Raw veganism

A raw vegan tomato sauce with olives, celery, spinach and walnuts on zucchini "pasta" noodles

Raw veganism is a diet that combines the concepts of veganism and raw foodism. It excludes all food and products of animal origin, as well as food cooked at a temperature above 48 °C (118 °F).^{[citation needed]} A raw vegan diet includes raw vegetables and fruits, nuts and nut pastes, grain and legume sprouts, seeds, plant oils, sea vegetables, herbs, and fresh juices. There are many different versions of the diet, including fruitarianism, juicearianism, and sproutarianism. The definition of a raw vegan diet can be loosened to include vegan diets with at least 75–80% raw foods.

Motivations

Robert Hart's forest garden in Shropshire, England

In addition to the ethics of eating meat, dairy, eggs and honey, raw vegans may be motivated by health, spiritual, financial, or environmental reasons, or any combination of these.

In terms of health, some raw vegans believe that cooking foods destroys the complex balance of micronutrients. They may also believe that, in the cooking process, dangerous chemicals are produced by the heat interaction with fat, protein, and carbohydrates such as advanced glycation end-products (AGEs)^[1] and others^{[citation needed]}.

Other followers of a raw vegan diet place importance on spiritual gain. Ruthann Russo (Ph.D) wrote two books on the raw foods diet, and says that the movement aims to look at "the way food, living, treatment of the earth, our treatment of each other, and our quest for physical, spiritual, and mental health all fit together." ^[2]

Forest gardening is a radical raw vegan lifestyle with a number of motives. For example, it can be viewed as a way to recreate the Garden of Eden.^[3] Developed by raw vegan Robert Hart, forest gardening is a food production system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables.^[4] The three main products from a forest garden are fruit, nuts and green leafy vegetables.^[5] Forest gardens are probably the world's oldest and most resilient agroecosystem.^[6]

Low fat and gourmet approaches

Raw vegans who follow a gourmet approach to raw veganism are generally concerned about the nutritional characteristics of their diet in terms of vitamins and minerals,^[7] however not significantly concerned about calorie or fat intake. This approach to raw veganism typically use dehydrators to "cook" food like crackers, and make dishes such as nut cheeses, "pasta" (usually zucchini cut as long curly strips), "soups", or green smoothies. There are many raw vegan cook books in the market and recipes online. An issue with the gourmet approach is the overconsumption of fat, since by avoiding meat and cooked starchy foods such as bread and pasta, and consuming typical amounts of fruit (i.e. a few portions a day), calories are mostly obtained from fat in the form of nuts and seeds, oily salad dressing, nut cheeses, and avocados.

Raw vegans who follow a low fat approach to raw veganism seek a very specific nutritional balance of carbohydrates/protein/fat ratio from their diet, trying to ensure they have a sufficient intake of calories, and placing greater importance in those ratios than in their foods being raw. Most low fat raw vegans (LFRVs) follow an 80/10/10 ratio, and some a more lax 70/10/20 or more strict 90/5/5, trying to achieve between 2000 and 3000 calories per day, averaged per week, and according to exercise levels (some athletes consume an average of 6000 calories per day). Obtaining such high amount of calories from carbohydrates from raw foods requires consuming large quantities of sweet and ripe fruit, such as bananas, dates, generally blended/juiced. Considering that a typical banana provides 100 calories, a LFRV following a typical 3000-calorie regime requiring 80% of the calories coming from carbohydrates must consume 2400 calories of banana daily, i.e. 24 bananas, or 48 dates, or 5.3 litres of orange juice, which provides almost all the required intake of protein and fat to satisfy the ratio. Most LFRV also consume a large low fat salad daily to ensure the required protein, mineral and vitamin daily intake is covered. The low fat raw vegan lifestyle has been tried by several athletes.^[8] Several communities of low fat raw vegans exist, one of which by January 2013 had more than 15,000 members,^[9] offering nutritional information and peer support.

Nutritional considerations

Raw vegans must ensure that their intake of vitamin B₁₂ is adequate, since it does not occur reliably in plant foods.^[10][11][12] Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency can have serious consequences such as anemia and neurodegenerative disease.^[13] The Vegan Society and Vegan Outreach, among others, recommend that vegans either consistently eat foods fortified with B₁₂ or take a B₁₂ supplement.^[14][15][16] Tempeh, seaweed, spirulina, organic produce, soil, and intestinal bacteria have not been shown to be reliable sources of B₁₂ for the dietary needs of vegans.^[10][17][18] Vitamin D deficiency is possible due to the absence of dairy products but preventable with the usage of supplements and time spent outdoors.

Research

Medical studies on raw food diets have shown some positive and negative health outcomes.^[19] According to one medical trial, "long-term consumption of a 70% raw-plant-food diet is associated with favorable serum LDL cholesterol and triglycerides but also with elevated plasma homocysteine and low serum HDL cholesterol" as well as vitamin B₁₂ deficiency.^[20]

Another study regarding concentrations of carotenoid compounds associated with chronic disease prevention in the blood plasma of individuals who had adhered to a long-term diet consisting of 95% raw foods indicated satisfactory concentrations of the carotenoid beta-carotene. However, the study also indicated that these individuals exhibited abnormally low levels of lycopene, another carotenoid associated with chronic disease prevention. Additionally, the study subjects were only reported as adhering to a diet of mostly raw foods, but were not reported as adhering to a diet of vegan raw foods.^[21]

A study mentioned benefits of a raw vegan diet for lowering obesity and hypertension.^[22] A study has also shown short-term reduced fibromyalgia symptoms for some patients who engaged in a vegan diet.^[23] Another study indicated that some rheumatoid arthritis patients who ate a raw vegan diet reported relief of subjective symptoms, but showed no measurable change in objective symptoms. The study further notes that half of the subjects had to be removed from the study because they were afflicted with nausea and diarrhea shortly after adapting the raw diet.^[24]

German research in 2003 showed significant benefits in reducing breast cancer risk when large amounts of vegetables were consumed. The authors attribute some of this effect to heat-labile phytonutrients. The authors found no significant risk association with or an increased intake of fruits or cooked vegetables.^[25]

See also

References