Cooking protein with high heat destroys enzymes and other proteins. Lysine, methionine, cysteine and tryptophan are heat-labile (meaning susceptible to alteration or destruction), so are rendered unusable. Since lysine and methionine are essential amino acids, they must be attained by the consumption of protein in a raw state. 

If you eat every food cooked, baked, grilled, stir fried, deep fried, pasteurized, etc., your body will develop deficiencies in the heat-labile amino acids, creating an overflow inventory of others. The primitive peoples studied by Dr. Price consumed raw animal and vegetable protein. They consumed eggs, milk, cheese, beef, chicken, fish, germinated nuts, sprouted seeds, plants and vegetables often in a raw, uncooked or fermented state.

One example of a raw protein food is Pemmican. It is a highly nutritious, food that is traditionally prepared by the natives of North America. It is a concentrated mixture of fat and raw protein, usually prepared with the raw meat of large game such as bison, elk or deer. The meat is thinly cut and then dried in the sun until hard and brittle enough to crush into a powder. It is then mixed with melted animal fat in equal proportions. Pemmican can be kept for months when left dry and packed into specially made rawhide pouches for storage.

Today, many restaurants serve delicious and savory raw meat dishes that include raw fish (sashimi, tuna tartare, poke) and raw beef (beef carpaccio, steak tartare, yuk hwe, kibbeh nayeh, kitfo, mettwurst, teewurst, koi soi, gyu tataki, bo tai chanh, came apace). Primal Diet by Aajonus Vonderplanitz provides numerous raw meat recipes. A few are provided in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Raw plant based dishes include raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, seaweeds, spices and other herbs. Raiwolution by Cherie Soria is an excellent resource filled with wonderful raw vegetable and nut based recipes.

It is important to eat only 100% pasture raised, organically grown animals. If you do eat beef, chicken, lamb or pork as a source for raw complete protein, avoid animals raised on a factory farm under commercial methods because of the exposure to antibiotics, vaccines and growth hormones. Organic eggs should come from chickens that are given “free range” to run around hunting for moving objects. Organic eggs have never been reported to be contaminated with salmonella. Buy only fresh raw nuts from organic farmers. Nuts fresh in their shells are better than de-shelled ones that have aged in a bin or plastic container. Many nuts have had their nutrients destroyed or altered after being roasted, irradiated, toasted or left sitting on shelves for extended periods of time.

If you don’t raise animals or grow your own vegetables, it may not always be safe to consume foods that are 100% raw. The primitive cultures always knew who raised their cattle and who farmed the land — often it was themselves. They did not outsource. They practiced natural and organic methods of animal husbandry and farming. Wild animals were sometimes caught and wild crafted herbs and vegetables were gathered. These were safe to consume because their landscapes were free from chemical pollution.