Various studies completed by many research divisions, including that at the Columbia University, have confirmed that nutrient loss in fresh produce does occur during the cooking process. These nutrients are primarily water soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C and many of the B’s. It has also been demonstrated that higher cooking temperatures and longer cooking times will further denature these nutrients.

Along with vitamins, many minerals are also lost during cooking – ‘cooking decreased mineral content by an average of 60 percent to 70 percent‘⁽¹⁾. Minerals in food that appear to be most affected by exposure to heat include: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, zinc, manganese and copper.

According to the scientific journal ‘Microbes and Infection’, the enzymes allicin (found in garlic and onions) and myrosinase (found in broccoli) are also denatured through the cooking process. Interestingly, not all enzymes are affected this way. It is now common knowledge that cancer fighting lycopene found in tomatoes is actually enhanced through the cooking process⁽²⁾, and even more beneficial to the body if combined with olive oil during this process.

If a healthy individual has a balanced and varied diet, nutrient loss during the cooking process may not be as much of an issue. However, everyone’s specific nutrient requirements are different. Someone following a 100% raw plant-based diet long term, who does not regularly consume fermented and probiotic foods as well as superfoods, may find that their B vitamin levels (in particular) could be low. When any strict diet is followed long term, we would advise that regular blood tests are taken to detect any deficiencies in the body.

1. Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology
2. Carotenoid Profile of Tomato Sauces: Effect of Cooking Time and Content of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Nutritionally, we all have different requirements. What might suit one person, may exacerbate or cause health issues for another. A raw food diet isn’t necessarily for everyone however. It can be particularly helpful for those who have an acidic pH, are overweight, have a hot/inflamed constitution or are experiencing the symptoms of toxicity.

Many people have great success following a raw food diet short term as part of a cleansing program. Others use a raw diet to help them kick bad eating habits. However, not many people stick to it long term. More common is a high-raw diet where 50-70% of what you consume is raw food.

There is still a debate as to what nutritional deficiencies can occur over time following a raw plant-based diet. However, a good practise is to take regular blood tests to ensure that your body is receiving all of its nutritional requirements. In particular, it is important to keep a check of B12, zinc and iron levels (the latter especially for women). Age and pregnancy are also considerations as nutritional requirements may vary greatly.

Another important factor is the integrity of one’s digestive tract. If the gastrointestinal tract is compromised in any way, then regardless of whether you’re consuming raw food, cooked food, meat, dairy, protein shakes or anything else – your body may not be absorbing the nutrients it requires because it simply can’t. Poor gut function is a common health issue and can cause serious nutritional deficiencies over time.

If considering supplementation when on a raw plant-based diet, we would prefer suggesting superfoods instead. Not only are they whole foods and thus easier to assimilate than a laboratory synthesised tablet, superfoods are nutritionally dense and offer high levels of easily digested protein, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Incorporating a variety of superfoods into your daily diet will ensure that nearly all of your nutritional requirements are met.

Back in 2003 when Sex and the City forayed raw food in one of its episodes, eating raw was still a fringe movement to some degree. Nowadays it has become almost mainstream with countless blogs, websites, forums, courses and restaurants promoting the health benefits of a raw food diet and lifestyle.

Contemporary raw food diets go back to the 1800’s when Maximilian Bircher-Benner decided that ‘raw food was what humans were really meant to eat‘. Eating raw is definitely not a passing fad or trend and now, more than ever, people are more aware of the importance of living a cleaner, healthier diet.

Perhaps this is partly due to the increase in sickness and the prevalence of chronic disease? Or perhaps it is due to new studies being released regarding the food we eat? For example, in 2015 the World Health Organisation published a landmark report denouncing that sausages, ham, bacon, hot dogs and other types of processed meats were classified Group 1 carcinogens. No doubt, this made many people question the quantity and quality of animals products they were consuming.

Whatever the case, there appears to be a growing trend towards following a plant based lifestyle – with Australia being one of the top fastest growing vegan market in the world. While this statistic encompasses people who consume both, cooked and raw vegan foods, it still shows a strong trend towards eating more fresh produce and other plant based (rather than animal based) ingredients.

Just like any other diet, a raw food diet isn’t for everyone. What’s important is to find a way of eating that works for you, your health and your value system. In doing so, sometimes it can be useful to experiment with different ways of eating so that you can truly listen to your body and how it responds. We always recommend seeking advice from a qualified health practitioner before making any dietary changes, should you have a pre-existing health condition.

