Sunday, May 24, 2015

Healthy choices in the raw vegan diet

A raw vegan diet can be defined in different ways, but usually means that at least 80% by weight of raw plant foods is. Many people say they feel healthier and more energetic adopting such diets, but there are few that are as raw vegan long term to directly evaluate the success of raw and vegan diets compared to other diets.

We can, however, evaluate these diets by comparing them with human nutritional needs to know to achieve a better understanding of how appropriate raw vegan diets can benefit health.

Food groups and their percentages in raw diets

The raw vegan diets comprise three key food group sweet fruit, vegetables high in fat and green leafy vegetables. Raw food authorities differ in the recommended range, some suggest that it is sufficient that the 2% of the calories come from leafy greens (about 300 g. Of lettuce a day) while others recommend that about 30% Calories are green vegetables. Similarly, recommendations on foods high in fat, such as avocado (avocado), olives, nuts, seeds and oils obtained by cold pressure vary from a few percent to about 40% of calories.

The Hallelujah diet created by George Malkumus places particular emphasis on carrot juice and barley grass, which constitute about 15% of calories.

Get 30% of calories from green vegetables is probably unrealistic for many people, even using liquefied salads and juices. For example, 900 g. 450 g lettuce more. Kale provides only 300 kcal. or about 15% of calories. Fortunately, however, such high intakes are unnecessary for a suitable nutrition. Green leafy vegetables and broccoli contain higher levels of zinc, calcium and protein than fruit and are therefore an important part of raw diets, but about 500 g. a day of green vegetables, including a mix of lettuce, broccoli and dark leafy greens, such as kale and spinach, is enough to get the minerals and protein intakes within the general recommendations.


These vegetables also provide vitamin K, which helps bone health. Other raw vegetables may help for example, carrots are good sources of calcium and peas are a good source of zinc and protein.

The best balance between sweet fruit and fatty foods is perhaps a matter of the constitution of each. Some people experience dental problems with high intakes of fruits. This can be a problem especially for young children. Many people will have to work to maintain body weight if you do not include significant amounts of high-fat foods.

It is not recommended that more than 10% of the calories are from polyunsaturated fats. In olives, avocados, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts dominated by monounsaturated fats, which are the safest fats to consume in large quantities. Getting more than 40% of calories from these foods according to individual energy needs should be perfectly healthy.

It is also important to include a good source of omega-3 such as the ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil. The amount of selenium may be low if the food has grown in selenium-deficient soil, so a Brazil nut a day provides a useful insurance policy. (N. T . A single Brazil nut a day provides the recommended amount of selenium.)

When choosing fruits, no need to rely on rare or exotic fruits. Bananas are a good energy food, being relatively low in fiber and high in potassium. Oranges are rich in calcium, folic acid, potassium and vitamin C. The high potassium content and low in sodium of raw vegan diets reduce the need for calcium by reducing calcium losses and can be expected to reduce blood pressure and the risk of heart attack.
Vitamin B12 in raw vegan diets

The various schools of raw vegan diets differ in their approach to vitamin B12 . Some recommend that you should not take B12 supplements unless clear deficiency symptoms appear. David Wolfe (Nature's First Law) recommends seven potential sources of vitamin B12 different, including wild plants unwashed, nori, spirulina, fermented foods or a probiotic, with supplements of B12 as an alternative in the event that these foods available.

George Malkmus has recommended the frequent use of B12 supplements since a study of Hallelujah diet showed signs of inadequate B12 in most cases and showed that a B12 supplement or fortified yeast beer B12 reliably corrected, while not a probiotic.

The confusion on this issue arises from a conceptual error. Many proponents of raw food or Hygienism believe that our evolutionary diet and the other great apes with which we are related, did not include an external source of B12 and so conclude that humans should not need such source. In fact, the other great apes - even the gorillas - consume insects incidentally along with their normal diet of fruits, buds, leaves and nuts.

Chimpanzees show particular enthusiasm collecting and eating termites, which have high measured levels of B12. After being captured, B12 blood levels of most primates fall rapidly when fed with a grown and prepared based on vegetable diet hygienically. It is not therefore surprising that humans also need an external source of B12.

Many sources of vitamin B12 by David Wolfe proposals have been directly tested and have proved inadequate. The nori seaweed and spirulina failed when macrobiotic correct deficiencies in children and have not kept adequate blood B12 levels in a Finnish raw food community. Probiotics have not corrected consistently low availability of B12 in those who lead a Hallelujah diet.

