QUESTIONS: DRIED FRUIT,
Overeating can disturb your digestion, promote
OVEREATING, AND FERMENTED
FOODS
by Tom Billings
Q: Are the enzymes destroyed in the process of
drying fruit? What about the effect of drying on
water and oxygen? Are rehydrated, dried fruits
as good as fresh?
A: If fruits are sun-dried, their enzyme loss will
be minimized, provided the fruit is not heated
above 118 degrees F. If they are dried in a kiln or
(forced air) drier, above 118 degrees F, the loss
can be worse. Some dried fruit is preserved with
sulfur dioxide - best to avoid that and get dried
fruit with no preservatives.
The purpose of drying is to reduce the water
content, and as water is a good vehicle for
oxygen, oxygen levels may be reduced.
Rehydrated fruits, by most criteria, are not as
good as fresh. However they are an alternative
to fresh when fresh is not available or too
expensive. It is a good idea to rehydrate dried
fruit, as it may cause gas if not rehydrated.
Q: I can eat 3 large raw meals per day, plus
snacks, and still be very hungry. The hunger
makes me think about food all the time. Help!
A: Overeating is a major problem for many raw
fooders. The problem is especially acute if one
overeats dried fruit, honey, or other sweet foods.
Being hungry all the time is bad because you will
be tempted to backslide and eat inappropriate
food - candy, sweets, salty snacks, and so on.
gas, irritate your intestines, and cause excess
urination.
When you are eating, learning to recognize the
inner voice say "I'm satisfied" is difficult, and
developing the willpower to stop eating when
you hear that voice, takes some effort and time.
Controlling the tongue is very difficult, as it
enjoys the taste of delicious raw foods (as well
as bad foods)!
How to reduce food intake? First stop snacking
and/or grazing. Eat only when hungry, or if you
need to eat on a schedule, eat very little if you
are not really hungry. For each meal, decide how
much food is the maximum you will eat, and
don't exceed the limit you set. The amount of
food that will fit in both hands, held together, is
one possible goal. Such a limit is not arbitrary at
all - your stomach size and hand size are related
to your body frame size.
When you decide to reduce your food intake,
you may find it helpful to begin by using a
purgative - prunes, prune juice, or cassia - to
clear your digestive system. The idea is to clear
the system, then reduce food intake and allow
your stomach and intestinal tract to literally
shrink back to their proper size (bloating is very
common when overeating). You may be hungry
for a few days, but once the stomach shrinks
back to normal size, the hunger will be reduced.
Note that the suggestions above are intended for
those in good health. Individuals with health
problems should discuss the above with their
health care professional before implementing
any parts of it.
Getting your eating under control is *very*
difficult, but it is worth the effort. Good luck!
cheeses, may be acceptable as the base food is
likely to be "alive" after only a few hours of
fermentation.

Q: What about fermentation? What is the

controversy?

A: Among raw fooders, acidophilus fermentation

is generally seen as good, while yeast
fermentation (which produces alcohol/liquor) is
usually seen as bad. Advocates of fermentation
report that it can make certain foods more
digestible, promote "good" bacteria (acidophilus)
in your digestive system, and provide some
enzymes. Fermented foods are an important
part of the living foods lifestyle (of Ann Wigmore),
which has been used successfully by many
people for healing of serious illness.
Fermentation may provide some B-vitamins (but
formal nutritional analyses of raw fermented
foods are scarce/non-existent). A good example
is sauerkraut - raw cabbage, by itself, is a
problem, in that it can cause severe (even
painful) flatulence. However, raw cabbage
fermented into raw sauerkraut does not cause
flatulence.

Skeptics of fermentation point out that foods that

have been fermented for days consist of a live
bacteria culture, that is living on a dead base,
e.g., in raw sauerkraut the culture is alive (down
to a certain pH level), while the base of raw
cabbage is certainly dead. This raises the
question of whether they are really "living foods".
Foods that have been fermented only a few
hours, such as sprout milk yogurt, certain seed