Most people who have been brought up on an acidic meat and dairy based diet, will benefit from the cleansing effects that you experience when consuming raw food. While fasting and following strict detox diets also have their place, choosing raw food options at each meal will allow your body to gently cleanse on a day to day basis with little effort on your behalf.

Those however who are emaciated, have serious digestive issues or a cold constitution, may struggle with the cooling effects of a raw food diet. If this is you and you still choose to be raw, we would suggest consuming more blended and pureed foods, as well as eating meals at room temperature or even heating your food until it is warm to touch. In addition, incorporate warming ingredients into your meals to maintain your ‘digestive fire.’ These include ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and black pepper.

Don’t get too concerned if you don’t want to, or can’t go completely raw. It’s about finding a balance that allows you to experience the healing and health benefits of fresh food, and trusting your body to utilise these foods so that you feel better, sleep better, have more consistent energy, and of course, look better.

When people choose to add at least some raw to their diet, they tend to choose fresher produce. We always encourage people to buy seasonally, organically and locally, if possible. Nothing beats a fresh pineapple or mango in the right season.

Adopting a raw food diet can be a fabulous way of breaking bad habits and reducing your consumption of processed and packaged foods. It may also help change your views on what it means to look after yourself, your environment and the planet. Not only can we confirm that living raw food delivers higher concentrations of many useful enzymes, vitamins and minerals compared to cooked food, it also creates less stress on the immune system – that is, a healthier and happier body!

For most of us at RFI who have experimented with most ‘eating regimes’ over the years, it was a raw and cooked vegan diet that first gave us relief from a variety of digestive troubles. After only a few weeks, we typically experienced less bloating and weight fluctuations, more energy and much clearer skin. For some, it was especially difficult to eliminate dairy products at first. However, once dairy was no longer in the diet, the symptoms disappeared very quickly.

Over the years, we have generally followed a high raw diet for most of the time. When the seasons change and the weather becomes cooler, naturally we all tend to crave warmer, more substantial foods. Through our work in developing raw food café and catering menus, we discovered how raw food could be made more ‘warming’ by the clever use of spices, healthy fats and the application of a little heat (under 48°C/118°F of course).

Through this process, we have explored how versatile, wholesome and satisfying raw food really can be!

You don’t necessarily need fancy equipment for a raw food diet. If you have a chopping board, knife and bowl, you are set!

However, some kitchen gadgets can make your life easier. If you are going to start committing to this process of adding raw food to your diet, we always recommend a good high-powered blender. You don’t need to go out and buy a high-spec vitamix. Something as simple as the sunbeam café series is a great start. The main difference is smoothness of drinks and sauces, so if you can live with things being a little less silky, a cheap blender will do.

Another fun addition is a vegetable spiraliser. These are usually quite affordable and add a little fun to food preparation. They will spiralise any hard fruit or vegetable. If you have kids, this is a worthwhile investment. Kids love these spiralisers and, with supervision, can have a great time. The amazing thing is, they will tend to eat whatever they spiralise, including raw zucchini. You can spiralise apples, carrots, zucchini, beetroot… as long as it’s hard, it will spiralise. Great way to snaz up a salad, and of course, the spiralised zucchini makes amazing pasta.

A food processor can make life easier for you when you are preparing Raw Food and lets face it most kitchens these days have one. It will do the same job as a good knife, just a lot faster. So if you are preparing large quantities of Raw Food or family meals, this isn’t a bad investment.

The only other thing that is a very handy item in your raw food kitchen is a nut bag. This is generally a $10 muslin bag, (or synthetic). But I have been known to use a (new) stocking sock, does the job just as well for a fraction of the price!

Now as any cook will tell you, things like measuring spoons, spatulas, veggie peelers, are basics for any budding chef, but once again not essential. Raw food preparation is very forgiving, if you can be a bit flexible. If the mix is too wet, make it a smoothie instead of a mousse!

From here you can get pretty out there. You can get into dehydrators which involve dehydrator sheets, personal blenders for when you travel, a specific blender for nutmilks (ladyship essence extractor, is its name). But unless you’re a gadget nut like me you can really and successfully stay with the basics and have a very satisfying and varied Raw Food Diet.

Perhaps due to the growing trend towards high fruit diets in the raw food world, people are generally unsure whether too much fruit can be detrimental to their health. At the Raw Food Institute of Australia, we believe in balance for health. Eating 30 bananas per day does not fit our model of healthy eating. That’s not to say it doesn’t work for others, though.

