Training & Nutrition - Nightly protein consumption.

Hey, everyone!

After I go out for a long ride, I have been told that it's a good idea to take in a lot of protein to help with muscular reconstruction while sleeping. To assist in doing this, I have started drinking milk mixed with protein powder (20g whey protein) after my workouts, usually an hour or two before I go to bed.

Does the time that I actually eat or drink protein matter? Would it be less effective to drink it right before going to bed or too many hours before then? Is there a recommended ratio to go by?

Thanks!

bump?

In theory, you want a fast digesting protein right after exercise (e.g. whey) and a slow digesting protein (casein) before bed.

Which foods/liquids/solutions contain casein? I'm unfamiliar with that protein.

Thanks for the response!

Which foods/liquids/solutions contain casein? I'm unfamiliar with that protein.

Thanks for the response!

Casein is milk protein.

Oh, okay. I seem to be okay there, since I usually have milk every night (with some cereal). Not the best dietary decision, but I've tried just eating turkey and other substitutes and they don't hit the spot as nicely.

You can also buy casein powders like you can whey.

Casein forms a clump in the stomach and takes a while to pass on to the small intestines for absorption. I've heard it gives a good protein profile for about 5-6 hours after ingestion. Whey is more along the lines of 30 minutes to 2 hours after ingestion that the amino acids are flooding the blood stream.
Egg protein is also a good, fairly fast, protein that is easily available, as a powder or as egg whites if you worry about the fat and cholesterol in the yolks.

cottage cheese as well. I usually have a spoon full of this before bed when I train hard.

This is completely off the cuff and untested, but I have heard people say that having protein (other than milk) just before going to bed can cause nightmares.

Now as to what kind of protein was been talked about I don't know, although I suspect it was meat.

I know that personally (I've been told) if I eat a lot of food before going to bed I toss and turn and snore. I also don't wake up rested.

powder ? try drinking it directly before going to bed

1 hour before is not the same


can of tuna ? that is better if you are gonna lag around before sleeping

cottage cheese as well. I usually have a spoon full of this before bed when I train hard.

+1. A 1/2 cup of nonfat cottage cheese before bed is a good way to go- ~15g high-quality protein, slow to digest, and helps to compensate for the catabolic effects of sleep.

As to supplements- whey protein is more quickly absorbed than casein- I'd suggest taking the former before exercising (especially lifting if that's your bag), and the latter after workouts. If you want to take whey after a workout, definitely mix it in milk, not water- this will slow the absorption a bit.

This is completely off the cuff and untested, but I have heard people say that having protein (other than milk) just before going to bed can cause nightmares.

Now as to what kind of protein was been talked about I don't know, although I suspect it was meat.

I know that personally (I've been told) if I eat a lot of food before going to bed I toss and turn and snore. I also don't wake up rested.

I don't dream much, and the protein powder doesn't cahnge that.

powder ? try drinking it directly before going to bed

1 hour before is not the same


can of tuna ? that is better if you are gonna lag around before sleeping

When I eat dinner after training, I usually stay up for a while afterwards (like two or three hours). I'll try drinking the protein shake right before bed.

Thanks for the ideas, guys!

+1. A 1/2 cup of nonfat cottage cheese before bed is a good way to go- ~15g high-quality protein, slow to digest, and helps to compensate for the catabolic effects of sleep.

As to supplements- whey protein is more quickly absorbed than casein- I'd suggest taking the former before exercising (especially lifting if that's your bag), and the latter after workouts. If you want to take whey after a workout, definitely mix it in milk, not water- this will slow the absorption a bit.

I mix the whey in milk, mostly because it tastes a lot better than mixing it with water (2% or soy, if it matters). I'll also get some cottage cheese, since a lot of people have indicated that it works well in controlling nightly hunger (which is a problem with me).

I usually drink whey protein after a workout because someone here pointed out that taking in whey protein before a workout can build up ammonia during exercise, which decreases performance...

Greek yogurt + protein powder + peanut butter works for me. I stir it all together. Put it in the freezer for a while and it tastes like ice cream.

Mccook,
What is Greek Yogurt?

Does the time that I actually eat or drink protein matter?Hard to say, there are several other factors, besides "time" that affect protein digestion.

