Raw food enthusiasts claim that cooking foods destroys their natural vitamin and mineral content, as well as removes enzymes beneficial for digestion. Regardless of why you are eating raw food exclusively, it is necessary to choose from as wide a variety of foods as possible. You need this variety to ensure that your body gets all of the essential fat, protein, and carbohydrate necessary to live.
Fat
Dietary fat is an important component of nutrition. Fat can be metabolized to release greater amounts of energy than carbohydrate or protein, and can store essential nutrients such as A, D, E, and K which are only fat-soluble. Raw sources of monounsaturated fat include olives and avocados. Some seeds and bananas contain polyunsaturated fat. Saturated fat can be found in small amounts in coconut. Trans fat and hydrogenated oils do not occur naturally, and so are not found in a raw diet.
Protein
Protein is only obtained in a complete form from animal sources. It is important to include a wide variety of protein-bearing vegetables in a raw diet to ensure that you get all of the essential amino acids. Protein is present in leafy green vegetables such as Swiss chard, collard greens, spinach and kale; seeds such as hemp and flax; nuts such as almonds, and other vegetables such as artichokes, tomatoes, and sprouts. Many of these foods also contain a large amount of dietary fiber.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are your body's main source of energy. Excess calories from carbohydrates are stored first as glycogen in the muscles and liver, and then as bodyfat when the muscles and liver are full. Fruits and starchy vegetables are the main sources of carbohydrate in a raw diet. Starchy vegetables include carrots, beets, and cauliflower, cereal grains such as barley and oats, and legumes such as lentils, beans and peanuts. Fruits include citrus, melons, and nonsweet fruit such as squash and cucumbers.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is the only essential nutrient that cannot be reliably obtained from an exclusively-plant-based diet. It is only manufactured by bacteria, and thus only occurs in food from animal sources. It is possible that some plant-based foods such as fermented soy products contain vitamin B12, but the vitamin in these sources is not nutritionally available for the human digestive system. It is necessary for this vitamin to be taken as a supplement while on a raw food diet.
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