To follow a raw food diet means to eat only unprocessed, or raw food, and food cooked in a special way, not exceeding a certain degree of temperature. Various philosophies and lifestyles are involved in the movement, which means different trends can be distinguished within the movement itself. Such trends include the raw vegetarianism, raw veganism with sub-trends like “paleo” vegan diet, fruitarianism, juicearianism and sproutarianism, and raw animal food diets, for example, anopsology, primal diet, and “paleo” meat diet.
Some of these trends are more popular than the other, and some are almost marginal, but it would be a fair assumption to say that the social component in these movements is as essential as the nutritional. To illustrate the mentioned thesis in this paper, it may be necessary to do a background research on the movement and then analyze its present state and future directions and perspectives.
While the concept of consciously choosing to eat raw food is ancient and dates as early as Ancient Greece and Rome, where fasting and eating raw fruit and vegetables was considered healthy and beneficial for body and mind, the actual raw foodism movement was born at the beginning of the twentieth century, and later was revived twice in 1970s and the late 1990s, as the interest for “fancy” and healthy food habits steadily grew. For some time, the movement has been “underground” among other trends like vegetarianism and veganism, more popular at the time, but then, as Frederic Patenaude reminisces in his article, “The Death of the Raw Food Diet”, there appeared an actual “raw food scene”:
If you had been a 100% raw foodist … [and] if you could claim to have done it for a decade or longer, you were viewed with a godlike aura. All the gurus were claiming to eat a 100% raw food diet, and were encouraging their followers to do so. If you were strong enough … you would convince as many people as possible to do the same. You would hang out with other raw foodists almost exclusively, and try to “spread the word” in a way that dangerously resembled a cult. (The Death of the Raw Food Diet par. 24-26)
The social component of the raw foodism is evident, and its aims and objectives are similar to any other social movement, including the attraction of new participants, getting their message across and drawing the public attention to their cause. A few extremities also existed in this movement, similar however to many other social sects, which were also described by Frederic Patenaude in another article: “It is true that certain methods of cooking … create many carcinogenic substances in the process, it is false to say that all cooked foods are “toxic.” This is the type of statement that make people say that raw-foodists are fanatic and make them discredit our message at once” (par. 18).
By now the movement has created a lot of followers and admirers, though not all of them are as “fanatic” as Patenaude describes, but the opponents of this lifestyle are present too. For example, Richard Wrangham in his research named “Cooking as a biological trait”, claims that “raw-foodists were vulnerable to energy shortage. Thus of the 18% that followed a 100% raw-food diet, 31% were judged to suffer from Chronic Energy Deficiency.
The negative effect of an inadequate energy supply was indicated by women’s reproductive performance, which worsened steadily with larger amounts of raw food” (37-38) and opposes the raw-foodist reasons that our ancestors ate raw food, ergo it would be wise to follow their example: “while cooking gave humans dietary flexibility, it also constrained our species… Cooking may be cultural, but current evidence suggests that its effects have fed back into our biology, and have thereby created constraints that … shape and define our evolutionary biology” (43).
Even after numerous debates and conducted researches, it remains uncertain whether the raw food diet is harmful or healthy, or both in different circumstances. All the while, the appeal of the raw-foodist lifestyle has attracted a few celebrities that help to spread the rumor and in return attract more followers; arguably these two facts are interconnected. “The Independent” newspaper illustrates this point: “Actresses such as Uma Thurman, Demi Moore and Natalie Portman … are devotees, while … Gordon Ramsay last week called for more people to turn to raw meat, and the country’s first raw-food restaurant has opened in London” (“The raw meat diet” par. 5). The actor Woody Harrelson also advocates raw veganism and eco-activism, as well (Sager par.15).
With such defenders and admirers, the future of raw food diet may seem secure, and the movement itself has the potential to develop and grow. Nevertheless, in the last years the opinions began to form, claiming that raw-foodism is impractical, time-consuming, and possibly dangerous fad (14 Fad Diets You Shouldn’t Try par. 1) that will soon vanish and be forgotten among other fancy trends. Whether such claims are true or is the raw food eating lifestyle an important and meaningful life experience for the individuals that follow it, is a question that yet remains to be answered.
Works Cited
14 Fad Diets You Shouldn’t Try n.d. Web.
Patenaude, Frederic 2009, Fanatisicm in the Raw Food Movement. Web.
Patenaude, Frederic 2013, The Death of the Raw Food Diet, Web.
Sager, Mike 2012, Who Doesn’t Love Woody Harrelson?, Web.
“The raw meat diet: do you have the stomach for the latest celebrity food fad?” The Independent. 2011. Web.
Wrangham, Richard and NL. Conklin-Brittain 2003, “Cooking as a biological trait.” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 136.1 (2003): 35-46. Print.