Raw vegan?

[liv]

I've heard people rave about the raw vegan diet, but I'm curious since it seems that it would cut out a lot of food that is really good for you, e.g. sweet potato which I can't imagine being eaten raw... Please correct me if you know of a way! Surely a baked sweet potato for example would not be an issue since no extra ingredients like oil have been added? Is there a change in the nutrient value of a vegetable when it has been cooked?

If anyone knows more about this diet I'd love to hear about it! Thanks x

 

[Damo]

I don't know anyone who's a raw vegan, though apparently cooking food will destroy some of it's nutritional properties.

There's a few sources that mention so, here's one.

https://paleoleap.com/cooking-vegetables-pale/

Personally, I can't imagine myself biting down on raw uncooked vegatables.

 

[Vegan Artist BJT]

I have done Raw until 4. That's a balance between extremes.

 

[Deleted member 1437]

Raw vegan experts claim foods lose many nutrients when they are heated over a certain temperature. Also the way you heat them can have an even bigger impact (i.e. boiling instead of steaming, frying to a crisp instead of lightly sauteeing).

So actually it's not just about avoiding additives, some food loses nutrients when it is cooked. HOWEVER (big however ) some nutrients are actually more bio-available in foods after being cooked. For example tomatoes when cooked release considerably more lycopene, which is considered one of the most powerful antioxidants. Spinach also is better cooked as it destroys some of the phytic acid which makes the iron, magnesium and calcium in spinach much more bioavailable (but overall you do still lose some vitamins).

I did raw veganism as a diet before I turned vegan and I felt amazing but then I tried it again since becoming vegan and I didn't get the same high, I really just felt like I was missing a lot of vitamins. Raw vegans will say probably I was doing it wrong but I think raw veganism doesn't work for everybody and on the contrary, eating so much fruit can have a negative effect on may people's digestion (problems with candida etc). Fruit is still sugar, I don't get why anyone would advocate eating so much sugar, I personally feel bad if I eat large amounts of fruit and few veggies or tofu.

Anyway that was very long sorry..Hope some/any of that was useful!

 

[SD Joe]

I'm mostly raw vegan. Nuts, seeds, greens, etc. I love raw veggies and prefer them over cooked. I do cook my beans and wild rice since eating them raw isn't great. I don't eat anything processed either. Keep your fruit intake to a low amount since you don't need a large of amount of fruit in your diet. I was a junk food vegetarian before and when going vegan I didn't want to be a junk food vegan. My Dr was impressed with my blood work and my loss of 25 pounds and I felt great and even though i'm still losing 8 to 10 pounds a week i'm not starving and I feel great.

 

[hawkins090]

The nutrient of vegetables won't lose too much when you boil it.

 

[theeasyveganlifestyle]

I've heard people rave about the raw vegan diet, but I'm curious since it seems that it would cut out a lot of food that is really good for you, e.g. sweet potato which I can't imagine being eaten raw... Please correct me if you know of a way! Surely a baked sweet potato for example would not be an issue since no extra ingredients like oil have been added? Is there a change in the nutrient value of a vegetable when it has been cooked?

If anyone knows more about this diet I'd love to hear about it! Thanks x

Yes there will be a change, but luckily there have been others before us to solve this very mystery. As long as you keep the "cooking temp" under 118 degrees F then it is still considered raw. With a potato, you would use a slow cooker type method. Put your potato in a pot with water and put your stove on the lowest setting. Let it do its thing and check on it every 30 minutes or so after the first hour. Yes, this method WILL take some time but now have your potato