and females ( betel nut, smoking or the power station ?)

"Cholangiocarcinoma" Is that not the one from liver flukes from the likes of pla raa

As for cancers caused by cooked food that is just pure baloney with no evidence whatsoever

I eat most day's at work with a senior oncologist who is leading some clinical trials in this region - I must remind him not to eat what we do most days ;-)

[FBN]

The high rate of cholangiocarcinoma in the NE of Thailand is probably related to the high infection rates there with a liver fluke. (Eating undercooked fish)

HPV infection rates in women may also be high causing cervical cancers..

Relating cancers to any specific industry is difficult unless prolonged exposure can be shown to specific carcinogens.

Breast cancers are also high in other Asean female populations. I am not aware of any specific studies done on this but there probably are.

[Prakanong]

The high rate of cholangiocarcinoma in the NE of Thailand is probably related to the high infection rates there with a liver fluke. (Eating undercooked fish)

HPV infection rates in women may also be high causing cervical cancers..

Relating cancers to any specific industry is difficult unless prolonged exposure can be shown to specific carcinogens.

Breast cancers are also high in other Asean female populations. I am not aware of any specific studies done on this but there probably are.

Yes HPV rates are vey high but Thailand has some very good screening programs etc going on in the NE along with John Hopkins on this

As for breast cancer its on the rise in Thailand for sure.

Lung cancer is high - its one of the countries the oncologist I lunch with is responsible for - this is NSCLC caused by MAGE where he is researching

[Trevor]

Why The 'China Study' Is Flawed : They didn't take the trouble to observe the health benefits of eating raw foods ...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles...-is-flawed.aspx

http://www.ppnf.org/catalog/ppnf/

[Prakanong]

Why The 'China Study' Is Flawed : They didn't take the trouble to observe the health benefits of eating raw foods ...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles...-is-flawed.aspx

http://www.ppnf.org/catalog/ppnf/

www.quackwatch.org is what you should be reading

[Trevor]

Why The 'China Study' Is Flawed : They didn't take the trouble to observe the health benefits of eating raw foods ...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles...-is-flawed.aspx

http://www.ppnf.org/catalog/ppnf/

www.quackwatch.org is what you should be reading

Quackwatch is a very useful site; I am an avid reader. But only to practise the EXACT OPPOSITE of what that idiot Barratt writes, and thereby enjoy great health.

Prakanong, you sound very much like a member of the medical profession yourself. What incentive do you have for promoting sustained long-term public health?

The ancient Chinese doctors did: they only got paid whilst their patients remained WELL! YOUR bills are paid by pushing toxic drugs, chemo, vaccinations and butchering surgeries on an unsuspecting and ignorant population. Thank goodness we now have the Internet to promulgate some common sense in health.

Why don't you thoroughly read the links I gave above and thoughtfully comment instead of referring me to Quackwatch?

Edited March 19, 2008 by Trevor

[wilko]

I take it that basically no-one has a clue what the article was about....doesn't look like it anyway.....what KIND of cancer is Thailand such a hotspot for?????????

There are heaps of different cancers....malign and benign and a huge varitety of causes....diet smoking sun, virus whatever...all this crap about fried bananas etc is twaddle......evry country in the world that grows bananas fries them. The Thai diet is certainly healthier than the processed crap westerners eat.

[wilko]

Which kinds of cancer? How does this compare with road deaths, drink related deaths...old age...lets platy with some stats here.....

Quote from: Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2005 Jul-Sep;6(3):276-81

"Cancer incidences greatly differed from region to region. Lung cancer was the commonest in Chiang Mai and Lampang in the Northern region in both sexes. The incidence of liver cancer in Khon Kaen in the Northeastern region outnumbered all the others in both sexes; cholangiocarcinoma was the major type of liver cancer. In Bangkok, lung cancer was the most important cancer in males and breast cancer was in females. Though it was lung and cervix uteri cancer that ranked the first in men and women in Songkhla, the rate of oral and pharyngeal cancer was exceptionally higher than in other registries. The geographical variability in cancer patterns in Thailand reflects exposure of the population to different risk factors unique to the different regions."

