I'm a vegan who eats really healthy. I'm not planning on switching to a totally raw diet any time soon, but I'm just curious: Is it even possible to even get all the nutrients you need from that lifestyle/diet?
Because well, you'd be giving up pasta and all that and it just sounds so damn difficult to get enough calories, fat..etc.
What's your opinion?How unhealthy is a RAW vegan diet?
It's needn't be unhealthy at all, in fact many people choose to go raw vegan because they think it's the healthiest diet there is. I'm not raw, I like cooked food and am not convinced cooked food is always poison as many raw-foodists believe, but I really respect those who can go fully raw.
Two YouTube channels by raw foodists who seem to be doing really well with their diets:
http://www.youtube.com/user/liferegenera鈥?/a>
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRawFoodWo鈥?/a>How unhealthy is a RAW vegan diet?
There actually are some vegan bodybuilders who compete on a raw diet.
You can make pastas and everything, but a raw diet probably takes the most planning and research to ensure that the foods you're looking for fit your meal plan. Two key pieces of equipment you'll need are a dehydrator and a food processor or other blender (I like the Bullet Blender, but a food processor is also very good...the Bullet is just smaller and I like that).
So how would you make pasta? You'd get whole grains and crush them into flour. Then add water and make a dough. Yesh, they'll be doughy noodles, but still noodles :) You can also make rice flour noodles, dry them, then let them sit in water to reconstitute as rice noodles that you'd get in Pho or Pad Thai. Some people also just use spaghetti squash, which is nice because the flesh peels out into tiny strands, like noodles.
Fat is easy enough to get. Raw nuts/seeds and avocados will be a good source of fats, and olive oil is cold-pressed, which means it's still raw.
Other high calorie foods can be eaten raw, like sweet potatoes.
It's definitely possible to stay healthy and be in great condition on that kind of diet, but it takes a lot of work. And a lot of focus on your diet. If you don't want to do the calculations to figure out nutrients and vitamins and such, I'd say being vegan is healthy enough. I enjoy cooked food a lot as well as its convenience and ability to comfort. I understand that some foods don't retain all the nutrients once heated, but that's why I try to do raw sometimes, not all the times. You have to find what's right for you - what you can handle and manage. Then go with that.How unhealthy is a RAW vegan diet?
There are a large number of people living on a raw vegan diet that are perfectly healthy. The tip is to do your research first. There are many books out there on it, in fact. Look online, check your library, and if your library doesn't have what you are looking for Amazon.com has some great deals.
There are also many online groups to offer help and support in all stages of this for you, and maybe speaking (or typing) to them can help open the idea up to you more.
And no, it this isn't my opinion. It's a fact. If done right, one can be perfectly healthy on a raw diet... even more healthy than us vegans are.
It can be very healthy because you are not eating processed foods that have a lot of sodium, saturated fat and unhealthy chemicals but that is only if it is well planned. As long as one includes a source of vitamin B12, it seems like a perfectly fine diet.How unhealthy is a RAW vegan diet?
I'm not an expert, but I think if you went to a nutritionist and asked for his/her opinion they would say you could but would have to eat a lot of veggies and fruits (A LOT), plus you might have to take some vitamins (which I guess isn't raw).
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