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Thinking About Becoming A Raw Food Vegan? Don't Forget To Switch On Your Inner Skeptic

by — 2015-10-12 in Nutrition & Dieting
Will going raw, and waving goodbye to those "toxic" cooked foods, cure you of cancer, diabetes, autism, and all kinds of other ailments? Or is the truth slightly more complex?

Is raw veganism a great way to lose weight, the only natural way to eat, or the key to a long and healthy life? When you listen to raw food proponents, it's easy to conclude that going raw is the answer to your health problems. Reality is slightly more complicated, as always.

Why Do People Become Raw Vegans?

The reasons for which people are attracted to a raw vegan diet are surprisingly varied. Vegans in general are frequently motivated by a desire to, putting it simply, be kind to animals and the Earth — and raw food vegans are no different. Why take the step to say goodbye to cooked foods, though? 

Some common reasons for which people become raw food vegans are:

  • Health. Raw food vegans I spoke to say no to cooked foods because raw foods retain more nutrients. Some believe that uncooked produce offers the key to good health, preventing illnesses ranging from the common cold to diabetes, and even believing that eating raw can prevent or cure cancer. 
  • Spiritual growth. Some raw food vegans find that their dietary choices bring them closer to nature, offer spiritual discipline, and "feed the spirit".
  • Laziness. No, this isn't a put-down — it's probably the motivation that appeals most to me personally. Some raw meals take a lot of creativity and preparation, but creating salads, smoothies, and raw soups can also be really easy. What could be better than easy, tasty meals that are also healthy?
  • Weight loss. Commit to being a raw food vegan, and you have to wave junk food goodbye by definition. Eating just raw produce including fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds will make you lose weight if you previously consumed lots of bread, rice, and potatoes. 
While saving money may also be a powerful motivator for some people, a decent warning is in order here — looking at my own circle, I've noticed that people who eat a lot of raw foods tend to invest in organic produce as well as expensive appliances such as power blenders and dehydrators. Your oven may get a rest, but that doesn't mean your overall electricity use will go down when you're on a raw diet.

What Can Raw Food Vegans Eat?

You have a good idea of what kinds of ingredients raw food vegans use: vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and sprouted grains. What kind of meals do those things create, though? Actually, a rather wide variety. Almond milk, raw soups, raw cakes, green smoothies, salads, power balls containing flax seeds, shredded coconut, and dates, salsas, and raw pizza, taco and lasagna are just a few of the offerings.
 
Once you get into the world of raw food recipes, you are bound to be amazed by just how much you can make without cooking your food. 
 
Vegans, of course, stay away from any product of animal origin, including honey. You may presume that eating cold foods all the time gets boring, but some raw vegans think foods that are slightly heated are fine, as long as they don't get hotter than 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Sundried tomatoes, fruit leathers, and other things processed in a dehydrator are also fine.

Raw Food Veganism Is Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

Raw Foodism And Pseudoscience

A raw food diet will almost certainly be low in fat and sodium, high in fiber, and result in a lower-calorie diet without even trying. You'll also see some nutritional benefits — fresh vegetables and fruits should, ideally, be part of everyone's diet, and if you were previously not eating quite as many as you really should, you may well feel great when you go raw. 

Going raw also, however, comes with some disavantages, disavantages that shouldn't be underestimated. 

As I found out recently, when a friend dragged me to an evening of smoothies and lectures about raw food veganism, Testimonial stories included, some raw foodists you'll encounter are what I'll call "true believers". They may, in fact, think that cooking food makes it toxic and that a raw food diet is the only healthy way to eat. They may believe eating raw from birth offers the greatest benefits, but that starting a raw food diet in adulthood still offers great protection from pretty much all ilnesses. They may believe raw food prevents or cures cancer. They may believe putting a child on a raw vegan diet cures them of vaccine-induced autism. (Yes, these are all claims made during that evening.) The raw food world, it turns out, isn't quite the place for science-loving skeptics. 

Besides these outrageous claims, there are other reasons raw foodism isn't as healthy as raw foodists like to believe as well:
  • It will actually be quite hard to ensure that you get all the nutrients you need as a raw food vegan. You definitely won't be deficient in vitamin C, but you may have a harder time with protein, calcium, vitamin D, sometimes iron and zinc, the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, and especially vitamin B12.
  • Though some nutrients are indeed lost during the cooking process (vitamin C, B vitamins), others, like beta-carotene and lycopene, are actually unlocked when you cook foods.
  • While cooking destroys enzymes, humans make their own. 
  • Cooking foods destroys many bacteria, lowering the risk of food poisoning.
Some raw food converts will argue that no other animal cooks its food, and that the way modern humans tend to eat simply isn't natural. Defining natural is, of course, really tough. It's natural for humans to die in childbirth without medical assistance in the case of complications, for instance. It's natural for people who are malnourished to suffer physical and cognitive consequences, particularly if they grew up lacking in nutrients. It's natural for people to form in-groups in which they feel superior about themselves, judging everyone who doesn't belong to their clique. It's natural, also, for humans to always move forward as they make new discoveries. Those who disagree at least have to admit that using power blenders is just as unnatural as cooking foods.
Ultimately, there is exactly no scientific evidence that eating only raw foods is healthier than eating a combination of raw and cooked food, and plenty of evidence that eating a diet devoid of vital nutrients leads to problems. Raw foods are healthy, sure, but it seems that getting the best of both worlds by eating both cooked and raw foods is the best path to take. 

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