A crudivegano UK had B12 deficiency while cultivating and ate their own food without washing given the measured levels of B12 in the ground, this is not surprising. Other proposed sources have not been tested so directly, but the only two published studies (N. T . until 2002) of the blood levels of B12 in raw vegan showed inadequate B12 levels. Low levels of vitamin B12 do raise homocysteine levels associated with an increased risk of many diseases, including heart attacks and diseases, with none of the classic symptoms of B12 deficiency.

In children the onset of full-blown deficiency can be very fast, with much greater risk of long-term damage and even death. Adults need at least 3 micrograms per day of B12 from fortified foods or supplements to reduce homocysteine levels. Breast milk is a good source for small children only if B12 intake is adequate mother. (N. T . more about vitamin B12 in vegan diets
The current raw diet and its relationship to the diet of our ancestors and great apes

The main argument of convenience raw diets high percentage derived from the comparison with our evolutionary diet and the diets of our great ape relatives. All diets of great apes are centered on raw fruit (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and gorillas plain) or raw leaves (mountain gorillas) and include a mixture of fruit (including a lot of seeds), leaves, buds, insects and often nuts.

The use of cooked food and large quantities of grain is only human. It also suggests that a return to a more similar to that of our ape relative diet could bring great benefits to health, because that's the diet that we are evolutionarily adapted. This is a plausible argument and the nutrient content of such diets in many ways coincides with our modern nutrition knowledge for example, high intake of folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and magnesium along with low saturated fat and cholesterol. However, there are important limitations when using the diet of the other great apes as a model of the human ideal diet.

Firstly, insects cannot be part of a vegan diet and are probably the key source of vitamin B12 in most primate diets. To the extent that all B12 comes from bacteria, absence of insects is easily compensated by using B12 produced by bacteria and enzymes in commercial use in fortified foods and supplements.

Secondly, human exposure to sunlight at high latitudes and when we spend most of the day indoors is reduced greatly compared with our evolutionary exposure. During the winter in the UK, vitamin D fortified food vegan way (with ergocalciferol, D2) can help offset limited exposure to light. A trip to sunnier climes during the winter allows the vitamin D response is more naturally. Babies are particularly vulnerable to vitamin D deficiency due to the high rate of bone construction is taking place and should always receive a supplement of vitamin D in winter. Breast milk is not an adequate source we are designed to live near Ecuador. (The author always speaks from the British point of view for your climate. In the following link you can find more information about vitamin D )

Thirdly, the human gut is smaller overall than the other great apes and human colon is only 20% of the digestive system compared with 50% of other great apes. This produces a dramatic reduction in the ability to process fiber, indicating that humans are adapted to a diet with less fiber than other great apes, who consume several hundred grams of fiber a day. Our Paleolithic ancestors consumed about 100 g. of fiber a day. It simply copying the other great apes is therefore not an option.

There are three possible explanations for this reduced capacity to process fiber; increased dependence of berries, increased consumption of meat, processed foods and increasing. The first seems to have been the main factor, while a restriction of diet rather than an extension. The increase in meat consumption probably started with Homo erectus about 2 million years ago, but could only have become an important factor from about 20,000 years ago with the expansion and sophistication of hunting techniques. All great apes use some form of food processing. Chimps often use stones to crack nuts and chew fibrous foods to remove the juice before discarding the fiber.

The use of stone tools by human ancestors became common about two million years ago, but most of the ways in which food is processed has left few traces, so it is difficult to verify how important was the role They are playing those treatments. However, it is plausible that food processing, including cooking, played a major role in the changes of the human digestive system compared with those of other great apes. Humans may have evolved to rely on food processing.
How it affects our food nutrients cooking

Food processing destroys some nutrients, but can also turn off toxins and increase the availability of other nutrients. Steaming or boiling produces only a modest loss of some nutrients, such as folic acid, while improving the bioavailability of others, such as carotenoids. Lycopene, which appears to have a profound protective effect of health, is better absorbed from cooked tomatoes than raw.

Blend or juicing also increases carotenoid availability carrot. Cooking increases the energy available from starchy foods like potatoes and grains and inactivates certain food toxins, thereby increasing the range of foods available to us. It remains to be established whether these foods are part of an optimal diet. The world's oldest population, Okinawans in Japan often use cooked beans, sweet potatoes, vegetables and soy products, and use some raw fruits. However, there is a large group of long-term raw vegan for direct comparison.
Raw vegan diet and gluten allergy

There is good direct evidence that large amounts of refined grains are associated with an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes in Western populations. However, higher consumption of whole grains is associated with a reduced risk of these diseases, so this evidence suggests that the grains should be eaten raw (whole) instead of being eliminated altogether, at least for most the people. A few individuals have potentially fatal adverse reactions gluten (found in many grains but notably absent in rice).

