Eating a raw food diet does not necessarily mean eating only uncooked foods. Depending on the type of raw diet you follow, you may not be allowed to eat raw foods that contain any additives or preservatives, contain growth hormones or come from commercial manufacturing sources. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of various raw diets before you follow one.
Food Purity
A raw food diet removes potentially unhealthy additives and preservatives, such as growth hormones and trans fats. Additionally, vegetables in a raw food diet come from organic sources, with no pesticides or commercial fertilizers used in their growing. Meats and dairy products in a raw food diet come from organic sources, including free-range and grass-fed animals.
Heart Health
May raw diets place more emphasis on fruits, vegetables and grains than animal products, based on the health concerns of handling and preparing raw meat, fish and poultry. Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables can improve heart health, in part, by decreasing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet. According to a study published in the September 1996 issue of the British Journal of Medicine, researchers found a correlation between daily fruit consumption and decreased deaths from heart-related illnesses.
Digestion Problems
Eating raw foods may cause digestion problems, according to Dr. Henry D. Janowitz in his book, "Good Food for Bad Stomachs." Cooking foods helps break down dietary fiber, which allows your body to absorb more nutrients. For example, you can only digest 30 percent of potato starch if you eat the potato raw, as compared to a 98 percent absorption rate when the potato is cooked.
Considerations
If you rely on the nutritional claims of Rawists, you may not get the nutrients you need in your diet. For example, some Rawists claim that foods are less nutritious when they are cooked. In fact, the opposite is sometimes true, according to Cornell University professor, Dennis Miller in a 2004 "USA Today" article. Miller pointed out that while cooking does kill some enzymes in food, the enzyme responsible for digestion are present in your body, not the foods. Some foods are more nutritious when they cooked, such as beans, said Miller. A 2000 CNN article, "Biting Into the Raw Foods Movement," cited a study by Rutgers University that found when 48 vegetables were tested, the body absorbed iron better from 37 of them when they were heated.
Health Concerns
Rawists recommend you consume unpasteurized dairy products such as raw milk and cheese. MayoClinic.com points out that prior to 1987, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration required milk to be pasteurized to kill bacteria, such as e-coli and salmonella, 25 percent of food-borne illnesses came from raw milk. Since 1987, the percentage of dairy outbreaks causing those illness has dropped to 1 percent, with 70 percent of those cases coming from raw milk and cheese. Handling raw meat, fish and poultry can also lead to food poisoning if you don't use proper sanitary techniques when cooking and preparing these foods. Certain foods, such as kidney beans, are toxic if eaten raw, according to Jill MacKenzie, a former specialist in horticulture at the University of Minnesota Extension.
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