For one thing, it matters whether or not you are attempting to restrict overall diet - as in weight loss. And yes it matters if you are involved in regular exercise with the intention of gaining weight.(muscle)

I'm pretty sure that protein is best utilized when eaten just after exercise. The other condition is that protein is always take with enough calories of carbohydrate that it's not being digested for immediate energy needs. (one reason protein isn't a great idea before heavy exercise)

The digestive system slows down, when you go to sleep.

The digestive system slows down, when you go to sleep.

Yes, and I am told that cyclists don't need to put the sort of emphasis on protein that the poster seems to be doing.

Just as an fyi, I use casein powder. It's slow to digest ( a good thing most of the time ), tastes good and acts to thicken up a drink, making it more like a shake.

It's yogurt that has had the excess whey strained out of it. It's much thicker and has fewer carbs, making a good night time snack.

It's yogurt that has had the excess whey strained out of it. It's much thicker and has fewer carbs, making a good night time snack.

And if you can't find Greek yogurt, you can make your own very easily. Simply put a paper coffee filter in a wire-mesh strainer or colander, position over a bowl large enough that the bottom of the strainer doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl (allow about 3 inches space between them), fill the filter with PLAIN (unflavored, unsweetened) yogurt (nonfat works as well as full fat), and let it drain in the fridge overnight. You can use the whey- I add it to soups for a little extra protein- so don't just throw it out. The yogurt will be nice and thick- like soft cream cheese, and with little of the tartness it had before draining. It makes a great bagel spread, BTW- just add herbs of choice, maybe some scallions. It's also a great thickener for gravies and sauces- I use it instead of sour cream to make stroganoff.

i've heard from people that milk is very bad for your health because it is homogenized. just a little heads up. one source is notmilk.com.

i've heard from people that milk is very bad for your health because it is homogenized. just a little heads up. one source is notmilk.com.

what in the hell would homogenization have to do with milk being bad for you. That simply means it was stirred up.

what in the hell would homogenization have to do with milk being bad for you. That simply means it was stirred up.

I used to have issues with Lactose intolerance like bad gas, bloating etc. till I started using non-**** organic milk.

Here is a link that explains it a bit.

http://notmilk.com/deb/022199.html

I am going to try Raw milk as I may have a source for it.

This link is a very loooong read, but it explains why raw milk is a very good idea. After reading this you will understand why people go to the bother.

http://www.realmilk.com/expert-testimony-0508.pdf

It is the transcript of a court case in California where a farmer wants to sell raw milk and so you hear two expert witnesses explaining the theory and practical aspect of raw milk. It will download a PDF file.

And if you can't find Greek yogurt, you can make your own very easily.

OK, thanks. I used to make this once in awhile but my recipe said to put a cheesecloth or some kind of clean cloth to hold it, in a round colander, then pour the yogurt in and take up the four corners and hang it from the tap in the sink and let it drip. The longer you let it drain the thicker it gets. (8 hours tops) It's the same as Philadelphia cream cheese except fresher. Your idea with the whey is a good one.

Here's a recipe for an Indian cheese called Paneer that is easy to digest (compared to regular cheese) Bring (quantity is up to you) say a couple of cups of whole milk to a boil then turn it down to a simmer (1/4 on the dial) (use a big pot so it doesn't boil over) Then pour say a half a cup or more of yogurt (you can also use lemon juice for a bit of tangy flavour) in and very gently stir as it curdles. Let it simmer say for 10 minutes for harder cheese or less as you like. Then gently ladle it into piece of cloth like the cream cheese recipe, fold the corners of cloth over it and put some weight on it to squeeze the whey out. It is fantastic, especially warm

I used to have issues with Lactose intolerance like bad gas, bloating etc. till I started using non-**** organic milk.

Here is a link that explains it a bit.

http://notmilk.com/deb/022199.html

I am going to try Raw milk as I may have a source for it.

This link is a very loooong read, but it explains why raw milk is a very good idea. After reading this you will understand why people go to the bother.

http://www.realmilk.com/expert-testimony-0508.pdf

It is the transcript of a court case in California where a farmer wants to sell raw milk and so you hear two expert witnesses explaining the theory and practical aspect of raw milk. It will download a PDF file.

are you confusing homogonization with pastuerization? Homogenizing is really just stirring it up...has nothing to do with raw milk or non raw milk. I will grant that it is done in a way that makes from smaller miscelles of fat, but I'm not sure that would have much impact on lactose, which is a sugar. Pastuerization, on the other hand, is the heating up of the milk to kill any microbes. Once this is done, it is no longer raw milk.

are you confusing homogonization with pastuerization? Homogenizing is really just stirring it up...has nothing to do with raw milk or non raw milk. Pastuerization is the heating up of the milk to kill any microbes. Once this is done, it is no longer raw milk.