Alcohol abuse is one cause of liver canver. Livers weakened by hepatitis may be more susceptible, but that is just me speculalting.

"Cholangiocarcinoma" would tell an oncologist something about the likely cause.

Women are not having breast screening or PAP smears, so the results on female cancers are no surprise.

Interesting to see that lung cancer in Lampang is high in both males and females ( betel nut, smoking or the power station ?)

Sorry just missed this....so how do you interpret it?

Different cancers form region to region....different diseases - cancer means "grow"......how do you decide that Thailand is "major"? You can just bunch any group of diseases together, think of a country and claim it is "major" - rubbish....

[Samuian]

My ex-gf died from highly malignant breast cancer, she grew up in the Samut Prakahn area, where a multitude of chemical factories, tanneries etc. are situated.

She worked in a plastic toy factory after finishing school, she said all the girls working in there had to leave the building time after time because of severe headaches caused by the unfiltered fumes of thinners, some had to stay away from work for days... and got sacked.

Out of the community around her neighborhood, 5 died before her of breast cancer!

Environmental factors are the main issue here...

Edited March 19, 2008 by Samuian

[Sheryl]

Q. What do you call a country where cancer, heart disease and stroke are the biggest killers?

A. A country with good health indicators where most people live into old age.

Everybody dies, and one has to die of something. Cancer, heart disease and stroke are diseases that naturally become more and more prevalent as one ages, so in a country where infant, child and maternal mortality rates are low, these causes will naturally be predominate. They are also the main causes of death in the west.

There is a higher incidence of liver cancer in SE Asia than in the west mainly because of Hepatititis B. They are starting to routinely vaccinatre infants so with time this will decrease. Meanwhile, anyone concerned with this particular risk can obtain effective protection via vaccination.

Deaths from cervical cancer are largely preventable through early detection via regular pap smears.

For the others...regular breast exams/mammograms (for older women) reduces (but does not completely eliminate) the risk of dying of breast cancer, ditto regular check ups and periodic colonoscopy, prostate exam/PSAs with regard to cancer of the colon and prostate. These measures do not prevent cancer but make it more likely to be detectable at a stage where it can be cured.

Undoubtedly the above preventive practices are underutilized in Thailand at present and this does contribute to unnecessary deaths from cancer. But cancer of one sort or another is invariably going to remain a major cause of death in a country where most people live into old age.

It has been said that everyone would get cancer if they lived long enough. This is because cancer results from accumulated mutations in genes that control cell growth. While there are known avoidable factors that cause such mutations (e.g. smoking), they also occur as random events and given enough time, sooner or later will have occurred to a sufficient extent to lead to cancer. (Some people inherit one or more mutations giving them a "head start" in that process and more likely to develop cancer earlier).

The only 100% certain way to avoid dying of cancer is to die of something else first. By all means, get vaccinated for Hep B, have regular prostate/pap/breast/colon exams, don't smoke etc. These measures will definitely reduce the risk of dying before your time.

But, sooner or later, everyone's time does come, and the later that is the more likely that the cause will be one of the big 3: cancer, heart or stroke. So let's keep things in perspective...

[clausewitz]

Finally, a sensible post.

[Trevor]

Cooked and heated foods are at the root of most cancers. Stress and environment are lesser factors. Our bodies, like those of raw-eating animals, never evolved to handle the alien chemical compounds like heterocyclic amines and acrylamides created by cooking. Pasteurised and homogenised milk is also a killer.

Unfortunately cancer has become a multi-billion dollar business for the medical mafia, so don't expect them -- or their sidekicks in the media -- to tell you that something as simple as eating raw will avoid getting it. Bad for business. How do you think doctors maintain their late-model Lexus's in their driveways? Certainly not by giving honest preventative health-care information!

a somewhat cynical view , could you show some facts to back up your statements on heated foods and milk.

the high death rates from cancer are probably down to the lack of free screening programmes , very low early detection rates and unavailablity (unaffordability) of the expensive medication and treatment necessary to cure.

if detected and eradicated early enough the survival rates for the commonest cancers are good.

