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Indybay Feature

The Great American Rat Experiment:

by Raw Food Vs. the Cook, American Die
rats eating vegetables and fruit are healthy
rats eating cooked food become diseased
rats.jpg
The Great American Rat Experiment:

Raw Food Vs. the Cook, American Diet


The following is an account of an interesting three-part experiment comparing the effects of raw foods versus cooked foods with rats. This account is taken from a book titled Goldot, by Lewis E. Cook, Jr. and Junko Yasui:

“It has been found that a group of rats were fed diet of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts and whole grains from birth grew into completely healthy specimens and never suffered from any disease. They were never ill. They grew rapidly, but never became fat, mated with enthusiasm and had healthy offspring. They were always gently affectionate and playful and lived in perfect harmony with each other. Upon reaching an old age, equivalent to 80 years in humans, these rats were put to death and autopsied. At that advanced age their organs, glands, tissues all body processes appeared to be in perfect condition without any sign of aging or deterioration.

“A companion group of rats we fed a diet comparable to that of the average American and included white bread, cooked foods, meats, milk, salt, soft drinks, candies, cakes, vitamins and other supplements, medicines for their ails, etc. During their lifetime these rats became fat and, from the earliest age, contracted most of the diseases of modern American society including colds, fever, pneumonia, poor vision, cataracts, heart disease, arthritis, cancer and many more.

“Most of this group died prematurely at early ages but during their lifetime most of them were vicious, snarling beasts, fighting with one another stealing one another’s food and attempting to kill each other. They had to be kept apart to prevent total destruction of the entire group. Their offspring were all sick and exhibited the same general characteristics as there parents.

“As this group of rats died one by one or in epidemics or various diseases, autopsies were performed revealing extensive degenerative conditions in every part of their bodies. All organs, glands and tissues were affected, as were the skin, hair, blood and nervous system. They were all truly total physical and nervous wrecks. The same condition existed in the few, which survived full duration of the experiment.

“A third companion group of rats was fed the same diet as the second group to an age equivalent to about 40 years in humans. They displayed the same general symptoms of the second group – being sick and vicious so that they had to be separated to prevent them from killing each other and stealing one another food.

“At the end of this initial period all rats in this group were placed on a strict fast, with o water to drink for a period of several days. Then they received the natural (raw) diet o first group of rats. This diet was alternated with periods of fast and within one mouth behavioral pattern had changed completely so that the now docile, affectionate, playful creatures were once again able to live together in a harmonious society and from this point on never suffered any illness.

“Several rates put to death and autopsied at the end of the initial period revealing the same general deterioration as that exhibited in the second group of rats. However, the remaining rats lived out the full duration of the experiment, to the equivalent of 80 years in humans, and when they were topside there were no signs of aging or deterioration or disease - just as those in the first group. The obvious disease, degeneration and deterioration of body parts evident in their first half of life had been completely reversed and excellent health restored.

“The same principles apply to human life as there is only one TRUTH! Thus it may be concluded that sick people may be restored to health simply by choosing the proper diet, fasting observing the other rules of health. There is no mystery. There is no external force that will help – all healing being accomplished within the body in accordance with the laws of organic life and health.”

From:
God’s Way to Ultimate Health
By
Dr. George H. Malkumu
with Michael Dye
by Dafydd James
"Thus it may be concluded that sick people may be restored to health simply by choosing the proper diet" - it annoys me to see what I consider to be important research concluded in such a manner. Is one to conclude from this statement that a person sick from, say, cancer or hepatitis can be cured simply by eating raw vegetables?

I fully appreciate and encourage experiments of this type. Even though my diet is far from perfect, I acknowledge my shortcomings and appreciate that I would be far more healthy if I ate proper food. I would love to show this article to friends of mine as an example of why people should eat in a more healthy manner.

However, the language used to describe this experiment is not empirical in the slightest. Phrases such as "perfect" and "completely healthy specimens and never suffered from any disease" will turn off people looking for empirical evidence, and undermine the validity of the results.

"The same principles apply to human life as there is only one TRUTH!" - I see that the article is an extract from a book entitled "God's Way to Ultimate Health". How does this experiment relate to religion in any way? Please, if you are attempting to carry out scientific experiments then be scientific in your analysis of those experiments, otherwise you negate any value of the experiments.
by j steadman
rats have never evolved to eat cooked food. of course if you feed cooked food to a "wild' animal it will not be able to properly assimilate the nutrients contained therein.
by John
I think what the research suggests is that good diet is 'preventative medication'. Even when becoming ill a change from a bad diet to a healthy diet is recommended by most doctors.

I think the reference to God is more of a spiritual reference rather than religous one. If you don't know the deference between the two spiritual / religion... you're on your own.
by Douglas Westerman
Dr. Norman Walker lived this way; he was healthy and disease-free, then died in his sleep at age 109. Others eating cooked food have lived longer, but were not comfortable.