The first link was for homogenization. The second link was for pasteurization.

Here is what they say homogenization is:
"When milk is passed through a fine filter at pressures equal to 4,000 pounds per square inch, the fat globules (liposomes) are made smaller (micronized) by a factor of 10 times or more. These fat molecules become evenly dispersed within the liquid milk so that, by code, after 48 hours of storage at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, there is no visible cream separation in the milk."
Then the link goes on to explain why that is not a good idea.

The first link was for homogenization. The second link was for pasteurization.

Here is what they say homogenization is:
"When milk is passed through a fine filter at pressures equal to 4,000 pounds per square inch, the fat globules (liposomes) are made smaller (micronized) by a factor of 10 times or more. These fat molecules become evenly dispersed within the liquid milk so that, by code, after 48 hours of storage at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, there is no visible cream separation in the milk."
Then the link goes on to explain why that is not a good idea.

right...but I'm saying that would have nothing to do with lactose which is how you started out. I can see how raw milk might help with lactose intolerance, as much of what we call digestion is actually handled by microbes in the gut. This is why yogurt helps some people.

what in the hell would homogenization have to do with milk being bad for you. That simply means it was stirred up.

Actually, the process is much more involved than that, and requires extrusion of milk under very high pressure. According to a study done back in the 70s (the author's name is Oster- I forget the citation), homogenization makes it possible for bovine hormones to pass into our system and put us at increased risk of atherosclerosis. After seriously considering Oster's theory (which is actually plausible), the USDA and scientific community rejected it.

That said, I don't worry about it too much. But I do (in response to alanf) worry more about raw milk. Raw milk production and sales are regulated by the states, and there's a lot of variation between them in terms of how the facilities are monitored and maintained, and how outlets (even the farms) are monitored. As an epidemiologist, I personally wouldn't touch the stuff. There have been numerous case and case series reports of Salmonella, E. Coli, Campylobacter, and a host of other organisms that cause serious (and sometimes fatal) infections in humans. And those are just the reported cases. We know that many people who have subclinical symptoms of such infections (a little diarrhea here, a little nausea there) don't present for care, so we have no real idea of the prevalence or incidence of infections from raw milk exposure. But given the prevalence of positive cultures obtained from dairy animals and their quarters, I'd assume that it's much higher than reported. And frankly, given the prevalence of bovine mastitis (infection/inflammation of the udder), who would want to drink milk that may have all sorts of disgusting goodies in it?

Before you flame, I recognize that those in the raw milk movement feel very passionately about this. As a vegetarian who believes just as passionately that organic farming is essential to the health of the planet, I understand the raw milk advocates' position. But from a public health standpoint, I completely disagree. Unless you are the one caring for the herd, managing the farm, and packaging the milk, you are playing with fire when you drink raw milk.

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I know what you are saying, and this makes perfect sense and I completely understand your decision. I too share your vegetarianism. However in my case I will get to know the farmer, long story and they operate organically. One of my uncles was a dairy farmer and we used to drink the raw milk just after milking when we visited him.

People have been drinking raw milk since they figured out how to milk cows. Legally required pasteurization is around 70ish years old in North America.

E. coli as you no doubt know lives inside all of us in large quantities as does an awesome number of bacteria both known and unknown. Without the "good" we would be dead, as it helps digest food and helps kill off the "bad" e. coli. The expert witnesses in the linked article also explains how you can put a large amount of the bad e. coli in raw mik and check it 24 hours later and it (the bad e.coli) is dead and the milk will turn into yogurt naturally if left at room temperature, while pasteurized milk will not kill off the bad bacteria and will turn rancid if left at room temperature.

Interestingly the expert witnesses state that even washing barns with disinfectant will not kill off the deadly bacteria as cleaning solution only work on a very narrow band of bacterial leaving the rest to infect. The only thing that works is the natural immune system in the animals.

This tells me the natural intelligence or immune system is alive and well in the raw milk and is not in the pasteurized milk. I believe that my immune system takes on this natural intelligence in the milk (is strengthened by the milk's immune defense system) and I become healthier.

