Raw Vegetarianism is a rare form of vegetarianism, but it does have some following.
With this type of vegetarian, you can be either vegan or a vegetarian (lacto, ovo or lacto-ovo).
I don’t think that I have ever considered becoming a vegetarian in this form. The principles behind it are that when food is cooked it loses some of its nutrients and is, therefore, not as beneficial for consumption.
There is quite a bit of research out there that argues the point either way. To be perfectly honest with you, you need to weigh up the evidence for yourself. In my opinion, though it would appear from scientific research that the nutritional benefits of eating cooked food outweigh the benefits of eating uncooked food.
In order to follow a Raw-Vegetarian regime you would need to ensure that all food that you consume: vegetables, pulses, grains, nuts, fruit, seeds, dairy produce, eggs is not heated up above 46C or 115F.
This is not a choice to be taken lightly and it is very likely that you would need to supplement your B12 and vitamin D intake as well. I will cover all the dietary requirements under the vegetarian diet plan category in two separate posts that will cover basic nutritional requirements and daily vitamin and mineral intakes.
Of course as a lacto-vegetarian, I eat many raw foods in any event. As I say in all of my articles you have a choice to make and only you can make that final decision there is no right or wrong only what suits your lifestyle and beliefs best.
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It is not that rare. In some contries it was very popular form of vegetarianism during last century.
Nice site!
It is interesting how cultures differ. In the UK up until the 1990s it was considered very odd to be any form of vegetarian. If I wanted to go out to eat or stay at a hotel I would often get served the meat course minus the meat i.e. just the vegetables the funny thing is that they used to often be served covered in meat gravy!!! Oh well at least those days are long gone now.
Are you based in Israel? Is raw vegetarianism a tradition in the Middle East?
Thanks for the comment about the site, it is very much appreciated