Research
Medical studies on raw food diets have shown some positive and negative health outcomes. According to one medical trial, "long-term consumption of a 70% raw-plant-food diet is associated with favorable serum LDL cholesterol and triglycerides but also with elevated plasma homocysteine and low serum HDL cholesterol" as well as vitamin B12 deficiency.
Another study regarding concentrations of carotenoid compounds associated with chronic disease prevention in the blood plasma of individuals who had adhered to a long-term diet consisting of 95% raw foods indicated satisfactory concentrations of the carotenoid beta-carotene. However, the study also indicated that these individuals exhibited abnormally low levels of lycopene, another carotenoid associated with chronic disease prevention. Additionally, the study subjects were only reported as adhering to a diet of mostly raw foods, but were not reported as adhering to a diet of vegan raw foods.
A study mentioned benefits of a raw vegan diet for lowering obesity and hypertension. A study has also shown short-term reduced fibromyalgia symptoms for some patients who engaged in a vegan diet. Another study indicated that some rheumatoid arthritis patients who ate a raw vegan diet reported relief of subjective symptoms, but showed no measurable change in objective symptoms. The study further notes that half of the subjects had to be removed from the study because they were afflicted with nausea and diarrhea shortly after adapting the raw diet.
German research in 2003 showed significant benefits in reducing breast cancer risk when large amounts of vegetables were consumed. The authors attribute some of this effect to heat-labile phytonutrients. The authors found no significant risk association with or an increased intake of fruits or cooked vegetables.
Read more about this topic: Raw Veganism
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