By natural intelligence I mean that for instance in the case of tea, when you drink regular tea it is diuretic, (makes you urinate) This is because tea is grown for instance in Ceylon, where the weather is extremely wet. In order to survive in that climate and not be overtaken by moisture loving bacteria, mold or whatever, the tea plant has adapted by getting very good at getting rid of water. When you drink the tea guess what you take on... that natural intelligence and you "get rid of water". All food has natural intelligence until you beat it up with industrial processes, but that's another story.

The link to the court case that I posted explains the reasons for these types of bacteria being present in the first place. ie poor farming methods. In that link the state presenters said exactly what you said in your post.

To me the fundamental problem is to have farmers voluntarily improve the lot of their herds by adopting organic methods as well as other methods that improve the health of the cows. Having said this I am not a farmer, so I have to trust someone, so I see if I trust them and then I buy. Since I am on the bleeding edge of this process, I can't wait for regulation, I have to be part of the selecting of providers.

I wouldn't even consider buying from them if they weren't organic. I believe that the cases of bovine mastitis that you mentioned can be traced to chemical crap (along with other problems) fed to them by short sighted greedy (or maybe just unknowing) people, so that they unnaturally give off more milk then their own immune system can handle.

I am not interested in saving the world or forcing others to believe my philosophy. I am putting it forth and those that are ready will take it and everyone else will naturally follow their conscience.

I also believe that eventually farming will be organic and pasteurization will be replaced by better animal management. Farming is no different than any other business. If farmers resist putting out better products they will be forced by the marketplace first, then legislation will follow and in the US probably litigation will crawl in there somehow to hasten the process.

Europe has had unpasteurized milk all along from what I have read.

Actually, the process is much more involved than that, and requires extrusion of milk under very high pressure. According to a study done back in the 70s (the author's name is Oster- I forget the citation), homogenization makes it possible for bovine hormones to pass into our system and put us at increased risk of atherosclerosis. After seriously considering Oster's theory (which is actually plausible), the USDA and scientific community rejected it.

That said, I don't worry about it too much. But I do (in response to alanf) worry more about raw milk. Raw milk production and sales are regulated by the states, and there's a lot of variation between them in terms of how the facilities are monitored and maintained, and how outlets (even the farms) are monitored. As an epidemiologist, I personally wouldn't touch the stuff. There have been numerous case and case series reports of Salmonella, E. Coli, Campylobacter, and a host of other organisms that cause serious (and sometimes fatal) infections in humans. And those are just the reported cases. We know that many people who have subclinical symptoms of such infections (a little diarrhea here, a little nausea there) don't present for care, so we have no real idea of the prevalence or incidence of infections from raw milk exposure. But given the prevalence of positive cultures obtained from dairy animals and their quarters, I'd assume that it's much higher than reported. And frankly, given the prevalence of bovine mastitis (infection/inflammation of the udder), who would want to drink milk that may have all sorts of disgusting goodies in it?

Before you flame, I recognize that those in the raw milk movement feel very passionately about this. As a vegetarian who believes just as passionately that organic farming is essential to the health of the planet, I understand the raw milk advocates' position. But from a public health standpoint, I completely disagree. Unless you are the one caring for the herd, managing the farm, and packaging the milk, you are playing with fire when you drink raw milk.


always looking to learn more. You got a link to the study you referenced?

always looking to learn more. You got a link to the study you referenced?
Go to www.realmilk.com scroll down halfway in the page and click on "Expert witnesses defend bacteria in raw milk" That will give you a PDF file download....

Better get a glass of milk first, cause it'll take you till the cows come home to read it... :D

BTW I may seem like I am not willing to see anyone else's point of view, but really it's my stubbornness. I have taken from this conversation that I "Shall" be very careful in finding out what I can and ascertaining the healthiness etc. of the milk provider's operation, because if I don't, I risk the chance of blowing it for the others waiting in line behind me, not to mention my own tenuous grip on this life I have been given.

Go to www.realmilk.com scroll down halfway in the page and click on "Expert witnesses defend bacteria in raw milk" That will give you a PDF file download....

