Raw veganism is a diet which combines veganism and raw foodism. It excludes all food of animal origin, and all food cooked above 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit). 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. Sometimes the definition of a raw vegan diet is loosened to include vegan diets with at least 75% raw foods.
Why Raw Veganism is Necessary?
Health Reasons
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. Often, based on their energy levels[citation needed] and how a person feels when eating a raw diet, individuals believe it is a healthier diet. Although there is extensive evidence that there are health benefits to consuming raw vegetables,[citation needed] the evidence for health benefits of a raw vegan diet are purely anecdotal. There is also no body of scientific evidence to support the claims that raw food is healthier than cooked food. Cooking food makes digestion much easier on the digestive tract and there is evidence that the additional simple carbohydrates gained as a result are likely to have assisted in the advanced development of the human brain.
Environmental Reasons
Many people are raw vegans because they are concerned about the environmental impact of their diets. The use of wood or fossil fuels for cooking is harmful to the environment in that greenhouse gases and other pollutants are produced. Not cooking food, however, has environmental consequences of its own in that raw food spoils more readily than cooked food. If food is allowed to spoil, the microorganisms that compost the food produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is far more harmful to the environment than the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide produced by burning wood or fossil fuels. A raw vegan must take great care not to waste food in order to truly avoid making a negative environmental impact. The most readily available solution to this problem is the use of solar cooking, which produces no greenhouse gases or other pollutants but of course results in cooked food, which raw vegans find unsatisfactory. Some scientists have suggested that solar refrigeration may some day provide the negligible environmental impact that raw vegans so desire, but point out that chlorofluorocarbon compounds necessary at present for effective refrigeration are damaging to the earth's ozone layer.
Spiritual / philosophical reasons
Many dedicated followers of a raw vegan diet place importance on spiritual gain. Ruthann Russo states, "The raw food movement looks 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."
