by Tom Billings
The term leukocytosis refers to an elevated white blood cell
count in people. It turns out that many types of cooked foods can causes leukocytosis. As
the immune system of the human body responds to infections via leukocytosis, some raw
fooders cite this phenomena as evidence that cooked foods are inappropriate.
Accordingly, a common question in raw food circles is: what
are the citations for research on leukocytes? The classic reference on the effect of raw
vs. cooked food on blood leukocytes is the work by Kouchakoff. The English language
Paul Kouchakoff, "The Influence of Cooking Food on the
Blood Formula of Man", First International Congress of Microbiology, Paris, 1930.
Note: you may have trouble finding the proceedings volume per
the above title; the copy in the library at U.C. Berkeley is titled in French, not
English. The paper is in English, however.
Kouchakoff also wrote something in French that may be
relevant: (from the University of California, Berkeley, library database)
Author: Kouchakoff, Paul.
Title: Nouvelles lois de l'alimentation humaine basees sur la
leucocytose digestive, par P. Kouchakoff. (Travail presente a la seance du 2 decembre
1936.). p. -348 incl. tables, diagrs. 25 cm.
Notes: Bibliographical foot-notes.
Subjects: Leucocytes. Metabolism.
Contained in: Memoires de la Societe vaudoise des sciences
naturelles. Lausanne, 1937. no. 39, v. 5, no. 8.
Additionally, a check into a computerized library database,
or medical journal database, for the subjects/keywords: leukocytes (sometimes spelled
leucocytes) or leukocytosis, will likely yield a large volume of material on the subject.
However most of the material you will find will not be on the topic of raw vs. cooked
foods. The Kouchakoff material addresses that topic directly.