Do y’all remember that song from the late ’80’s?
(Yeah, you do. I know it’s spelled wrong.)
(Suzanne Vega. Your earworm for the day. You are so welcome!)
Ever heard of Leucocytosis?
I hadn’t until I started down this RAW path.
There was this French dude, Paul Kouchakoff, (yes, he was French. Shh. I’m talking) back in the 1930’s who discovered that as soon as cooked or processed food is tasted, white blood cells rush to the intestines, which causes disruption to the immune system.
Why?
The body apparently considers cooked food as a pathogen, freaks out, sounds the alarm, and sets out to destroy it. Whenever the white blood cells rush to deal with cooked food, the rest of the body is left undefended. In a book called Raw Energy, by Leslie and Susannah Kenton, the authors note that leucocytosis is like a red alert, and these constant red alerts several times per day, over and over again, put considerable strain on the immune system.
Hmmm….
That is so weird, right?
When Kouchakoff’s volunteers ate raw foods, the white blood cells did not react. Raw foods leave the white blood cells free to deal with other things, instead of constantly calling the troops to the same region. This conserves energy that is better used to build up the immune system as opposed to constantly having to defend. (Best defense is a good offense, no?)
Don’t freak out. You’re not going to have to avoid the oven for the rest of your life. If you eat something raw first, followed by something cooked, leucocytosis doesn’t happen.
Say what?
It’s the first taste of food that triggers the phenomenon.
So, if you can eat a bite of raw apple, then eat your bacon egg & cheese biscuit from the drive thru, you’ll be better off.
Same for your dog. If you’re feeding something that has been cooked or pasteurized, give your pup a little nibble of apple or carrot or a blade of grass…something raw first. Then feed the cooked food. Your dog will thank you with a more robust immune system.
(Note: you should always give digestive enzyme supplement, such as Prozyme, when feeding cooked food).
pugs & kisses,
The HOL Dog 