Better to nourish our bodies properly so cells never turn cancerous in the first place.

The Dangers of Over-Cooking Your Food

By Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.

Here are some statistics to put into perspective the dangers of overcooking and undercooking.

• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 340 Cases of E. coli infection in 1997 which makes the incidents rate of 2.1 per 100,000 people.
  
• Also reported that scientists have estimated that the average cancer risk because of heterocyclic amine exposure ranges from 1 per 10,000 for the average person to more than 1 to 50 for those ingesting large amounts of well-done muscle meats, especially flamed-grilled chicken.
  

Recently a report by Leif Busk, head of the Research and Development Department of the Swedish National Food Administration showed that overcooking of some baked and fried starchy foods causes acrylamide to be formed in these cooked foods. Acrylamide is cancer causing in animals.

With this new information in mind, it is wise to look at this whole subject of over-cooked food. Over-cooked food might take on a different meaning than it has previously.

Not only is acrylamide formed in some starchy food but also meat cooked at high temperatures has as many as 20 compounds known as heterocyclic amines, or HCAs for short. HCAs are known as cancer causing. Many people feel that it is important to cook food well in order to avoid bacterial infection. These same people do not realize that cooking meat, poultry, or fish at high temperatures for long periods of time can also be dangerous to your health.

There are other epidemiologic studies that suggest that there is a relationship between methods of cooking and various cancers and heart disease.1 In one study the researchers found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare. Additional studies have shown that an increased risk of developing pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats. http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/3_25.htm

Evidence To Show That The More Food Is Cooked, The More Difficult It Is To Digest And Metabolize

This is true of any food. The higher the temperature that food is cooked, the longer it stays in the gut and the more difficult it becomes for our digestive mechanisms to digest it. This makes it more difficult for the food to absorb and function at a cellular level where it needs to work. When the food can not function in the cells, the cells can become deficient and/or toxic which leads to deficiency and toxicity of the whole body making the body less able to function optimally.

There are many ways to cook food, some with less harmful results. Steaming, boiling, and stewing expose food to heat not exceeding 100 degrees C. On the other hand, baking and roasting expose food to temperatures up to 200 degrees.

Microwaving also exposes food up to 200 degrees C. but there are also many other problems with microwaving food. The highest temperatures that foods are exposed to are broiling and barbecuing which can be 400 degrees C. Frying with a pan or wok normally uses high surface temperatures.2

As early as 1930 research was done in Switzerland showing what processed and cooked food did to the leukocytes, the white blood cells in humans. Prior to this research it was noted that upon eating there would be an immediate increase of the white blood cells which was called "digestive leukocytosis." Digestive leukocytosis means that there is a rise in the number of white blood cells after eating. At the time this was considered a normal physiological response to eating.

It was not know why the cells would increase after eating and this increase usually meant that the person had been exposed to a harmful substance such as toxic chemicals, a trauma or infection. http://www.halalvitamins.com/cooking.htm

Then at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Dr. Paul Kouchakoff found that eating unaltered, raw food or food heated at low temperatures did not cause a reaction in the blood. Kouchakoff also found that if the food was processed or heated beyond a certain temperature it caused a rise in the number of white blood cells. He found that foods that had been refined, homogenized, pasteurized, or preserved causes the greatest increase in white blood cells.

Examples of these harmful foods are:

• Pasteurized milk,
  
  
• Chocolate,
  
  
• Margarine,
  
  
• Sugar,
  
  
• Candy,
  
  
• White flour and
  
  
• Regular salt.
  

There are two more interesting facts about this study:

1. If the food was chewed very thoroughly, the harm to the white blood cells would lessen.

2. If a person ate as much of the same raw food as he/she ate cooked the pathological reaction in the blood would be minimal.3

Researchers from the University of California at Davis examined how volunteers digested bread that had been cooked to varying degrees: first very mildly, second normally, and third over-cooked. The slightly cooked bread went through the stomach quite rapidly and caused no problems in digestion. But the longer the bread was cooked, the longer it stayed in the stomach.

