Raw foodists are people who eat a vegan (purely plant-based), vegetarian or omnivorous (omnivorous diet; rather rare) diet. The key here is that the food consumed is not heat-treated. Vegan raw foods include fruits, vegetables and fruits as well as olives, oil, nuts and seeds. It also includes lactic fermented foods such as sauerkraut. The vegetarian raw foodist often eats raw milk cheese and other raw milk products as well as eggs. Non-vegetarian raw food includes animal products, i.e. fish (Bismarck herring, maties, salmon, tuna, etc., possibly prepared as sushi or as sashimi) and meat (carpaccio, tartar, ham).
Raw foodists therefore do not consume the food heat-treated, because you see the advantage of the uncooked food in the fact that enzymes and heat-sensitive vitamins, which are reduced with cooking, are preserved in such a way.
The term raw food diet encompasses many different types of diets, some of which differ significantly from one another in their food selection and practical design. In addition to a micronutrient deficiency (vital substance deficiency), pronounced raw foodists may also experience an insufficient supply of energy due to the one-sided diet. Many people who eat a vegetarian raw food diet are moderately to markedly underweight (> 57 %; Giessen Raw Food Study).
More than 30 % of women under 45 years of age no longer had menstruation, i.e. suffered from amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) or were already in the climacteric (menopause of women). This is probably due to the resulting malnutrition.
The intake of vitamin D and vitamin B12, calcium, zinc and iodine were deficient. Although the dietary intake of magnesium was adequate, serum levels (blood values) were still below normal. The reason for this is the poorer bioavailability of magnesium from plant foods, which is then not optimally absorbed by the body from raw foodists. As was to be expected, the supply of iron is also insufficient, so that 43 percent of the men and 15 percent of the women suffered from anemia (anemia of the blood). It was found more frequently the longer a study participant had been a raw foodist.
Conclusion: a diet based almost exclusively on raw foods is not recommended for health reasons.
