RAYMOND
FRANCIS: AVOIDING ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS TO HEALTH - NOTES
by Tom Billings
Raymond Francis spoke at the SF-LiFE (San Francisco Living
Foods Enthusiasts) potluck on 4 May 1997, at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. He is
a scientist and health educator, and used his knowledge of human nutrition to heal himself
from a terminal illness. He is also the host and producer of the radio program 'An Ounce
of Prevention' on KEST 1450 AM in San Francisco (10-11 AM, Thursdays), and publishes a
national newsletter.
His talk was titled "Avoiding Environmental Threats to
Health". Below are my notes from his talk. Any inaccuracies or errors below are due
to the note- taker, rather than the speaker. Contact information, and my comments, follow
the notes. The notes may seem discontinuous at times; this is because it includes answers
to (numerous) listener questions, and I didn't always write down the questions.
Notes.
We are in a crisis. The country is going bankrupt, due to
high health costs. We can turn the situation around, if we get people to eat healthy
diets. Raymond then explained that he researched information on health, then matched the
information to products currently available.
Health is decreasing, while chronic disease is increasing.
Why? We have changed the biological patterns of human existence: diet, environment, and
human behavior. The results are coming in, and are catastrophic: 68% of the total
population has a chronic disease. Cancer struck 2% of the population at the turn of the
century, versus 43% now. Cancer is rare in Hunza, Vilcabambma, other places where people
live long.
We can all do a better job in eating a good diet. Changing
the diet is good but does not alleviate other factors. Eating fresh, raw veggies daily
(rather than the SAD diet), reduces your pesticide load by 80%. If you eat organic, the
pesticide load is negligible.
If you eat your food raw, you will also avoid many toxins.
You can lose up to 93% of the food's nutrition in cooking. Also, if you heat food over 375
deg. F, HAAs are created, where HAA= hetero-cyclic aeromatic amines. These are ultra-
carcinogenic. Puffed grains are toxic; they are produced under high temperature and
pressure, which alters their protein molecules. If you feed puffed grains to animals, it
will kill them.
Do not heat food that contains protein, fats, sugars, as AGEs
are created. Food examples here include pizza, pie, glazed ham. AGE = advanced glycation
end- product. These adhere to tissue, and stiffen it, and can lead to kidney and muscle
problems.
Cooking certain foods creates benzopyrenes (benzo-A-pyrene).
This is a very potent carcinogen. Cigarette smoke contains benzopyrene, which affects the
gene that prevents cancer. Vitamin C, bioflavinoids provide some protection from
benzopyrenes. Note that you can ingest benzopyrene in a raw diet, if you eat foods grown
near a highway or asphalt plant.
Don't eat microwaved foods, as they affect your immune
system, and reduce white blood cells. If you want to cook, steam (or boil) the foods. Most
steamed/ boiled foods are OK. You can get AGEs if you mix protein, fat, sugar. AGEs are
also created at room temperature, but very slowly - increase the temperature and you will
get more AGEs.
Oranges vs. Tang. Raymond told of a college professor who, in
an effort to impress his students on the value of fresh foods, had them buy oranges from
the supermarket, analyze them for vitamin C, and compare to Tang (an artificial orange
drink). Result: the oranges from the supermarket had zero vitamin C, while the Tang had
vitamin C. This illustrates that you may think you have a good diet when you do not.
Otherwise fresh food can be colored, flavored, and processed. [Note taker comment: this
shows just how heavily processed modern fruit is - very little nutrition left. There is no
hard proof organic fruit is fresher or contains more nutrients. Like commercial fruit,
organic fruit is picked green, refrigerated, and shipped long distances.]
Bis-phenyl-A. This chemical is distributed worldwide, and
used in a lot of plastic, including plastic water bottles, food can liners, and also in
dental fillings. This chemical produces a powerful estrogenic effect. Don't drink out of
plastic bottles!
We have created thousands of chemicals, but we don't know the
effects of them, and their interactions. Styrofoam cups are a bad idea. In autopsies of
dead people, 100% have styrene in them - this is clearly not an essential nutrient! It is
worse with hot drinks. Health in Hunza and Vilcabamba is decreasing as they Westernize.
Raymond recommends that you take 9-12 grams of vitamin C
every day. He took 3 grams per day when terminally ill, and it saved his life.
Water. Municipal water has small levels of toxins. Chlorine
is a powerful oxidizing agent. A filter to remove chlorine is advisable, especially for
the shower. Chlorine gas can be found in warm showers, and absorbed through the skin. This
chlorine contact may be a factor in skin cancer. Also, ozone is better than chlorine for
swimming pools. Fluoride is highly toxic. It causes weak bones, hip fractures, and may be
a factor in bone cancer.
