As a results of working in the pharmaceutical industry (a.k.a. the evil empire) I am always on the hunt for well controlled trials to prove or disprove findings. There are not many prospectively designed, long term studies to prove what we, as raw vegan, find to be true of eating raw living foods. Anyone who has "been raw" can certainly attest to the increase in energy and general air of well being that we experience. First hand I have seen friends and family lower their cholesterol and reduce or eliminate the need for medications (including insulin) by adhering to a raw food lifestyle.
I came across this study that examines fecal matter of raw vegans vs. conventional eaters. It was a small, short study but I think it demonstrates how quickly you can see results with the power of raw food. See abstract below:
J. Nutr. 1992 Apr;122(4):924-30.
Shifting from a conventional diet to an uncooked vegan diet reversibly alters fecal hydrolytic activities in humans.
Ling WH, Hänninen O.
Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
Abstract
We studied the effect on fecal hydrolytic activities of adopting an uncooked extreme vegan diet and readopting a conventional diet. Eighteen subjects were randomly divided into test and control groups. In the test group subjects adopted the uncooked extreme vegan diet for 1 mo and then resumed a conventional diet for a second month. Controls consumed a conventional diet throughout the study. Phenol and p-cresol concentrations in serum and daily output in urine and fecal enzyme activities were measured. The activity of fecal urease significantly decreased (by 66%) as did cholylglycine hydrolase (55%), beta-glucuronidase (33%) and beta-glucosidase (40%) within 1 wk of beginning the vegan diet. The new level remained throughout the period of consuming this diet. Phenol and p-cresol concentrations in serum and daily outputs in urine significantly declined. The fecal enzyme activities returned to normal values within 2 wk of resuming the conventional diet. Concentrations of phenol and p-cresol in serum and daily output in urine had returned to normal after 1 mo of consuming the conventional diet. No changes were observed in the control group during the study. Results suggest that this uncooked extreme vegan diet causes a decrease in bacterial enzymes and certain toxic products that have been implicated in colon cancer risk.
