To help the environment, would you try a raw vegan diet?

Question

The 4/9/2007 issue of Time mag was a double issue on global warming, and had an article called "51 Things We Can Do." Thing #22 was becoming a vegetarian, #25 was purchasing local produce, and thing #39 was doing your own gardening. If you switched, even partially, to eating raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, you would slow global warming by 1) reducing the 18% of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the international meat industry, including the nitrous oxide and methane emitted by cows; 2) reducing the greenhouse gas emissions caused by transporting meat and produce; and 3) using less energy by not cooking. You would improve your health by 1) consuming the active enzymes in raw food that make digestion more efficient, 2) getting better nutrition that alleviates many health problems, 3) maintaining a healthy weight, and 4) not needing to eat so much because the high level of nutrition would curb your appetite. Would you try it? See http://youtube.com/watch?v=Re28fjJcUs8

PatV - about bacteria, cooked food has a lot more bacteria than raw food. Leave a raw tomato and a cooked tomato out on your counter and see which one goes bad first. After staying in your digestive system at 98.6 for 12 hours, that cooked tomato could be bad news compared to the raw one. About fruits, sure, you would want to avoid any poisonous ones, but other than that, which ones are bad? About quantities, is cooked food in the wrong quantity any better?

David - you are right about B12. One option might be yeast extract which is really popular in Australia and New Zealand, and I think the UK. Or you could have a small quantity of meat, dairy or eggs once in a while to make sure you get it. Animals eat their own poop to naturally get the B12 produced in their lower intestines that way, but I don't think I want to see that on my Thanksgiving table . . .

Scruffycat - this could be the ideal diet for denture wearers, even if only doing it partially, because juicers and high-powered blenders (like VitaMix) can make some awesome stuff that you don't have to chew, and pack in a lot of nutrients. Plus, there are always bananas and avocados!

bookluvr315 - you have picked up on the big downside of this diet! Isn't it wierd that the only agricultural products not currently subsidized by the federal government are fruits and vegetables? Food for thought - I heard that you can sometimes ask the produce manager at your grocery store to put old produce in a bag out back, and then you can put it through a juicer. I'm sure a lot of grocery stores throw out old greens, and juiced greens are really good for you (and surprisingly addictive when you add some sweet fruit and lemon).

Answer 1

i would try it for a couple days sure. i dont konw if i would stick with it though. depends on how i feel and what food is around me. but im always up for trying new things

Answer 2

Let me ask you this question... how much raw meat are you willing to eat? I'm not saying that sashimi and steak tartare is bad or anything, but I don't think anyone would be willing to eat that ALL the time, or say... raw chicken, or eggs, liver, bacon, whatever. Not all raw meat is safe to eat, and the majority of meat/seafood that people have access to in supermarkets and their local fishmonger isn't of raw eating quality... especially fish. Vegetables are A LOT safer to eat raw than meat is, and the poisons that you're talking about are usually from pesticides and such, not fron the veggies themselves. People just generally don't eat raw meat to such an extent. And some people go on a raw food diet because they feel its healthier for them. With a raw food diet, you don't neccessarily eat everything raw, just mostly. It's the individiuals choice how much raw food they eat. And some foods just taste better cold. Like milk... I hate warm milk. Some people eat cold pizza or chinese food (I'm just using examples here). I know I wouldn't want hot salad... would you? So maybe some people like eating cold food. So with all that being said, I don't think the raw food diet HAS to be vegetarian/vegan, it just makes a lot of sense for it to be that way, and it should be pretty obvious that there are a lot of people who practice that lifestyle. Otherwise you wouldn't have posted your question. And if you're worried about the poisons in veggies, go to your locak farmer's market and I bet you 100 to 1 there will be someone there selling all natural and organic fruits and veggies... and everything at farmer's markets is way cheaper than a supermarket anyway.

Answer 3

I already eat a lot of raw veggies and fruit and have all of my life. It's good healthy stuff. That said, I don't know if I am prepared to completely go raw. The vegetarian part (I believe, but haven't read the article) is because of the cost of raising and feeding cows as well as the shipping cost of shipping meat from the big corporate farms. If you have ever been near a meat processing plant, you wouldn't want to eat it anyway.

Answer 4

Time mag ought to be fined/sued for printing such outrageous, foolish, and dangerous pack of lies and dangerous misinformation about foods and environmental crap! I have never ever seen such poor, irresponsible advice given by a supposedly reputable magazine!
Don't take ANY of that advice! And cancel your subscription or quit buying Time and send them a strong letter of complaint!
Humans are natural omnivores, We NEED the proteins of BOTH meat & vegetables. Cooking kills all bacteria and dangerous germs in foods and pork expecially MUST be thoroughly cooked. No animals emits nitrous oxide! Those "active enzymes" can KILL you!
I would have to think the article/youtube stuff was written by terrorists to purposely POISON people. And you positively CANNOT believe everything you see or hear on youtube!

Answer 5

Seems like the high amount of bacteria on produce would catch up with anyone who doesn't cook any food at all.

Not all fruits are conducive to good health, not to mention in the wrong quantities, raw produce could be harmful.

I'd find a balance, seems much smarter...

Answer 6

Yes I would try a raw vegan diet. I have eaten at a raw food restaurant before and the food was outstanding. I have also for a short time been on a raw vegan diet and after reading this it is making me want to go back. You had a lot of information here that I had never realized before.

Thanks for the incentive, Vicki

Answer 7

I would love to be able to but I'm on disability and the cost of fruits and veggies even ones grown locally during the months that we can grow stuff around here is to much, you have to be rich to eat that kind of a diet unless you live somewhere that you can grow the stuff your self.

Answer 8

It is true that most of the fuel used in this country is in food production,transportation,distribution and storage. How ever i don't see how being a vegan would help. All the other thing,s in your question ring,s true though. Maybe i am just a carnivore incapable of change.

Answer 9

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Hmmm... I'm guessing you've never worn dentures....

**EDIT** Eeeew! No! I won't submit myself to a life of pureed food... blech!

I am an omnivore... I have canine incisors and flat molars. I will get my protein from animal products and my fiber and other various vitamins from fruits and veggies.

As to the health of it... all veg. doesn't make you live longer... it only seems like it... much, much, too long...

Also... do you suggest we have a mass slaughtering of the cows and then burn their carcasses... I mean, aren't they going to fart and all the more, if we're not eating them?

I mean, come on... are you saying we should let the cows just fade into extinction... and the buffalo, too...?

Answer 10

the cows still have to fart,no matter what they eat.id be willing to grow my own veggies in fact i do that now,we need vitamin b12 which comes from meat products,or supplement with tablets,I'm unsure where they get their ingredients.otherwise i would give it a go,we need to protect the environment for generations to come