Countless cases have shown that eating raw, natural foods does arrest cancer, reverse heart disease, etc. Even though the cases run into the 1,000's, it is still considered "unscientific and "anecdotal". Oncologists condemn and persecute; if people found out, the 80 billion dollar cancer industry would collapse.
by Melodie
It has been 16 months since I changed my diet and in 2 months I celebrate my 50th birthday feeling 25 again. Everything that was wrong is now cured just by better food, real nutrition, and eliminating as many added chemicals as possible. You don't have to be sick.
by Jim Eagle Feather
and for most of the world - billions of people - clean water to grow or clean vegetables is hard to come by - though no doubt Dr. What's-his-name lives in a country with modern water systems and farming. Man has used fire to cook his foods for over 10,000 years. Rats did not. Man drinks the cooked juice - and this brings up another question EXACTLY HOW WAS THE FOOD COOKED in the experiment? A good cook does not nuke his food or over cook it. But again the most important thing is Rats can eat filth whilst men shouldn't.
by Karl Zimmer
Rawmeat, fish, etc, can give you parasites. But I would agree that raw veggies and fruits is preferable. I do think, however, longevity is mostly genetic combined with a healthy diet (cooked and raw). I've seen lots of vegans who looked sick and lacking something to me.
by Theron
Strikes me as pretty obvious that freshly picked fruits and vegetables are going to contain the most nutrients, if we refer to a wide variety of such. Meats contain lots of protein (plus whatever was living in the creature one is eating, so one must cook it) but meats do not contain what some vegetables and beans contain.

I do not see the point in abruptly giving up cooked meat, even if that is ultimately the thing to do. To phase it out reduces the likelihood of disrupting one's body and offers the chance to see how one does. As for cooking vegetables, I don't see the point, excepting those that are very hard.

For the record, I think my criterion for the "wrongness" of a space alien farming and eating ME is that I am ME. I recognize my diet is not fully inclusive of other biological life forms; I do not include chickens from the group callled "people", a group on which one simply does not dine. I gave up beef and pork out of fear of mad cow disease and upon reflection, I now think of them and am not comfortable eating them.

If anyone wants to change dietary habits ... patience. Also with smoking. The habits of taking food and chemicals that affect the brain are sort of hard-wired. Was there any conscious thought involved in the snarfing down of that slice of pizza? Nope, there was the desire for taste and for fat, and they were quickly sated with the pizza. But you give it some time and I find the human body comes to like radishes and kale.

I mention this because as an average man, I did not know how much I was able to change until I saw I must view eating habits as almost being those of another person. Becoming aware of food impulses and retraining them takes time but it works.

The human body is very smart in its own way.
by jack welch
Come on you dumbasses! This is clearly a joke. Just look at the description of those fed "american food". Jeez, then you wonder why we are behind the rest of the world that actually reads, even the damned cubans could figure this stuff out.
by matt
cooked food is poison I wish it werent the case but its true

for you whiny skeptical dumbasses ...experiment & try it for 30 days get some literature on the subject

gabriel cousens
david wolfe are good to start with

seriously folks this is the deal!
Corporations like processed and cooked food because it lasts on the shelf longer than raw vegetables. Also, the profits increase when they can use chemicals instead of real food inside their products. As we all know, corporations and gov't are merely quid-pro-quo whorehouses sold to the highest bidder. When the gov't needs illegal wire-taps, Verizon and Sprint allow them secret rooms to listen in on calls. When Haliburton (and KBR) need more revenue, the gov't hands out no-bid contracts. When the gov't dislikes literature, Amazon and Wikipedia ban the book "America Deceived". Do not expect that the FDA will step in and protect the people from harmfull chemicals and processed 'food'. We The People had our gov't (and health) sold out from beneath us.
Final link (before Google Books caves to pressure and drops the title):
America Deceived (book)
by TOny Castelluci
I eat mostly raw foods. During Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years, I party & have some cooked foods. I stay away from bready starchy sugary things though.

I've been eating raw long enough to where when I walk by the bread section at a grocery store, it smells all moldy & disgusting to me.

Sugar had a strong hold on me, and now it all smells like chemicals to me.

The only thing I crave is occasionally a nice piece of fish.

Before I went raw, I weighed 270 lbs. Now I weigh 200 lbs. My bud that got me into raw thinks I'll get all the way down to 165 lbs. Which would be extreme. But I think I'll be more like 180 lbs.
by Nova
Who did the rats call God? I'm all for whole, healthy unprocessed food but this sounds a bit (pardon the pun) nuts to me.
by FUBAR
drday.com shows this quite clearly. it seems to me teh people are actually addicted to MSG and aspratime. Thats why they are so whiney when it comes to this subject. Go drink a double diet soda and SHFU...http://216.22.2.74/cgi-local/ffa2.cgi?
She was the author of "Exploring Inner Space. Personal Experiences Under LSD-25"

First printing. NYC: Harcourt, Brace & World, [1961].

