Overcooking food is a way to cause metabolic overload and upset body chemistry. All foods are made up of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen in various chemical configurations. Our enzymes have evolved since the days of the caveman to digest foods in certain configurations. But when food is cooked at a high temperature, it passes what we call the heat labile point, which means that it changes its chemical configuration. Our enzymes don’t know what to do with this overcooked food. We do not have evolutionary enzymes to digest it efficiently.
Since our enzymes cannot digest overcooked food very well, some of it does not digest at all. It sits partially digested in the gut and starts to putrify, or rot. This food purification irritates the lining of the gastro-intestinal tract. The cells widen and the undigested food gets into the bloodstream where it can cause problems.
A study was done to find out how well different forms of calcium were absorbed. Pasteurized whole milk, dried whole milk, and homogenized whole milk were tested. It was found that the calcium in the dried milk preparation was definitely less well utilized. Why? Dried milk is prepared by pouring milk over stainless steel rolling drums that have been heated to a very high temperature. As the milk hits the drums, it loses its moisture. Small flakes drop off the drum and become dried milk. This is definitely overcooking.
In another study, researchers Barbara Schneeman and George Dunaif at the University of California, Davis, examined the browning reaction in food and how this usually produced better taste, but less efficient digestibility. For four weeks, they fed laboratory rats nonfat milk as their only source of protein. One group of rats received unheated milk. A second group ingested milk heated to a light brown at 121° C. The third group was given milk cooked to a cocoa brown.
Rats given the unheated milk thrived. They grew and gained weight. Rats given the light-brown milk failed to gain weight. Rats given the cocoa-brown milk took in less food and lost weight. The researchers discovered that browned proteins stay longer in the stomach, indicating poor digestibility and poor absorption. This research indicates that drinking milk in its raw form is the best.
Fried foods are particularly dangerous. When a food is fried and becomes brown, the chemical configuration of the food changes and our enzymes are less capable of digesting it. This food gets into the bloodstream, undigested. The fat used to fry the food can clog the arteries as well as upset the body chemistry.
When foods are deep fried-whether they be potatoes, shrimp, carrots, or chicken-a vat of oil is heated to a very high temperature, far above the heat labile point. Then food is dropped into this vat and fried. Afterwards, the vat of oil is cooled down. This same vat is usually heated up again to cook more food. The fat used can quickly become rancid. We do not have enzymes to digest rancid fats, and the body chemistry becomes upset once again.