A consideration raised by Laura Barnett, trained in nutritional medicine, is the sugar factor with such high consumption of fruit. If you suffer from hyperglycemia, for example, and eat too much fruit, you may feel tired, particularly after a meal, within 30 minutes, you may find you have no sustained energy. You might feel great initially, but if you do high fruit diets for any extended times, just watch your symptoms.

The other extreme is the belief that you should cut fruit out of your diet all together as it is fits into the high glycemic range of foods. Well, if you do this then you miss out of all those amazing nutrients that come in that complete package that is fruit. How crazy is it to take a vitamin C supplement and ignore the perfect local mandarine sitting in your fruit bowl? Fruit in season is a gift to your body.

Don Tolman’s⁽¹⁾ theory is to indulge on a fruit when it is in season as our bodies instinctively store those nutrients to get us through until the fruit cycles around in the seasons again. Fruit used as a cleansing diet is a great way to rest the system whilst still getting vitamin and fibre. We would only recommend a few days at most, though.

Food is a delight and should be celebrated. It’s too easy to become a puritan (particularly if you follow a raw food diet) and take away all the pleasure. Sharing food is one of the corner stones of our society, so keep the joy and the nurturing present as you embark on this journey.

1. Don Tolman’s Whole In One Organics

One of the most amazing books anyone could ever read, The China Study by Colin Campbell, goes into great detail on protein in the human diet. We highly recommend reading this book – it will change your way of thinking about protein forever!

The World Health Organization says humans need about 5% of their daily calories to come from protein to be healthy. On average, fruits have about 5% of their calories from protein, vegetables about 20-50%, and sprouted seeds, beans and grains some 10-25%.

If you eat a variety of living plant foods, chances are you are getting more than adequate protein. Other studies have shown that heat treating a protein (as in cooking) makes about half of it unusable to the human body. In other words, overcooking foods containing protein can destroy heat-sensitive amino acids or make the protein more resistant to digestive enzymes. That makes raw plant foods an even better source of protein than cooked plant foods or animal foods.

There is still a misguided belief that plant protein is not “complete”. This is based on studies done on rats in the 1940’s. This was before we discovered our body’s protein recycling mechanism and its ability to “complete” any amino acid mix from our bodies amino acid pool, no matter what the amino acid composition of a meal consumed.

For some people it’s hard to give up the belief that you need animal protein to function properly. Here are a couple of points to consider:

• Did you know worms and parasites in the meat you eat can and will survive in your body? Plant based worms can’t. It may not be fun knowing you ate a worm in that apple, but at least the worm is not going to negatively affect your gut!
• One of the causes of many of our modern diseases, from arthritis to acne, is the acidity levels in our body. If we find ways to reduce the acid levels in our body, we reduce the risk and symptoms of arthritic conditions and other diseases. One of the best ways to decrease acidity in the body overall is to follow a raw plant based diet. In general, plant foods make the body less acidic. Meat tends to make the body more acidic.

By maintaining good variety in our diets, we don’t really need to pay much attention to balancing or food combining. Keep in mind that a lot of plant based foods already have most of the amino acids we need anyway. For example, the humble zuchinni is almost complete and by adding mushrooms you have completed the job, and there are some amazing recipes for this combination.

There’s such a misconception that the only source of omega 3 is from fish. A major concern these days in regards to eating fish based oils are the contaminants in those fish, such as mercury. Especially larger fish that actually feed on other fish. As our oceans and waterways become more polluted, it is becoming increasingly difficult to eat fish that hasn’t been exposed to chemicals and other substances.

The good news is, there are so many good sources from plant based foods. For example, flaxseed (or linseed for us Aussies), chia seeds, pepitas and walnuts, veggies belonging to the brassica family, and even leafy greens. By keeping variety in your diet, and consuming these foods on a regular basis, you will make sure your omega 3 requirements are met without having to resort to fish or other supplements, such as krill.

Try chia oatmeal for breakfast sometimes – a beautiful winter dish. Simply soak the chia seeds in your favourite nut milk overnight, or for at least 30 minutes before eating, warm slightly, add maple syrup and a chopped banana to add to the yummy-ness factor. Another way is to just sprinkle chia seeds over salads or other dishes. They are so tiny, you hardly notice they are there!

With flaxseeds, grind them fresh to avoid the rancidity, or buy some really good brands that area already ground. Make sure you always store in the fridge to limit the chance of them going rancid. Flaxseeds have such a subtle flavour, you can add them to almost anything.

And of course, you can always sneak some leafy greens in when no-ones looking!