The established effects of gluten range from allergies and celiac disease to varying degrees of digestive discomfort. In addition, some individuals appear to metabolize gluten poorly appearing high levels of opioid protein fragments in their urine. Some studies have found that this pattern, which also happens to the animal milk casein is much more common in people with autism or schizophrenia and symptoms seem to improve by removing gluten and milk. To the extent that the raw diet is often a gluten-free diet, it is possible that some of the people who find such diets particularly beneficial may, to varying degrees, be intolerant to gluten.

Environmental aspects of raw Veganism

Raw foods are the environmental benefits that often come from trees (avoiding soil loss by tillage), they require little packaging and not cooked. These features benefit the health of the planet and all who share it. On the other hand, raw foods often need to be transported long distances and the commercial production of banana is an environmental disaster with high pesticide use affecting plantation workers and local rivers. The choice is not clear. It seems that local sources of cooked foods (e.g. Scottish oats) are more environmentally friendly than Jamaican bananas or strawberries transported by plane, but fruits and nuts seasonal local mediambiental have less impact than any of the above foods.
Weight loss in raw diets

A universally recognized effect of a diet with high oil content is weight loss, and many of the leading exponents of raw diets report that overweight with a conventional diet, but reached a healthy weight by switching to a raw diet. This result is not a mystery, to the extent that raw plant foods are usually foods high in fiber and low caloric density, which is very satisfying, ideal for weight loss, and was confirmed by a test six months in South Africa. However, a common reason that raw diets are abandoned is excessive weight loss. Including sufficient tropical fruits such as bananas and avocados, or nuts, seeds and cold-pressed oils, it is important to maintain a healthy weight once you have reached the desired weight loss.
General considerations and recommendation of the Vegan Society on raw diets

Can be expected to increase the consumption of raw fruits, nuts and salad vegetables considerably beyond the average consumption of the UK, it is beneficial to individual health and the environment, whether they are locally produced food. However, the evidence available to date does not justify a general recommendation of raw vegan diets, in the sense that more than 80% of the food to be eaten raw, especially for children, who need a relatively high caloric density. The Vegan Society recommends eating a variety of plant foods, including raw fruit, salads and cooked food, including a variety of vegetables and whole grains. We recommend the consumption of 3 micrograms per day of vitamin B12 from fortified foods or supplements for all vegans are also recommended, and the use of vitamin D supplements for children during the winter.
An example of a raw vegan diet of 2000 kcal. for a day

    - Fruit 100g red pepper, tomato 200g, 300g orange, 200g of apple, banana 500g, 100g of pears, peach 50g, 50g raspberries, kiwi 200g, 100g strawberries, mango 50g.
    - Leafy greens and broccoli 200g of lettuce, kale 100g, 100g spinach, 100g of broccoli.
    - Fat foods 200g avocado, 30g of almonds, hazelnuts 20g, 10g linseed 3g Brazil nuts.
    - Other 100g carrots, 100g of peas.

This provides 700 mg. calcium, 700 g. magnesium, 9 mg of zinc, 50 g. protein, 100 micrograms of selenium, 3 g. omega-3, 8,000 mg. potassium, 1100 g. folic acid, 2 mg. vitamin B1, 2.4 mg. B2, 6 mg. B6, 1100 mg. vitamin C, 30 mg. of vitamin E, 6000 g. vitamin A (carotenoids) and about 1000 g. vitamin K. For some people it may be a bit high (80 g.) in fiber, particularly for those who are very old or very young, and arguably contains too little sodium (270 mg.). The content of iodine can also be low, depending on the soil in which they were grown food.

Fatty acid balance is excellent. The diet contains no cholesterol or trans-fat and only 4% of the calories are saturated, while providing 5% omega-6, omega-3 1.5% and 18% monounsaturated fats. Intakes of carotenoids, vitamin C, folate, vitamin K, vitamin E, magnesium, selenium and potassium are much higher than in conventional diets and can be expected to benefit health. The zinc and protein intakes are adequate. Calcium content has been adjusted to the lower availability of calcium for some foods, especially spinach, and is probably adequate. Vitamin B12 and vitamin D must be considered separately

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