What is raw vegan

The diet also has few processed foods, which may contain excess sugar, salt, and saturated fat. Cooking certain foods can reduce their nutritional value, so eating them raw may help retain their nutrients. A raw vegan diet may be beneficial for heart health due to its higher portions of fruits and vegetables. Raw vegan diets also include plenty of other foods that have a link with improving heart health.

These include:. Raw vegan diets may aid in weight loss. One study indicates that over 3. Consuming a raw vegan diet may help a person lose weight and reduce their risk of these health conditions.

These may include increasing fruits and non-starchy vegetables and decreasing processed foods and trans fats found in baked and fried food. Because people who consume the raw vegan diet also observe these dietary changes, this may help decrease their chances of developing diabetes.

A raw vegan diet can be nutritious. The raw vegan diet excludes a wide range of foods, so there is a risk that a person may not get all of the vitamins and minerals they need. A study reports that the raw vegan diet may not provide enough:. The study also notes that cooking helps break down fibers and cell walls in food, which may improve its nutritional value in some cases. A study of the raw vegetarian diet found an association between the diet and lower bone density.

A person with low bone density has a higher risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis. Fruit contains high amounts of natural sugars. If a person eats a lot of fruit as part of their diet, they may be at risk of developing tooth decay. The researchers note irregular and absent periods were more frequent in people whose diet had higher amounts of raw food. Due to the raw food diet having a connection with both high losses of body weight and menstrual cycle regularity problems, the researchers said they could not recommend the raw food diet long-term.

Most people who eat uncooked fruits or vegetables do not experience any symptoms of food poisoning. However, if someone prepares a salad without washing their hands they may ingest some harmful bacteria and develop an upset stomach. When eating any raw vegetables or fruits it is important a person prevents any bacterial cross-contamination by washing their hands and storing the food in a hygenic environent.

Raw sprouts such as alfalfa and beans may also cause food poisoning. The enzyme theory for raw foods dates back to Edward Howell, a physician who published a book on enzymes in the s, primarily citing research from the s and 30s. We now know, however, that almost all nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine and that digestion at that stage relies almost entirely on human-generated bile and pancreatic enzymes.

A corollary myth is that humans have a finite number of enzymes and that, once they are used up, these enzymes are gone. This idea, too, was hatched by Howell. But where would this packet of enzymes reside? Howell never said.

But in reality, humans make new enzymes throughout their lifetimes. Dietary detoxification is an alternative medicine concept with little scientific credibility. Usually, two organs are cited as needing detoxification: the liver and the colon. In reality, toxins can accumulate anywhere in the body, particularly in fat and fatty tissue, but also in proteins and bone.

The colon is surprisingly low in toxins, however. As for the liver, the confusion is that this organ "filters" toxins and must therefore, the reasoning goes, be loaded with toxins. But the liver is more of a chemical-processing plant than a filter; it breaks down toxins as they pass through.

That is, the liver doesn't have extra toxins by virtue of it being the body's natural toxin-neutralizer. Another argument is that burning fat — in this case, on a raw vegan diet — would release toxins from the body. But fat cells don't burn up, as if into ashes, liberating their contents. Fats cells merely get bigger or smaller, depending on the amount of fat within the cell that's used. It is unclear how much of a toxin, if any, would be set free if the fat molecule it is attached to is burned.

The toxin is now free to attach to other fat molecules. If it does mobilize with other recently liberated toxins, in the case of extreme starvation , then the toxin could become toxic and overwhelm the liver.

In short, there are no foods or herbs that can magically bind and pull toxins from your blood or organs. The same would be true for cows or for any "vegan" animals that accumulate toxins in their fat; they don't cleanse themselves with their raw, plant-based diet. At best, detoxification schemes juicing, fasting can help by virtue of not placing more toxins in our body for a day or two. And a healthful, plant-rich diet with plenty of water can, in general, help your liver and kidneys process and remove toxins more effectively, McDougall said.

Healthfulness when eating a raw, vegan diet is a challenge; it's not inherent. Many on the diet do lose weight by consuming fewer calories. But weight loss should not be the ultimate goal. The most apparent problems are nutritional deficiencies, particularly for vitamins B12 and D, selenium, zinc, iron and two omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA.

Without taking supplements in pill form, it would be very difficult and, for B12, impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of these nutrients from raw, plant-based foods. Also, without access to a variety of foods year-round that can be eaten raw, one tends to rely on single-food sources.

If it's not nuts, then it's bananas, which are healthful perhaps at a level of one or two per day, but not when providing the majority of your calories. Some people on a raw food diet rely so much on fruit that their teeth begin to erode: from acids in the fruits that wear down the tooth enamel, from sugar promoting decay, from dried fruit another raw vegan staple sticking to the teeth and further promoting decay, and from a general mineral deficiency.

The raw diet could be more healthful than the so-called S. But there is no evidence that, even given the resources to prepare a variety of raw foods daily, the raw vegan diet would be more healthful than the plant-based diets promoted by McDougall or Esselstyn, or than the diets that allow modest amounts of animal products.

Vegans would have to ask themselves what the added benefit would be from going raw if the raw diet offers no additional moral satisfaction, other than a reduced use of cooking fuel. Breakfast Smoothie made with fruit, rolled oats, chia seeds , raw nuts, and raw almond butter, which is made with raw almonds and not roasted almonds.

Lunch Raw zucchini noodles with creamy garlic cashew sauce. Snack Two homemade energy bites , fruit salad, and a raw vegan brownie. Breakfast Banana with two spoonfuls of raw almond butter. Dinner Lettuce wraps stuffed with raw sprouted lentil patties, sprouted quinoa, diced peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado. Breakfast Smoothie made with fruit, rolled oats, chia seeds, raw nuts, and raw almond butter.

Lunch Spiralized carrots with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, basil, and cashew dressing. Dinner Raw vegan lasagna with a side of gazpacho and slices of avocado. Lunch Spinach salad with raw sprouted quinoa, raspberries, walnuts, edamame , and avocado dressing. Dinner Kale salad with diced veggies, raw sprouted lentil patties, and cashew dressing.

Breakfast Smoothie bowl with rolled oats and topped with sliced banana, raw nuts, coconut , and chia seeds. Lunch Salad topped with broccoli , sliced carrots, sprouts, and lentil patties. Snack Two homemade energy balls, and a slice of raw carrot cake. Breakfast Acai bowl with fresh fruit, sliced banana, nuts, seeds, and raw nut butter. Lunch Greek salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, olive oil , and sprouted quinoa.

Dinner Spiralized zucchini with fresh tomatoes, basil, and creamy cashew dressing. Snack Smoothie made with banana, raw vegan protein powder, coconut water, and nut butter. One study found men who stuck with a raw food diet long term three-plus years lost an average of about 22 pounds, while women lost about 26 pounds.

In that same study, many of the participants became underweight, and about 30 percent of the women under age 45 experienced amenorrhea , which is when menstruation halts, sometimes as a result of low body weight.

And even though some foods are more nutritious when eaten raw, others actually benefit from being cooked. Tomatoes are one example.