Made with zucchini and cucumber noodles, this pasta is refreshing and filling. To make the recipe your own, swap out vegetables for seasonal ones or add in your favorites. Strawberry, banana, a subtle hint of rose, and the sweetness of dates make this dessert fresh and unique.

You shouldn’t feel guilty about eating donuts, and with these classy raw vegan strawberry ones, you don’t have to!

Few studies explore how raw vegan diets affect a person’s risk of diabetes. However, 2009 research suggests that vegan diets almost halve a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to non-vegetarian diets. Le, L. T., et al. (2014). Beyond meatless, the health effects of vegan diets: Findings from the Adventist Cohorts.

Research into a raw food diet’s effect on menstruation found that approximately 30% of people under age 45 on long-term raw food diets had irregular periods or their periods stopped entirely. In another study, people following a raw vegan diet had a total body fat percentage between 7–9.4% lower than those eating a typical American diet ( 23). To its credit, a raw food diet limits the intake of foods known to contribute to poor health if you eat them in excess, such as processed junk foods and added sugar. The same study found that participants following a raw vegan diet had low bone mass, potentially due to low calorie and protein intake ( 13). The idea of eating only raw foods has existed since the middle of the nineteenth century when Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer Sylvester Graham promoted it as a way to avoid illness ( 1).The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend dietary changes that can reduce a person’s risk of developing diabetes. These may include increasing fruits and non-starchy vegetables and decreasing processed foods and trans fats found in baked and fried food. In fact, studies consistently link raw food diets — including raw veganism — to lower amounts of body fat ( 21). People follow the raw food diet for the benefits they believe it has, including weight loss, improved vitality, increased energy, improvement to chronic diseases, improved overall health and a reduced impact on the environment. Summary: Contaminants from animals, soil, water — and even bacteria on someone’s hand — can end up on your produce. That’s why it’s really important to wash your produce before cutting and peeling. Otherwise, bacteria can enter through a cut in the fruit or vegetable’s skin!

If you’ve got fresh basil on hand, this recipe and its winning combination of classic pesto and raw zucchini noodles is for you. One of the main reasons the raw food diet discourages cooking is because of the belief that cooking destroys the natural enzymes in foods. The diet’s advocates believe that these enzymes are vital to human health and digestion. What’s more, several randomized controlled studies — the gold standard in scientific research — observe that vegan diets are particularly effective at reducing “bad” LDL cholesterol ( 10, 11, 12, 13). This is partially because fruits and vegetables, though healthy, simply don’t provide enough calories or protein to make up the majority of the diet. Requires strict, safe food handling like washing your hands, cleaning your produce and avoiding cross-contamination. 1A mostly raw diet makes it difficult to get enough calories, protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Raw Living was founded in 2002, to make raw foods and superfoods more accessible and affordable. We were among the first in the UK to sell now commonplace super foods such as maca, cacao, goji berries and chia. Our intention is to always provide the best quality products, at the fairest prices, and with excellent customer service to match.