She so hated red-necks that she wrote a series of books to kill them. Her potassium theories actually caused children to go blind. She was sued for that, and had to settle.

Thousands of trailer-trash fundy kids have bad eyesight due to the moron in the pews following her teachings.

She hated her own upbringing that much.
by allen
"It has been found "

Says who, when?

by Veratty
Full report from The Danish Organic Research Centre that carried out the work.
by Dr.Green
When a scientific study uses the wrong terms - they loose crediability. Autopsy has to do with humans - Auto meaning self. Necropsy is the correct term of studying none-humans in postmortem Exams. With this one small - dumb down - I would suggest the whole story is a fraud.

Sincerely

Dr.Green
by fuffff
no freaking text jerk
by Aaron
so closed minded... I hope you all with such short sights and the inability to think in different terms die early and produce mutant off spring who can't reproduce. go darwin!

They invoke God in the title of a book... so WHAT? If it were "Jesus" then yes, maybe you'd have something to be cynical about.
They used the wrong word - "OH NOEZ! It's fakery!!" No, it's called a mistake.

I might just change my diet, do a personal experiment with this and see how it works. Can't hurt me... (so long as I wash everything first) and then I'll know, and all of the closed minded people here will just be fat lazy and angry like they always were instead of trying to better themselves, or at least give themselves a CHANCE at being healthier.


by ken Martin (kenmartin00001 [at] hotmail.com)
I suppose one could surmise from this study that simply eating a diet of uncooked fruits and vegatables, one would either a) live youthfully and eternally; or b) one day just die from 'nothing'. Make my ribeye medium well, I'm not a rat(nor am I stupid)
by alpha primate
scientific people know that humans are primates and primates eat fresh fruit. stupid, superstitious and religious people believe we are not animals are are meant to eat whatever we desire. the scientific people live long lives and produce healthy offspring and the others live short sickly lives and produce sickly offspring if at all. its natural selection at its finest.
by Dr. Stupid
um, actually, primates are omnivores. they just don't eat cooked food....and, come to think of it, there *is* some sort of ape in Japan (macaques?) that "washes" its potatoes in hot springs....100th monkey theory and all of that. on eating well: i eat terribly and feel BLAH a lot of the time, and when I eat healthier (i.e.: more greens and grains) i feel better. it's pretty freakin' simple really. the hard part is getting over the fat/salt addiction.
by Curious_swift
In Adele Davis's book "Let's eat right to stay fit", she claimed that peasants in the middle ages where more healthy than noblemen due to their raw food diet.

However, their average height was 5'6" for males, 5'2" for females, compared to nobles averaging about 4" taller.

They lived, on average, to about age 30, compared to about 65 for nobles.

The introduction of vitamin enriched processed food in America has resuled in all Americans rwaching the same level of health as middle ages nobility. Granted, it has also introduced obesity in those who cannot eat a wide variety of food in moderation due to their lack of self-discipline, but the overall effect on health has been astonishing.
by Barbara (besw1 [at] aol.com)
When my husband and I switched from a cooked diet a tumor in my wrist was healed and also my fibroid tumors. My husband had severe arthritis in both knees that was totally healed in just three weeks. Additionally, I know of three people who were healed of cancer while on a mostly raw diet. Dr. Day said she knew of 300 AIDS/HIV victums who are now healed after switching to a mostly raw diet. Additional info on raw eating can be found at: http://sbgroupllc.com/Raw_Foods.htm Barbara
by Human Brain
Why don't they use PEOPLE for these tests? I am not a rat who lives in a cage who has been geneticically modified to give good "test results" so that more grant money can be got. I get hungry, I eat food. Nothing microwaved as that is eating "dead" food for sure.
by Ariel
If rats were biologically identical to humans I'd say this study would have some validity. As it is, people have different needs. Granted, for some a raw-food diet may work wonders; for others, it may be worse than the food they were trying to get rid of.
by John Luther
Folks these results show a result but futher study is needed of course. Just like the study that was done on humans -ten humans with diabetes were taken from the standard american diet to a raw food diet and then after 4 weeks they did not need their insulin shots! wow what a result! check out the trialer for the movie about to come out about it http://rawfoodmedia.com/documentaries/raw_for_30_days.htm People we must listen to what we have in front of us and admit that maybe as humans we are making a mistake in the way we are advancing! quote from from 1832 Adolph Just

