Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is uncooked and unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, lifestyle, and results desired, raw food diets may include a selection of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, meat, and dairy products. The diet may also include simply processed foods, such as various types of sprouted seeds, cheese, and fermented foods such as yogurts, kefir, kombucha, or sauerkraut, but generally not foods that have been pasteurized, homogenized, or produced with the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, solvents, and food additives. The British Dietetic Association has described raw foodism as a fad diet. Raw food diets, specifically raw veganism, may diminish intake of essential minerals and nutrients, such as vitamin B12. Claims made by raw food proponents are pseudoscientific.
Varieties Raw food diets are diets composed entirely or mostly of food that is uncooked or that is cooked at low temperatures.
Raw animal food diets
Raw animal food diets include any animal that can be eaten raw, such as uncooked, unprocessed raw muscle meats, organ meats, eggs, raw dairy, and aged, raw animal foods such as century eggs, fermented meat/fish/shellfish/kefir, as well as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and sprouts, but in general not raw grains, raw beans, and raw soy. Raw foods included in such diets have not been heated above 40 °C (104 °F). "Raw Animal Foodists" believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost much of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body.
Diet examples The "People's Primal Potluck", anopsology (otherwise known as "instinctive eating"), and the "Raw Paleolithic Diet" (otherwise known as the "raw meat diet"). The "primal diet" consists of fatty meats, organ meats, dairy, honey, minimal fruit and vegetable juices, and coconut products, all raw. The "raw Paleolithic diet", is a raw version of the (cooked) Palaeolithic diet, incorporating large amounts of raw animal foods such as meats/organ-meats, seafood, eggs, and some raw plant-foods, but usually avoiding non-Paleo foods such as raw dairy, grains, and legumes. The founder of the Primal Diet is Aajonus Vonderplanitz, a resident of Malibu, California. Aajonus Vonderplanitz estimated that there are 20,000 followers of his raw-meat-heavy Primal Diet in North America alone.
Aboriginal diets consisted of large quantities of raw meats, organ meats, and berries, including the traditional diet of the Nenets tribe of Siberia, and the Inuit. Pemmican is the traditional North American travel food, prepared from dried meat, fat, and berries.
Raw veganism
Raw veganism has rarely been practised in history, but it became a fad in the 21st century. A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed, raw plant foods that have not been heated above 40–49 °C (104–120 °F). Typical foods included in raw food diets are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains and legumes. Among raw vegans are subgroups, such as "fruitarians", "juicearians", or "sproutarians". Fruitarians eat primarily or exclusively fruits, berries, seeds, and nuts. Juicearians process their raw plant foods into juice. The British Dietetic Association named the raw vegan diet one of the "top 5 worst celeb diets to avoid in 2018", raising a concern that it could compromise long-term health.
History
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