Better get a glass of milk first, cause it'll take you till the cows come home to read it... :D

BTW I may seem like I am not willing to see anyone else's point of view, but really it's my stubbornness. I have taken from this conversation that I "Shall" be very careful in finding out what I can and ascertaining the healthiness etc. of the milk provider's operation, because if I don't, I risk the chance of blowing it for the others waiting in line behind me, not to mention my own tenuous grip on this life I have been given.

well, I'm not really arguing...I'm still trying to figure out what homogonization would have to do with lactose intolerance. I can see how raw milk might, but homogonization? That's what I'm after.

From what I have been reading lately.... protein before bed = FUD.

are you confusing homogonization with pastuerization? Homogenizing is really just stirring it up...has nothing to do with raw milk or non raw milk. I will grant that it is done in a way that makes from smaller miscelles of fat, but I'm not sure that would have much impact on lactose, which is a sugar. Pastuerization, on the other hand, is the heating up of the milk to kill any microbes. Once this is done, it is no longer raw milk.

I get what you are saying and so I will explain.

When I was growing up my mother would buy skim milk. I hated it and swore that when I left home I would drink the max fatty milk, just shy of pure cream. Bring it on !

Did that for years, just shy of a litre of it a day and then I started getting back pains etc etc and went to the doc (a friend) He told me I should back off the Yoga stretching somewhat. He too is an exercise nut but he couldn't find anything wrong with me.

So then awhile later I thought I should take a technique that I kinda' reverse engineered from Ayurveda and that is to eliminate one thing from my diet and wait a month to see what happened. When I eliminated milk on the third month, I suddenly felt much more awake, less full (bloated), backache in lower back disappeared and some other symptoms I have forgotten left. Then I had a half glass of milk and it all came back.

So I never touched the stuff for probably a few years till the Ayurvedic doc (Vaidya) (another friend) told me that milk was very good for my body type and that all I had to do was boil it first and add some ginger and Turmeric to help speed up the digestion (and never drink it cold) and have some yogurt blended with water, sugar and cardamom for lunch prepared in a recipe called Lassi.

So I did and voila.... no problemo

Then when we started getting organic milk I noticed that I could have a bit of it from the container as long as it was room temperature. The organic milk we get is whole unhomogenized

So the raw milk is simply an extension of the learning process.

OK, thanks. I used to make this once in awhile but my recipe said to put a cheesecloth or some kind of clean cloth to hold it, in a round colander, then pour the yogurt in and take up the four corners and hang it from the tap in the sink and let it drip. The longer you let it drain the thicker it gets. (8 hours tops) It's the same as Philadelphia cream cheese except fresher. Your idea with the whey is a good one.

Cheesecloth works too, although I've had better results with paper coffee filters. You're right about the cream cheese thing- a fresh batch of drained yogurt smells and tastes better than any package of cream cheese when it's first opened.



Here's a recipe for an Indian cheese called Paneer that is easy to digest (compared to regular cheese) Bring (quantity is up to you) say a couple of cups of whole milk to a boil then turn it down to a simmer (1/4 on the dial) (use a big pot so it doesn't boil over) Then pour say a half a cup or more of yogurt (you can also use lemon juice for a bit of tangy flavour) in and very gently stir as it curdles. Let it simmer say for 10 minutes for harder cheese or less as you like. Then gently ladle it into piece of cloth like the cream cheese recipe, fold the corners of cloth over it and put some weight on it to squeeze the whey out. It is fantastic, especially warm

Oh yeah! Paneer is awesome! On a related note, I used to make my own tofu from scratch, using a similar technique as above- you need to soak and cook the soybeans and then blenderize the smithereens out of them. From there, it's pretty much the same as your paneer recipe, although nigari gives a better yield than lemon juice- up to 20% more tofu. I don't do that any more- wayyyyy too messy! And Nasoya makes a fine (if expensive) extra firm tofu ;).

Alan-
I hope I didn't sound too critical- I certainly didn't mean to! But caution is definitely warranted when drinking raw milk. You sound like you're on top of this, given your relationship with a farmer, but even so, be very careful. You might find the numerous articles in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on raw milk interesting- just go to cdc.gov and search on "raw milk." BTW, E. Coli is, of course, everywhere. The problem is the 0157:H7 strain, which can be (and has been) fatal in kids and immunocompromised people. And it's not just in raw milk- it's been found in "prewashed" salad greens, as you probably know!
Check out Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Infections in Children Associated with Raw Milk and Raw Colostrum From Cows --- California, 2006 (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5723a2.htm)

So all this said, I'm not trying to dissuade you- I write more as one who has had a few foodborne illnesses myself, and one who works in public health to inform those who don't know about the issues associated with raw milk. Trust me, there are many people who don't, and assume that because it's organic and unprocessed, raw milk is unquestionably safe and can be consumed with abandon.