“man in his misguidance has powerfully interfered with nature. He has devastated the forests, and thereby even changed the atmospheric conditions and the climate. Some species of plants and animals have become entirely extinct through man, although they were essential in the economy of nature. everywhere the purity of the air is affected by smoke and the like and the rivers are defiled. These and other things are serious encroachments upon nature, which men nowadays entirely overlook, but which are of the greatest importance, and at once show their evil effect not only upon plants but upon animals as well, the latter not having the endurance and power of resistance of man”

This was from a man in the 1800's wow how he is so right! people we must wake up and learn from our mistakes but more important is that we must know that we have made a mistake! Check out rawfoodmedia.com for information about raw food and its benifits.
by Thomas Truelove
I have heard, but not been able to confirm, that microwaves are not allowed in the Soviet Union. Does anyone have any infomration on this? Each time I try to get this confirmed, the person just goes out of communication with me. Am I asking the wrong question, or is there something to this? Please help me answer this question.

Thank you.
by JosephCampisi
I have read so called research as this many times over the years. Real science research is published in peer reviewed journals not books. Furthermore, the standard is double blind randomized controlled experiments. I also question the veracity of this study. I would appreciate reputable journal citations supporting the raw food hypothesis. There certainly are enough citations supporting the dangers of it. The greatest reason for emergency room visits in the USA is food poisoning from raw food (Lingappa, & Farey, 2000, Physiological Medicine). Other than the enzymes and probiotics that are easily available supplements, what are the scientific reasons requiring a raw food diet? JC
by cynthia paine (ravendarkblood6 [at] yahoo.com)
i have had my rats from a variation of 8 months and under i feed them whatever i eat including veggies, fruit, grains, meat, and snacks. none of my rats have shown any of the diseases you are describing or symtoms. all of my rats are healthy and yes they will steal each other's food but only if they are impatient which if you own rats you should know. i would like to hear responses so please send your comments to my email address.
by ElephanTiger
Really? Its all the synthetic vitamins and processed food that has been responsible for the longer human lifespan? And here I thought it was because now doctors wash their hands between patients, and we have clean water access, emergency care, and sanitation!?! Heh. Silly me.
Two experiments arriving at basically the same results this one and Dr. Pottenger's and getting plenty of criticism. If anyone should be criticized it is the scientific and medical communities for not duplicating these experiments independently to settle this question once and for all. You only have to look about you in public today to realize that there is something very wrong with the health of the American people. It is common knowledge that obesity is an epidemic. I think the last number I saw was over 40% of the population, astounding! And what does the scientific community do in what is obviously a disaster? They point to their old standby genetics, ridiculous! They control all the money going to fund scientific experiments and all the government health agencies such as the FDA, USDHHS, CDC, etc. What are they afraid of? Obviously that the American people will discover the truth about how closely disease is linked to their food and the food industry. And also what an absolutely criminal job the medical people have done to preserve the health of this society. This is the result of the medical and pharmaceutical industries stranglehold monopoly over medical treatment and it's science.

Here is a quote that I feel fits from attorney Joseph Welch to Senator Joseph McCarthy "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Pottenger, FM (1946) "The effect of heat-processed foods and metabolized vitamin D milk on the dentofacial structures of experimental animals." American Journal of Orthodontics and Oral Surgery, vol. 32, pp. 467-485.

Pottenger, FM (1995) Pottenger's Cats. Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, La Mesa, California.

by Work
The article you linked is so different from the "story" that is described above, I'm honestly surprised that you even posted it.
by Work
To Veratty:

The article you linked is so different from the "story" that is described above, I'm honestly surprised that you even posted it.
by Dr. Paul Blake, N.D.
If we have evolved to eat cooked food then why is the result so poor? Today 80% of American adults are taking at least one medication for an incurable disease. And 40% plus are obese, and today your chances of getting cancer in your lifetime are one out of two. If that is the American parade to a healthier life, "I WANT OUT!"
Note: And evolve means to develop, progress, advance etc. Show me even one example where Americans are evolving into a healthier people?

Today America is one of the most unhealthy countries in the world. And our Quality of Health ranked by the W.H.O placed us 37th, when at one time we were ranked 1st in the world for decades! Since our food is the foundation of our health, it might be a great idea to look there for the cause of our "devolving into a sickly mess?"

I suggest everyone have a look at the 10-year scientific animal study below involving cats; and do they thrive better on cooked or raw foods?

Happy Health Trails
Dr. Paul Blake, N.D.

Reference:
Francis M. Pottenger, MD - The Weston A. Price Foundationhttp://www.westonaprice.org › health-topics › nutrition-greats
Francis M. Pottenger, Jr. was a physician who successfully applied the ... He conceived of an experiment in which one group of cats received only raw milk and raw ... Price studied and Pottenger fed a diet of both raw and cooked food to his patients. ... I would urge everyone to listen to Joel Wallach's 1994 talk Dead Doctor's ...
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