Over the last several years, raw food diets have become the latest craze in the health food community.  These diets claim to heal all of the body’s aliments and contain vital enzymes that are necessary for longevity and health.  Many also claim that raw food diets contain “living food” and that cooking denatures the proteins, vitamins, and minerals in food.  As a result, cooked food is viewed as “dead food” to those who follow a raw food diet.

With that being, there is more to the story when it comes to raw food diets.  There is no denying that many foods in their raw form such as fruits and some vegetables provide amazing nourishment to the body and are better off not cooked.  However, consuming a diet entirely compromised of raw foods can become problematic long term.

In fact, many in the raw food community frequently complain of tooth decay and several vitamin and mineral deficiencies after following a completely raw food diet long term.  Despite this frequent occurrence of tooth decay, raw foodists claim that this is the most natural way to eat.  However, historical fossil records show that our ancestors frequently used fire in order to cook fibrous and hard to digest food.

Claiming that a completely raw food diet is “natural” is ill advised and misleading to those first starting a journey into raw foods.

Chinese Medicine and Raw Food

For those following a raw food diet, or considering embarking on one, may find it interesting that Chinese Medicine frequently advises against consuming raw foods.  In fact, Chinese Medicine believes that an excess of raw foods in the diet can contribute to dampness in the body.  Also, consuming only raw foods is said to have a negative effect on the body’s digestive juices and eventually such diets can contribute to spleen deficiencies.

It’s for this reason that Chinese Medicine frequently recommends consuming food that is warm or has been cooked in order to keep the body’s digestive fire strong and keep the spleen healthy.  Those who naturally have a lot of heat in the body may find that a completely raw food diet has tremendous benefits in the beginning, but leads to other problems in the body when followed long term.  Most WILL find relief when going from the standard American diet (SAD) to a completely raw foods diet because the SAD is extremely heat forming.

However, over time these types of diets have been proven by Chinese Medicine to be extremely damaging to the body’s digestive system and can contribute to spleen dysfunction.  This is why you will not find any practitioner of Chinese Medicine recommending salads as being “health foods.”  In fact, the whole salad craze is a fairly new concept when it comes to human nutrition and is unheard of among people still living a traditional way of life who are free from the influence of modern society.

Raw Foods and Anti-Nutrients

One of the many things that raw food promoters often leave out is the abundance of anti-nutrients contained on such diets.  All plant foods in their raw form contain anti-nutrients which can bind to key minerals in the digestive tract and essentially rob the body of minerals.  However, research has shown that cooking helps reduce the anti-nutrient loads and many problematic foods (1).  Below is a list of anti-nutrients that are common in most raw plant foods.

• Lectins
• Phytic Acid
• Gluten
• Tannins
• Oxalates
• Saponins

These anti-nutrients are extremely common in almost all plant foods and avoiding them and their harmful effects on the body is impossible when following a raw food diet.  Many who have followed a raw food diet for a long time begin to realize that several of the raw foods which are touted as “healthy,” actually contribute to demineralization of the body.  This is why tooth decay is so common on raw food diets.

Raw Food Diets devoid of Animal Protein

Raw food diets and vegan/vegetarians tend to go hand and hand.  Although there are some raw food diets which incorporate raw animal foods, the majority of raw food types of eating styles shun animal foods as being bad or “acid forming.”

Unfortunately, as well as impaired digestion and high anti-nutrient load leeching minerals from the body, raw food diets devoid of animal foods are also deficient in several key nutrients that are required for health.  Below is a small list of key nutrients that raw food vegan diets are deficient in.

• DHA and EPA
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D
• Preformed Vitamin A (not beta-carotene)
• Vitamin K2
• Cholesterol

Many promoters of this diet will claim that vitamin A can be obtained by converting beta-carotene into the usable Vitamin A.  Also, DHA and EPA is claimed to be obtained by converting ALA (the plant omega 3) into these two essential fatty acids.  However, research has shown that the majority of the population cannot make these conversions and that less than 6% is actually converted in healthy individuals (2).

Following raw food diets that abstain from meat is extremely dangerous long term since both DHA and EPA play a significant role in maintaining the nervous system and preventing against degenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s (3). Furthermore, vitamin A is necessary for healthy bone development and maintains the skeletal structure of the human body (4).

With that being said, there are no plant sources of vitamin B12 which is required by all humans for survival.  This fact alone should make you weary of partaking in such diets that abstain from animal foods.  When this is coupled with poor digestion, weakened spleen, and high anti-nutrient intake, serious health implications are bound to arise.

Nourishing the Body with Chinese Medicine

Those recovering from a long term raw food diet or those looking for diet strategies in order to improve overall health can look to Chinese Medicine for help.  It should be noted that Chinese Medicine focuses on balance rather than viewing one food better than the other.  It’s for this reason that following a diet that is in tune with the seasons is extremely beneficial for the human body.

Also, cooling foods should be balanced with warming foods in order to balance the body from becoming too hot, or too cold.  Typically, most animal foods are warming and most plant foods are cooling.  There are some spices which can have either a warming or cooling effect in the body and can be used strategically to balance the body.

For example, cayenne pepper is a plant food but is extremely warming to the body.  Knowing this, spices can be used to balance meals in order to better serve the body.

Also, incorporating medicinal herbs into the diet such as Reishi mushroom is a great way to balance all three treasures; Shen, Qi, and Jing.  When the treasures are balanced, radiant health is a result.  It’s for this reason that any type of extreme diet is not recommended by Chinese Medicine since they tend to leave the body imbalanced overtime.

For more information on the best diets for overall health, be sure to head over to The Weston A. Price Foundation which has great information pertaining to traditional diets.  Also, since raw food diets devoid of animal foods are extremely Jing depleting, you can read our previous post on how to increase Jing with a proper Chinese Medicine diet.