In the third of series of articles on live food, Nutritionist, Belinda Rennie focuses on how you can incorporate more enyzme-rich, living food into your daily eating.

It takes less than five seconds in a microwave to kill all the enzymes in food. In fact any cooking or manufacturing process including canning, pasterurising and sterilizing destroys enzymes which are vital for every aspect of human life from digestion to fighting infection. Not only does living food contain enzymes but a much higher electrical potential which can be measured by a process called Kirlian photography.

Researchers have found that this increase in electrical potential of cells after eating a raw-food diet improves the ability of cells to absorb nutrients and excrete wastes. By restoring the electrical potential of the cells, raw foods rejuvenate the life force and health of the overall person. The stronger life force of the each cell and the overall being equates to stronger natural radiation or luminescence as measured by Kirlian photography.

Compare a Kirlian photograph of a person who has been eating junk food for 24 hours (not a long time in this part of the world!) to that of a person who has been eating live, enzyme-rich, raw food and you would notice the absence of any electroluminescence or natural radiation from the junk-food eater. You can apply this technology to different processing methods of food in order of highest natural life force or bioelectricity:

• Raw
• Wok cooking
• Steaming
• Microwave cooking
• Pressure cooking and prolonged boiling
• Deep frying
• Barbecue and grilling
• Oven baking

Almost all traditional societies have a history of eating raw, enzyme-rich foods. These diets also include cultured or fermented foods which contain beneficial food enzymes. Asian diets include raw fish and lots of wok cooking plus the use of cultured soybean products like miso and tempeh. Eastern European countries eat cultured dairy products enhancing the enzyme content and improving their digestibility. They also consume large amounts of fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and pickled carrots, cucumbers and beets.

Having already tried to boost the enzyme content of your breakfast with the bircher muesli and smoothie recipes offered last month, we turn our attention to lunch.

Raw lunch

This is the ideal time to include a raw vegetable salad of sprouts, green leafy vegetables, grated carrot, beetroot, avocado, nuts and seeds. Salads are ideal for our desert climate with the abundance of leafy greens available such as rocket (girgir), parsely and coriander. Teamed with a dressing made from blended nuts, seeds, tahini or miso makes a meal in itself. Try this:

½ handful of rocket

1 cup of sprouts (mung, chickpeas)

1 beet grated

1 carrot grated

½ avocado sliced

Cover bottom of a salad bowl with rocket and sprouts. Place grated beets and carrot in a mound in the centre and top with sliced avocado and dressing.

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For dressings try:

Tahini-ginger-miso dressing

2 tbs of raw tahini

juice of ½ lemon

1 tsp of fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp of miso

1 clove of garlic crushed

Blend all ingredients until smooth

Oil ‘n Vinegar Seed Dressing

1 cup of sunflower seeds (soaked overnight)

¼ cup of flax oil/extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup of raw apple cider vinegar

1 tsp of dried mixed Italian herbs

Blend until smooth and creamy

Japanese food products are available in the Asian sections of larger supermarkets and you need to read the labels carefully as many products contain MSG the flavour enhancer. Instant miso soups come with a sachet of miso, the fermented soyabean paste and a sachet of dried seaweeds which are a good source of iodine and minerals. Just add boiling water to the contents of the two sachets and top with a handful of sprouts and some soba (buckwheat) noodles. Freshly prepared sushi is now available in the deli section of the supermarket and teamed with miso soup makes a great live-food lunch.

Soaking and sprouting

Soaking and sprouting are simple ways to increase the nutrient content and life force of nuts, seeds, grains and beans. The best nuts and seeds for soaking are sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, flax and almonds and these require about 10 hours or overnight soaking. Once they have been soaked, empty the soak water and rinse with fresh water several times. They can be blended into sauces and dips and added to porridge.

Soaking and sprouting improves the digestibility of nuts, seeds and beans by initiating the breakdown of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The nutrient content also dramatically increases with extra vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll. Soaking and sprouting wash away enzyme inhibitors, phytic and oxalic acids which can interfere with digestion. Even after sprouting many legumes can still cause gas and interfere with digestion so it is best to restrict sprouting to mung beans, alfalfa and chickpeas.

Glass Jar Sprouting

1. Place ½ cup of mung beans or raw chickpeas in a glass jar with a fine mesh screen or muslin cover secured with a rubber band. Fill with water and soak overnight in a dark place.
2. Next day drain and rinse by simply filling the jar with fresh water, lightly swishing and draining with the screen in place on angled dish rack.
3. Rinse twice a day for 2 -3 days after which time the sprouts are ready to be eaten. Store in the fridge.

Hummus

This traditional chickpea dip can be made using sprouted chickpeas.

2 cups of chickpeas, sprouted

2 tbs of tahini

2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic

juice of 1 lemon

Blend, adding water if necessary to achieve desired consistency.

Eating live, raw food is one of the best ways to enhance our body's enzyme reserve, slowing the ageing process and degeneration associated with cancer, heart disease and arthritis. Switching to a raw food diet takes time to learn new preparation techniques. simple steps to include more raw food at lunchtime could include:

• taking your own raw vegetable sticks - carrot, celery, cucumber - and green salad to work with hummus of yoghurt dip.

• order a main meal salad with tuna or egg and dressing on the side so you can control the fat.

• order sushi with miso soup

• have fresh fruit available at work with a ziplock bag of raw nuts and seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, almond, dates, prunes and figs

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