A raw food diet primarily involves eating unprocessed, plant-based, and preferably organic foods. Some sources suggest that raw foods should make up three-quarters of the diet when following this diet.
People who follow a raw food diet believe that eating raw foods can improve their health and well-being and possibly reduce medical risks.
Weight loss is generally not the main goal of a raw food diet, but switching to raw food can lead to weight loss.
What can we eat?
People interpret the raw food diet and what it means in different ways. Some people eat cooked foods, while others don't eat any at all. For some, it's a lifestyle, and for others, it's just a dietary choice.
The following foods are suitable for most raw food diets:
- Raw fruits and raw vegetables
- Dried fruits and vegetables
- Freshly made fruit and vegetable juices
- Soaked beans, other legumes and grains
- Raw hazelnuts and seeds
- Peanut butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter
- Hazelnut milks, including almond milk
- coconut milk
- Cold-pressed olive oil or coconut oil
- Dried fruits
- Green food powder such as dried wheatgrass or seaweed
- Fermented foods like pickles
- Purified water, but not tap water.
- Other organic, natural, or unprocessed foods
Depending on the type of diet, a raw food diet may also include:
- Raw eggs
- Raw fish like sushi
- Other raw or dried meats
- Unpasteurized and unhomogenized milk and dairy products
Foods to avoid include:
- All cooked or processed foods
- Refined oils
- Table salt
- Refined sugars and flour
- Coffee, tea, and alcohol.
- Pasta
Olives are generally too bitter to eat raw, and the olives in the tins have undergone a cooking process during production. People on a raw food diet can eat olives if they have been sun-dried.
Should we try?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that people on a raw food diet may experience clearer skin, increased energy, sustained weight loss, and lower cholesterol levels in blood tests.
However, the diet has some disadvantages:
- Cooking makes some foods safer. The cooking process kills some toxins, bacteria, and harmful compounds in food. People should still be cautious when consuming raw animal products and certain other products.
- People should research whether it's safe to eat certain foods raw, including beans and vegetables, before trying them.
- Cooking can help release valuable nutrients like lycopene and beta-carotene from raw vegetables.
- Digestive problems such as gas or cramps may occur, but these may resolve after a while.
- Weight loss may not be healthy for everyone, and some people will have to struggle to maintain their calorie needs.
- As with other diets, following a raw food diet requires organization and preparation to ensure adequate intake of essential nutrients.
- Because some nutrients are much more common in animal products, people following any plant-based diet should make sure to get all the nutrients they need.
Essential nutrients that people should consider include protein, vitamin B-12, iron, calcium, some omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin D. Followers of a raw food diet generally do not recommend the use of supplements.
A small-scale study conducted in 2005 found that although people following a raw food vegetarian diet appeared to have healthy bones, they actually had lower bone mass.
Another 2005 study found that while a long-term raw food diet could reduce overall cholesterol and triglycerides, it could lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good” cholesterol levels and raise homocysteine (tHcy) levels due to vitamin B-12 deficiency.
However, dieticians agree that increasing fruit and vegetable intake and reducing processed foods would benefit most people.