I make tofu (once in a while because it's labour intensive but delicious fresh) but I have never tried nigari. Must try that. I used to live in a place that was hard to get tofu and impossible to get it fresh. My friend and I used to make all kinds of things from natural soaps to Birch Syrup (from birch trees) (for fun)

I got some Tempeh starter which I am going to make some Tempeh with..... soon :lol:

I do not take your concern lightly at all and completely understand that you and I are speaking in a very public place about something that is very serious and life threatening. I also am very thankful that someone as concerned and knowledgeable as you is challenging the statements that I am making because it causes me to stretch my brain a bit and actually write things down, edit them and make sure I am doing the best I can with what I know, as the expression goes.

In order for us humans to stay alive and improve we must continually question the status quo. Louis Pasteur did that in the mid eighteen hundreds and we are the fortunate benefactors.

I am aware of what you say about foodbourne bacteria i.e. salad greens. A friend of mine from China told me that back home they never ate anything raw including salads because in China they fertilize the farms with "night soil". Night soil is a pleasant name for uncomposted manure including human. They harvest it at night from homes and put it into "ponds" which they draw from to fertilize farms. As you can imagine these ponds must be a delightful place to go for a dip.

If humane manure (Humanure) is composted properly which more and more cities are doing, it makes the best and safest fertilizer on the planet according to Robert Jenkins "The Humanure Handbook" ISBN 13: 978-0-9644258-3-5 (Google it) a book I stumbled on, but I highly recommend reading. I could go on and on about what he says, but really I recommend reading it. That is definitely the way of the future whether we like it or not. The book is hilarious and well done and factual.

I will check out your links later today but before I do, let me explain some things.

When I drink milk, I do not just grab it from the fridge (anymore) and just "woff" it down. It is simply too hard to digest and the coldness of it makes it worse and the fact of the bacteria makes it worse again. No one would question cooking steak before eating it.

I boil it before consuming and I do my best to drink it within as close a time from purchase as I can and I also drink the milk as soon after I have boiled it as I can. Now you're probably saying to yourself, well then isn't that same as pasteurization?

Well no according to the Ayurvedic texts.

Now let me explain a bit here. I see these texts as a guideline. I do not follow everything in them, as you would not get a chance to have a "life". However I do know from past experience that the things that they say have borne out to be true.

There is an uncanny knowledge in them that sometimes defies explanation. Nowadays science has been picking away at proving this ancient knowledge and thanks to a lot of work by a large body of brilliant scientists, in countries other than India, they are slowly proving the accuracy of this stuff written so long ago.

'Frinstance Yogis have said that everything in the world is just vibration. That sounds pretty kooky right! Well stand back a second. Isn't that what electrons are?

Remember, us humans thought at one time that the brilliant scientist Newton was the be all and end all, when he defined the physical world with his various hypothesis about matter, then along comes Einstein and he tells us that nothing is solid and that Energy = mass times the speed of light squared. Yikes, so now your bicycle chain and your bowels are really........... just light...... hmmmmmm, so isn't light just a form of something or other vibrating, not really a wave, not a solid thing...... hmmmm.

In high school, the first Physics experiment that we did, was to prove that light was not a wave or a particle but yet it acted like both (I think that was the experiment.... Cut me some slack, it was 40 years ago. :D ) and what about molecules? They're solid..... Nope, not even electrons. And then of course there's Quantum physics that says things can be in two places simultaneously and the outcome of an experiment is affected by the mind of the experimenter. That's kinda weird...

I suspect that one day somebody will discover that the molecules in us are the galaxies of an even smaller set of universes, because in Ayurveda they say as is the macrocosm so is the microcosm. Hey our galaxy bears a resemblance to molecules, electrons.

So that is the backdrop for what I am about to say. Read or listen to an audio version from your local library of;
"The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav,
"The Electric Universe (the Shocking Truth)", Bodanus,
"A Short History Of Nearly Everything" Bill Bryson, and many other books. They are easy to read or listen to, fascinating and are found everywhere.

