Dangers of a Raw Food Diet

A raw food diet refers to a diet that is made up strictly of unprocessed, uncooked vegetables and other foods. There are a number of dangers inherent in this type of diet, particularly stemming from nutrient deficiency and hygiene. Outlined below are some of the most common dangers of a raw food diet.

Food Poisoning

Cooking and processing food kills off many types of food-borne bacteria, such as salmonella, which are the most common causes of food poisoning. For this reason, a raw food diet leaves the dieter more vulnerable to food poisoning from contaminated food. Young children, the elderly and people who have weak immune systems are at the highest risk. Some raw foodists even eat raw eggs or meat, which can introduce additional dangers of food poisoning.

Malnutrition

The raw food diet is based on the principle that cooking food destroys nutrients. On the contrary, the heat from cooking helps to break down the thick cell walls of the plant cells, which facilitates the body's assimilation of nutrients into the bloodstream. These nutrients would otherwise be bound to the cell walls, and excreted from the body, increasing the risk of malnutrition.

Protein Deficiency

In the book "Food and Nutrient Intake of Hallelujah Vegetarians," the author describes how a raw food diet does not meet the recommended daily intake (RDI) requirements for protein. Plant proteins don't supply the balance of amino acids that animal proteins do. Over the long term, a protein deficiency results in fatigue, muscle loss and hinders the body's capacity to build muscle. It can also cause edema, growth retardation in infants, persistent infections, reduced thyroid function and insulin secretion as well as gross weight loss.

Low Antioxidant Content

According to "Scientific American," steaming or boiling food actually increases the antioxidant content of vegetables such as tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, peppers and carrots. When cooked, these vegetables provide the body with higher levels of antioxidants such as ferulic acid and carotenoids than they do when they are raw. Antioxidants are critical in helping the body fight disease and slow down the aging process.

Vitamin Deficiency

A report by the Oregon State Micronutrient Information Center, for example, indicates that a diet that's strictly limited to vegetables can result in a Vitamin B12 deficiency. This is because vitamin B12, which is the largest, most complex chemical structure of all vitamins, can only be found in animal food sources. Cooking vegetables has also been found to enhance the absorption of carotenoids by the body, such as the provitamin A beta-carotene.