The Rawtarian: Raw food recipes for beginners (2024)

FAQs

What foods can you eat on the raw food diet? ›

Studies have shown people on the raw diet lost a significant amount of weight. This diet also provides a variety of nutritional benefits with food high in minerals, vitamins, fiber, and phytochemicals that help fight disease.

Studies have also shown that a raw vegan diet can lead to weight loss. A study published in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes found that participants who followed a raw vegan diet for six months lost an average of 22 pounds, while also reducing their body fat and waist circumference.

A study on people who followed strict raw food diets found that 38% of participants were deficient in vitamin B12. This is concerning, especially given vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with a range of problems, including jaundice, mouth ulcers, vision problems, depression and other mood changes.

The following foods are suitable for most raw food diets:

freshly made fruit and vegetable juices. soaked and sprouted beans, other legumes, and grains. raw nuts and seeds. raw nut butters, such as peanut butter and almond butter.

To follow a raw vegan diet, you should first ensure that at least 75% of all the food you eat is raw or cooked at temperatures below 104–118°F (40–48°C). Animal products should be avoided entirely, while fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds should be plentiful.

This eating approach can also be quite expensive, as some raw food diets tend to avoid non-organic foods. Raw diets can also be problematic in that they may cause an unhealthy relationship with food. These diets eliminate foods that are otherwise healthful, such as cooked beans, grains, and vegetables.

“Not only is there a risk of being infected with campylobacters and salmonellas, but also parasites such as roundworms and tapeworms,” says Beth Czerwony, RD, a registered dietitian with Cleveland Clinic's Center for Nutrition.

In fact, you can actually gain weight while eating vegan and raw. When your diet skews toward high-fat and high-sugar foods, you might pack on the pounds. Eating too many avocados, nuts, seeds, and similar foods can result in too much fat intake. The same goes for sugary fruits, such as bananas and pineapples.

Which vegetables should not be eaten raw? ›

Yes. Black Coffee will, inevitably, be your best option if you're vegan. Less so, admittedly, if you're a raw vegan, however, seeing as it's most commonly served hot. What's more, whether you're choosing Black Coffee, Cold Brew Coffee, Iced Coffee or any other variety, the beans must still be roasted.

It's a so-called “clean” way to eat — instead of meat, animal products, and processed foods, the diet is filled with fruit, vegetables, sprouted grains, sprouted legumes, raw nuts, and seeds, says Summer Yule, RDN, a registered dietitian-nutritionist in Hartford, Connecticut.

Your staples: raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains. Some eat unpasteurized dairy foods, raw eggs, meat, and fish. Your food can be cold or even a little bit warm, as long as it doesn't go above 118 degrees.

Eat your favorite, easy-to-find fruits like apples, oranges, cherries, pears, strawberries, grapes, bananas, and more. For vegetables, eat raw broccoli, peppers, onions, lettuce, spinach, and kale. Peanuts fall under the legume category and are easy to enjoy raw.

Followers tend to fill up mostly on fruit, with moderate portions of vegetables, and consume only small amounts of plant foods rich in protein and healthy fats, such as avocado, nuts and seeds. This works well for some, while others find that they require more protein and fat to feel satiated after meals.

Seeds of all types can act as protein-rich alternatives to nuts in a raw diet, and they're especially useful if you're allergic or intolerant to nuts. A quarter-cup of flaxseeds boasts 7.5 grams of protein, an ounce of sunflower seeds has 5.5 grams, and an ounce of pumpkin seeds has a whopping 8.5 grams (3).