Is It Healthier to Follow a Raw Food Diet?

With the backing of celebrities like Gisele Bundchen, Amanda Seyfried, and a slew of fitness bloggers, it’s hard not to wonder if the raw food diet is something worth looking into.

Not familiar with the concept? The gist is that in order to preserve all the nutrients in your food, you shouldn’t heat it above 118 degrees. But how true is this concept, and is the effort of going on a raw food diet worth its benefits?

According to celebrity dietitian Isabel Smith, R.D., the raw food trend may be more of a passing craze than a nutritional necessity. “Although much attention has been on raw diets and their benefit, research is finding the benefit to cooked vegetables when it comes to nutrient availability too,” she says.

“There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to raw food versus cooked food in terms of health and nutrition,” agrees dietitian Tali Pines, R.D. “Some foods are healthier when eaten raw, while others have nutrients that are enhanced through the cooking process.”

Whether you should eat your vegetables raw or cooked, for example, depends what nutrients you need. Vitamin C, fiber, folate (found in beets), and myrosinase (found in broccoli) are more present in raw vegetables. But if you want iron from spinach, lycopene from tomatoes, or lutein from greens, you’re better off cooking them.

There’s also the chance you might short-change yourself on important vitamins and minerals. “While some nutrients do get lost in the cooking process, the raw food diet comes up short on calories, vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and calcium,” Pines says.

My Fit Foods Registered Dietitian Millie Wilson, R.D., points out that raw fans may also be at an increased risk of food-borne illness (since many types are killed off by cooking), so they need to make sure to wash raspberries, spinach, and lettuce thoroughly, and avoid raw meat and eggs, and unpasteurized dairy products. “Cooking…kills bacteria, which helps to avoid food poisoning,” she says.

Overall, experts say it’s fine to go raw, but it’s not really necessary in order to eat well. “A healthy balance of both cooked and raw foods is typically best for leading a healthy, balanced lifestyle,” says Wilson.