A: The definition of raw food is anything organic from the earth that’s uncooked. For food to be considered raw it can be chopped, blended, pureed, juiced, dehydrated, or combined. All raw recipes are completely vegan, meaning no meat, eggs, or dairy. For instance, soymilk is not considered to be a raw food because it has been heat processed.

The foods which a raw diet is comprised of are fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, roots, and seeds. Starches such as breads or pasta are not considered to be acceptable on a raw food diet. Raw foodies grow their bread substitute from sprouts and use zucchini for pasta. Also, nothing can be cooked over 118 degrees.

The advantages of a raw food diet are that it’s full of vitamins, minerals, and cancer fighting elements. There is little or no fat and no added sugars. It has low sodium levels and high fiber content.

The disadvantages to a raw food diet is that cooking increases the availability of certain nutrients that can only be brought out by cooking; which strengthens the immune system and lowers the risk of heart disease and cancer. For instance, tomatoes contain lycopene, a phytochemical, which becomes more concentrated and bio-available after being cooked by as much as four times the amount. The diet also falls short in calcium, fish oils, iron, and certain vitamins that are only found in animal foods. Also, people that are 100% raw often are underweight, might have trouble concentrating, and may be zinc deficient.

To sum it up, there are a wide variety of interesting ways to prepare fruits and vegetables from raw food cookbooks. I would recommend using the raw food diet to create fun and different ways to get your 5-a-day. But the key is to eat raw and cooked foods. Remember, the only way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need are to eat all types of foods, which includes animal proteins and cooked foods.