Dental fluorosis now strikes 30% of children. Be careful of
distillers; some put a high level of lead in the water (the lead leaches out from the
steel). If you use reverse osmosis, chemicals may leach out from the plastic. Raymond
drinks high quality distilled water that comes in glass bottles.
Ozone in the air. In Los Angeles, 100% have lung damage from
ozone. Take high levels of vitamins C,E, and antioxidants to help protect against ozone.
A really big hazard to your health: modern medical care! The
#1 cause of death in America is malnutrition. There is a big difference between being
well-fed and well-nourished. The #2 cause of death is the medical establishment (MD's and
dentists). Avoid your doctor. Prescription drugs, especially anti-biotics, are very
dangerous. DES, di-ethyl stilbestrol, a former prescription drug, was banned in 1971
because it is a factor in cancer in the grandchildren of women who took it as a drug.
[Note taker comment: it might still be legal for use in cattle.]
Raymond recently announced a leading cause of cancer: local
anesthetic drugs. These are a major factor, if not the #1 cause of, cancer. The drugs in
question are lidocaine, procaine (brand name: Novocaine). The breakdown products of these
drugs are 100% carcinogenic in test animals and in humans.
Women in higher socioeconomic groups get more breast cancer
because they get more ("better") medical care, also more mammograms. The breast
cancer rate is also correlated with the use of local anesthetics.
Replacement for Novocaine? Acupuncture, hypnosis. For major
oral surgery, use the Hubble technique (barbituates); this is used by most oral surgeons.
Q: What about Maillard molecules? A: Never heard of them.
Q: What about fasting? A: A good thing to do 2-3 days per
month. Long fasts should have medical supervision.
NSAIDS. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: aspirin, many
other drugs. These are highly toxic, kill ~20K people/year. Acetaminophen,
anti-histamines, break down into anilines, carcinogenic toxic compounds.
Don't mix metals in your mouth - can set up a galvanic
current in your mouth. The effects on health of such a current are unknown.
Topical lotions. The skin is a semi-permeable membrane. Avoid
insect repellants; the chemical DEET (used in many insect repellants) is very toxic. Don't
use sunscreens. Vitamin C in water is a safe sunscreen.
Hair and skin care products - may contain artificial colors,
propylene glycol, sodium laurel sulfate This compound is used as a standard skin irritant
in lab tests. Creosol, an ingredient in some shampoos, affects the nervous system and
pancreas. Raymond suggests you buy Aubrey Organics brands.
Carpets, TV, shoes - they outgas for decades. Use cotton or
wool carpet, tiled floors. Use natural fibers in clothes. Turn a new TV on for a while (in
the garage) to let it outgas. Let plastic shoes "bake" in the sun to outgas.
Most outgassing will be over within 1 year.
Cook food at the lowest temperature possible, below the
boiling point if possible. Fragrances - most are synthetic and toxic. You can use natural
essential oils instead.
EMF is another hazard. EMFs have an impact on biological
systems; some of the effects will bad (may interfere with inter-cell communications). EMF
may decrease melatonin production, and melatonin inhibits cancer. It alters the flow of
calcium into the cells. EMF is high near power lines. TV sets should be more than 6 feet
away from you. EMF is a complicated issue; minimize your exposure to EMF.
Tachyon beads - sounds nice but is probably nonsense.
The #1 complaint to doctors - fatigue. Caused by toxic
overload on the liver. Minimize environmental toxins, eat a good diet so the liver can
detox the environmental poisons. Most people need supplements, as our soil is devitalized.
Contact Info:
Raymond Francis P.O. Box 150578 San Rafael, CA 94915 U.S.A.
Phone: 415-459-2050 Fax: 415-453-7588
Raymond Francis has a newsletter, audiotapes of some of his
talks, and is working on a book. The bimonthly newsletter is called "Beyond Health
News", and costs $34.95/year in the U.S.
Comments (by the note-taker):
1. An excellent talk, very informative! This is the logical,
constructive, positive (and honest) way to discuss cooked vs. raw foods - with real
scientific data, rather than the misleading, incorrect, zealous slogans used by some
raw-fooders.
2. Instead of soap and/or shampoo, one can use a paste made
with finely ground chickpea/channa flour and water (get the flour at an Indian store - the
flour sold in health food stores is not ground fine enough). Such flour is of the type
sold as "besan" in Indian stores: channa besan.
3. The books by Debra Lynn Dadd are excellent for detailed
information on minimizing environmental toxins in the home. |
