The raw food diet is an eating style that uses fresh, uncooked foods that have not undergone any processing, pasteurization, or other refining. Followers of this diet primarily consume plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, and nuts, but may include raw eggs and dairy products, and even raw fish and meat, as needed.
Many people believe that a raw diet is very healthy because it retains the natural enzymes and nutrients found in food when it is not cooked, thereby supporting weight loss, improving health, and protecting the environment.
On August 22nd, Dr. Huynh Tan Vu, from the Department of Traditional Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, stated that nutritionally unbalanced diets such as veganism, raw food diets, and macrobiotic diets can negatively impact health if followed long-term.
According to traditional medicine, eating too much raw or cold food can weaken the spleen and stomach, leading to bloating, indigestion, frequent flatulence, and sometimes unpleasant diarrhea and insomnia. Furthermore, the biggest risk of eating raw food is nutritional deficiencies and food poisoning due to bacteria, viruses, and toxins present in the food.
Many types of beans contain saponins and legumin, which, when ingested, can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea; in severe cases, they can be life-threatening. However, saponins and legumin are two toxins that can be broken down at high temperatures. Therefore, foods processed and cooked at high temperatures are safe to consume.
Eating raw vegetables also carries the risk of causing diarrhea due to E. coli, salmonella, staphyococcus, campylobacteria, parasitic worms, and hepatitis A, B, and E viruses. When cooked at high temperatures, these bacteria are destroyed.
Health risks of eating only fruits and vegetables for an extended period. Photo: Freepik
Similarly, Dr. Ta Huy Hai from Dang Van Ngu Hospital ( Hanoi ) stated that consuming raw vegetables, fruits, or raw meat and fish poses a significant risk of parasitic diseases. This is because raw vegetables are often unsanitary, such as being fertilized with fresh manure, uncomposted manure, or pesticides used improperly. Common parasites found on raw vegetables and fruits include pinworms, hookworms, whipworms, dog roundworm eggs, liver flukes, and amoebic parasites that cause dysentery.
Parasites that inhabit the body feed on nutrients for growth, eventually weakening the immune system, causing intestinal damage, enteritis, and digestive disorders. The larvae of the pork tapeworm, originating in the intestines, invade the bloodstream and travel throughout the body, forming hard nodules in the muscles, most commonly in subcutaneous tissue, the brain, and the eyes. These cysts can cause meningitis, brain damage, epilepsy, reduced vision, or blindness.
The Central Institute of Malaria, Parasitology, and Entomology once conducted an experiment on raw vegetables that were washed three times with clean water using the usual washing method, and then re-tested. The results showed that the rate of parasitic infection after the first wash was 97%, after the second wash 77.9%, and after the third wash 51.9%.
Experts advise people to adhere to food hygiene principles, avoid eating raw or undercooked meat, and refrain from eating meat from diseased animals; eat cooked food and drink boiled water, and deworm regularly three times a year, with each treatment spaced four months apart (dosage varies depending on age as prescribed).
Source: VNE
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