Ayurveda says that when you cook food, you make the nutrition available because you break down (soften and explode) the walls of the cells of the food. This is not rocket science. That's why you chew food. If you don't cook or chew food your GI tract cannot smash open the cells and the digestive enzymes are simply not strong enough to do it. Or they don't have the time to do it as the food keeps on moving through the tract like a car on an assembly line. Put the frame on crooked and you have a lemon at the end of the assembly line... period.

Ayurveda also says that when you cook food you make the raw material for something called "Ojas" which is then finalized in the body, in it's final form. To quote Dr Vasant Lad in "Ayurveda Today", "The Journal of the Ayurvedic Institute", Spring 1995 page three para 2 (http://www.ayurveda.com/ayurvedic_press/index.html) ;

"Ojas is a super fine biological substance and the biological strength of the tissues depends upon it. Ojas is not just a concept, not just a principle. It is a protoplasmic biological substance called albumin and globulin that is formed during the biosynthesis of bodily tissue. As ghee is the pure essence of milk, in the same way this protoplasmic biological substance is the pure essence of the biological tissue. In the churning process to make ghee (ghee is clarified butter.... long story. I think this was a typo and he really meant to say butter) agni (agni is a Sanskrit word that means fire, in the sense of a chemical reaction, like the digestive process for instance) is created, electricity is created, which ionizes and separates the molecules of butter from buttermilk." In the same way, the end product of digested food plus agni creates the nutritional precusor (of Ojas) called ahar rasa....... " It goes on for another six pages but the main point is in this paragraph.

This Ojas or albumin and globulin is found all over the body in varying amounts in every tissue. There is eight drops in the heart (the purest most refined version) and 1/2 Anjali or one cupped hand full in everyone.

It's like the glue between the cells.

If you have less, then you are sick, if it is depleted you are dead. It is the stuff that makes you happy, full of life, strong, your skin radiant, maintains the natural resistance of the bodily tissues. It fights against aging, decay and disease. A person who has good ojas rarely becomes sick. Powerful people who exude confidence are teeming with it. People with larger frames, large appropriately sized eyes, thick hair and attractive appearance, tend to have more. Proper exercise enhances the production of ojas because it strengthens your digestion. They don't mention bicycles in the old texts though... musta been a typo...:D

Ojas (in it's undigested state) is unlocked by cooking and is only available for up to 4 hours from the time food is cooked. After that 4 hours is up, the food still has the vitamins, minerals etc. and you won't starve as is witnessed by the fact that people can subsist on prepared food and junk food for seemingly long periods of time, but the coup de grace (best part) from the food is lost. You don't get the real essence that gives you the joy of life, strength etc.

Remember when your mother told you to get in the house and sit down for dinner before it got cold. Well your mother may have been an Ayurvedic physician. Well did you ask her?

That is the unfortunate result of eating prepared foods like you get at grocery stores.

Ojas is also destroyed by; over and under (vigorous exercise beyond one's capacity) exercising (I can hear the shouts from the galleries by those who have managed to read this far), weather that is too hot or cold, excess wind or sun or rain exposure, alcohol and sex beat the snot out of it, (that's why "you just roll over and turn out the light" :D Barabara Streisand and Neil Diamond in "You Don't Send Me Flowers" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRBqSSsmXi4&feature=related), overexposure to bacteria, viruses and parasites, chronic wasting diseases, genetic predisposition, emotional stress, anger, swearing, fear, etc.. Depression is one result of and a further aggravation of ojas depletion. The list goes on.

So if somebody cooks (pasteurizes) my milk in a dairy, then I have 4 hours to get it to "me lips". :D
After that, "it's tough teaty". :D

When I eat food I want the best. I want the ojas. Nobody gonna stop me.:notamused:

If somebody wants to grab a milk in a gas station to fill up the empty space, I say go for it and make sure it's pasteurized so I don't have to pull over on the highway and call an ambulance for them.

BTW my Vaidya friend says that fresh Paneer (remember the 4 hour rule) is well worth the trouble if your digestion is strong. The rabid exerciser types on this site probably have strong digestion (sama agni) so warm it up or throw it in soup with some fresh crushed or diced ginger. He calls it "pure ojas", unless of course you eat too much in which case it is "pure indigestion". Also don't eat paneer or any other modified milk product at night as your digestion is weak.

Wow this post is short...:D