Hi, I would love to get Doug's or anyone else's in put on this. I found an article about human vs monkey anatomy and diet comparisons, and I read it very carefully. It is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10378206/. First I want to say I very much prefer 801010rv to a cooked diet. But a couple of things in this article made me question it: 1) our digestive tracts aren't the same as monkeys. Human small intestines are twice as big as most monkeys and our large intenstines are half as long. The author said the monkey's large intestines absorb nutrients from the greens that they eat. My understanding is that the small intestines absorb digested food. There are some scientists who say we've been eating cooked food for 800,000 years which is long enough for us to evolve a digestive system suited for that--longer small intestines for absorption of cooked food? and shorter long intestines since we can cook our vegetables and don't need to digest them raw? and 2) the fruit monkeys eat is very different from cultivated fruits we eat today. Our fruits have much less fiber and more fructose and less glucose. However, if you take into account that sucrose is half glucose and half fructose, the amount of fructose vs glucose (when including sucrose contributions) is not terribly different. For monkey fruits, glucose is 60-50% and for our fruits, glucose is 50-40%, typically. but monkey fruits do have quite a bit more fiber it seems and aren't as sweet in general. So that suggests our fruit is not the same as our ancestors ate. However, neither are our cooked veggies and starches. I just began to wonder if our cultivated fruits are too low in fiber and too high in sugar to be optimal. and...if we should be eating some cooked veggies, which allows a larger variety and gives you more nutrients even though some are destroyed in cooking--but the articles I've seen say that you get 50% of your vitamins and all your minerals from cooked food (when you eat the broth as well).

Dr Doug, what is your take and reasons on acupuncture? I remember you saying we don't have a deficiency of needles. Also that we can't stimulate the body to health. A friend of mine said she was going to get acupuncture. I held my tongue. It seems that I hold my tongue a lot around all the people I meet because I don't think they are receptive to my knowledge. Another example: I told my hiking friend that it's best to eat simple carbs ( fruit) before hiking long and to take fruit on the hike. The next day she was so proud and excited that for breakfast she ate eggs, avocado and cottage cheese! She said she wanted some energy and sustenance for the longer hike> I almost got sick hearing that but I didn't say anything because I felt like it would be trouble. She also has a sugar phobia. I haven't found many people that give a shit to listen much and think what I know is good regarding a raw vegan diet with fruit as its main source of sustenance. I'd like to have friends who are firmly grounded in 80/10/10, you know, like minded. What do I get frustrated, annoyed, disappointed? I feel like saying "No, thats wrong, bad for you and disgusting!" They have all these issues like osteoporosis, hearing loss, skin cancer, digestive issues, energy issues, etc, and feel like saying its because of how you're eating, but I don't. Id like to have way more people eating and thinking like me. Ugh!

I'm happy to report that in a little over 4 months being RV 80/10/10 I got down to 189lbs. I'm still 11 point something percent body fat, so goal is to get to what Dr. Graham says in his book is athletic which is 3%-9% body fat. I'm not sure how low I have to go in weight and while I am doing weightlifting I'm doing little just as schedule permits with low weight but targeting all areas of body. I'm 41 and am going to be in the best shape I've ever been, not saying I'll be doing 19 minute 5k runs like high school but at this point I certainly won't rule it out.

I understand that additives like MSG are excitotoxins and neurotoxins. They overstimulate the brain and are probably not healthy, though I don't have a good feel for how unhealthy they are. Is it fair to say that a lot of restaurants use these additives in their food? Can you give other examples of additives restaurants or food companies might use that are excito- or neurotoxins? is salt an example? I just want to get an idea and give an idea to clients how unhealthy restaurant food is, and I don't want to exaggerate if it's not that bad. it's just that, when people are making a gradual transition towards more fruit, I don't think they will see many health improvements, and I want to be able to explain why, without being unkind.

Since starting 80/10/10 I weaned off of coffee and was a one pot a day drinker so a full 12 cups. Anyhow psychologically I wanted something hot to drink so I started drinking Chicory Root it comes bagged at Amazon and it looks like coffee grounds and somewhat tastes like coffee with no caffeine. I've been caffeine free for well over 6 months so giving up chicory root would not be a problem at all. Anyhow, I'm wondering if any of you know of any reasons why I should not be using chicory root? Is it unhealthy in some ways? Please provide information if you know of any? Thanks I love and appreciate all of you my community