Is The Vegan Raw Food Diet Really Healthy?
A healthy vegan diet is one that consists of all organic plant matter. Not only is being a vegetarian a diet, it is a lifestyle as well. Not only do vegans not eat any animal products, they also don’t use anything that is made from animal products. This would include things like clothing, food and beverages.
Some people follow vegan diets because of strict religious beliefs or spiritual issues. Many choose veganism because of moral and ethical issues regarding animals. The main concern is the handling and processing of the animals used in food and other products. These are the forefront fighters against animal testing and they argue against factory farming.
A vegan follows a much stricter path than a vegetarian. A vegetarian consumes animal products like eggs, cheese and milk, but they do not eat the animal’s meat. Also, unlike the vegan, they may also use animal products, such as make-up, that contains animal fat. The vegan has a far more dedicated lifestyle.
Many people think that just because a vegan diet does not contain the essential vitamins that meats have to offer that it is an unhealthy lifestyle. This is untrue, however. If the diet is properly planned and executed, they cannot only satisfy the palate, but can also satisfy nutritional needs.
Some missing nutrients from a vegan diet are calcium, vitamins B & D and iodine. However, these can be found in nutritional supplements. This is the best way to get the key nutrients you need daily. Make sure when choosing your supplement it does not contain animal products.
Some studies have shown that in some cases among adolescents veganism can be used to mask eating disorders. They do not, however, state that veganism leads to eating disorders. It is suggested that in the cases of a youth deciding on a vegan diet, it is important for the parents to be involved fully the entire time. It is important to know what your children are eating and what they are not eating.
Diets similar to vegan, but in a much smaller niche, are raw veganism and fruitarianism. The raw vegan eats basically the same as a standard vegan, however, the difference is they don’t eat foods cooked over one hundred eighteen degrees Fahrenheit. This goes for all nuts, grains, fruits, vegetables, fruit juices and herbs consumed. The raw vegan dieter who eats at least seventy-five percent of raw foods is still thought of as a raw vegan.
The fruitarian vegan diet is probably one of the smallest niche groups of vegans. As the name entails, the main ingredients in this diet are fruits along with nuts and seeds, grains and vegetables. As with the raw vegans, people who consume fruit as seventy-five percent or more of their diet are considered fruitarians.
Unlike these smaller niche groups, vegan vegetarian diets can have great health benefits. All of this information just goes to show that those who choose and maintain properly balanced vegan raw food diets can live a healthy and satisfying lifestyle.
This article is misinformed. A well-planned vegan diet is in no way lacking in calcium, vitamins B & D or iodine.
Hi, thanks for the informative article.
Can I just point out that vegan diets do contain B vitamins, but vitamin B12 is hard to source. It is available in nutritional yeast and in seaweeds however. Calcium is widely available in the vegan diet in nuts and green leafy vegetables as well as in tofu and soymilk, broccoli and beans.
Iodine is available in kelp and iodised table salt.
Vitamin D can be obtained through exposure to sunlight, although these days many people don’t get enough sunlight so D supplements can be useful for many people.