{"id":649,"date":"2019-04-22T17:21:31","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T17:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/?post_type=food&p=649"},"modified":"2022-09-06T10:01:35","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T10:01:35","slug":"raw-vegan-diet","status":"publish","type":"food","link":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/food-drink\/raw-vegan-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"Raw Vegan Diet: What Does a Raw Vegan Eat?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Many non-vegans view a vegan diet as restrictive and limiting, even though there are lots of health reasons<\/a> to go vegan. What then, would such nay-sayers make of the increasingly popular raw vegan diet? Here we take a look at what exactly a raw vegan diet is and the pros and cons of adopting such a programme. We also give some pointers towards following a raw vegan diet plan.<\/p>\n As we (hopefully) know, a vegan diet is one that is free from animal products, including meat, of course, but also eggs, animal milk and anything made from it, as well as other animal-derived products, substances and additives. As we discuss in our Things you Didn’t Know Weren’t Vegan<\/a> article, animal derivatives find their way into lots and lots of foods, so sticking to a vegan diet is rarely straightforward. Those following a raw vegan eating programme take that up a level.<\/p>\n In simple terms, a raw vegan diet is one that adheres to all the same principles as veganism but allows no cooked or processed foods either. Essentially, it brings together two separate eating philosophies. Unsurprisingly, these are veganism and \u201craw foodism\u201d.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got loads of info on the vegan diet, from our Is It Vegan?<\/a> guides to information on vegan supplements<\/a>, so we\u2019ll assume we don\u2019t need to go into any more detail about that here. The concept of only eating \u201craw\u201d food may be less familiar though, so let\u2019s take a closer look at that.<\/p>\n Rawism, eating raw, raw foodism, a raw food diet\u2026 call it what you will; it involves eating only, or almost only, raw and unprocessed foods. Whilst there may be many reasons someone follows a vegan diet, chiefly environmental reasons<\/a> and ethical considerations<\/a>, those following a raw food diet, vegan or otherwise, do so almost exclusively for health purposes.<\/p>\n The precise details of a raw vegan diet vary in much the same way people have different lines when it comes to veganism itself. Some people may describe themselves as \u201cmostly raw\u201d or \u201c90% raw\u201d, depending on how strictly they stick to all the edicts of this growing nutritional philosophy.<\/p>\n Whilst the strictest raw vegans won\u2019t eat anything that has been cooked or processed in any way, others are more forgiving and may eat some sprouted and fermented food stuffs, as well as items that may have been lightly heated, cooked at very low temperatures or dehydrated.<\/p>\n Almost all adherents of a raw food diet eschew fully cooked foods, mass-processed foods, pasteurised items, homogenised foods, products with artificial additives and crops grown using non-organic pesticides and fertilisers. Sadly, given the brilliant array of vegan wine<\/a> and vegan beer<\/a>, alcohol is also out, as is coffee<\/a>, anything with traditional flour and anything that uses sugar<\/a>, though some natural, raw sweeteners are allowed.<\/p>\n Advocates of a raw vegan diet argue that cooking food above between 40c-48c is damaging. It is claimed that above this temperature micronutrients in food are destroyed. In addition, rawists claim that such temperatures negatively impact the enzymes in raw food that help the body to digest them effectively. It is also claimed that cooking foods increases their toxicity and can lead to any range of long-term health problems.<\/p>\n The science behind much of this is highly debatable, to say the least, and there are many who criticise such diets. We will come to that later but, in short, a raw vegan diet tends to be mostly made up of the following foods, ideally organic (although see our feature on organic food<\/a> for the issues that can throw up), and eaten in their most natural, raw, unprocessed form:<\/p>\nWhat Does ‘Raw Vegan’ Mean?<\/h2>\n
Eliminating Cooked & Processed Foods<\/h3>\n