In fact, the dark over-cooked bread caused an immune response in the bloodstream. An immune response can be triggered by undigested food that gets into the bloodstream and must be treated as a foreign invader by the immune system.

Francis Pottenger found that every food has a heat labile point. The heat labile point is the temperature point at which food changes its chemical configuration. All foods are made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen in different chemical configurations with minerals added.

We have come from early man eating foods in certain chemical configurations. We have the digestive enzymes to digest foods with those chemical configurations. When food is heated past the heat-labile point, its chemical configuration changes.

Pasteurization, deep-frying, and barbecuing are all forms of cooking where food is heated past the heat labile point. The body does not understand these new chemical configurations and does not have the enzymes to digest the food easily.4

When the food does not digest properly, it can sit in the gut, unable to be assimilated completely and it starts to become toxic. The carbohydrates start to ferment, the proteins begin to putrefy and the fats become rancid. These toxins irritate the lining of the gastrointestinal tract mucosa.

This can poison the gut bacteria causing the ecology of the gut to become upset. Three hundred to four hundred of the bacteria species can become upset causing overgrowth of candida and other pathogens. The irritation also makes the cells on the lining of the gastrointestinal tract to enlarge.5

When the cells become larger, the putrefied, undigested or partially digested food slips into the blood stream, called the leaky gut syndrome or gut permeability.6

When they get into the blood stream they are called free radicals with such formidable names as cadaverines, endols, putricine, and phenol.

Since it is the liver's job to detoxify toxins, the liver becomes overloaded and less able to do its job. In the bloodstream, this undigested or partially digested food (in the form of macromolecules) is in too large a particle to get into the cell to function This undigested or partially digested food moves through the blood stream causing havoc in the body.

This is a form of food allergy. The macromolecules can go to the head and cause the classic symptoms of allergy such as runny eyes, scratchy throat, itchy ears, sinusitis, and sneezing. They can go to the brain and cause headaches, anger, fatigue, schizophrenia, and perspiration.

This putrefied food can go to the joints or tissues and cause arthritis, or to the nerves and cause multiple sclerosis. These macromolecules can also go to the skin and cause acne, edema, psoriasis or rashes. It can lodge anywhere in the soft tissues in the body and cause problems, straining whatever a person's weak link may be.7

Finally the immune system comes to the defense of the body, and makes these undigested particles back into substances that the body can use or escorts them out of the body. The immune system is asked to do the job that our digestive system did not do.

The immune system was not designed to do this on a daily basis, every time we eat over-cook foods or over-processed foods. Over a period of time the immune system becomes exhausted and the door is opened to infectious and degenerative diseases.

From this research and the principle of the heat labile point, it seems that the best way to cook food is the least way.

The more food that you can eat raw, the better.

If you do cook your food the best way to cook food is lightly steam, stew, or use a slow crock cooker. Eat as few over-processed and over-cooked foods as possible. The body has a difficult time digesting fried, barbecued, pasteurized, dried, and other over-processed and over-cooked foods that you find in cake mixes, dried milk, dried eggs, pizza mixes, dairy products and other boxed and processed foods. Bon apetite au natural.

For More information on Dr. Appleton's books, The Curse of Louis Pasteur, Lick the Sugar Habit, Lick the Sugar Habit Sugar Counter, Heal Yourself with Natural Foods, and Healthy Bones, view her website: www.nancyappleton.com.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Raw foods are key to your health as most cooked foods will lose valuable nutrients due to their fragile nature. However, high temperatures will also potentially cause the formation of carcinogenic substances as this study shows.

This has also been shown for cooking meats over a grill in which heterocyclic amines are formed.

My nutrition plan emphasizes the need for consuming at least one-third of your foods raw.

This can even be translated to meats. I have recently started eating raw ostrich, which was raised primarily on alfalfa, several times a week and find it quite delightful.

I have been consuming raw eggs for several months now as well with major benefits to my cholesterol level.

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