There is a sizeable community of people who practice raw veganism near where I live and these folks are hard core. Needless to say, these folks love the green smoothies diet.
This is easy to understand as those who embark on raw veganism typically feel fantastic for quite some time while eating this way. Â Raw veggies are extremely detoxifying! For several months or even a year or two, increased energy, clear skin and resistance to infection may be observed.
Is this because raw veganism is the right way to eat long term? Is the vegan Netflix film What The Health really on to something big?
Far from it.Â
Raw Veganism is for Cleansing the Body, Not Nourishing It!
Raw veganism is really a cleansing diet which helps to detoxify the body. It does not optimally nourish the body long term, however.
The raw, whole foods that vegans consume are certainly a huge leap forward from conventional processed foods and anyone would initially feel better eating raw vegan if he/she had been eating the Standard American Diet previously.
Over time, as the body becomes depleted of minerals, serious health issues start to emerge if raw veganism is continued.
This is because the fat soluble activators A, D, and K2 – only found in animal foods – supercharge mineral absorption and without these critical nutrients in the diet, mineral depletion and ill health is the inevitable result.
The bottom line? You can eat loads of mineral rich foods as a raw vegan and still be mineral starved.
Nutritional Deficiencies Rapidly Occur on a Raw Vegan Diet
Watch this 3 minute video below where Maria, a former fan of raw veganism and the creator of the Green Smoothie Challenge discusses her abrupt conversion to nutrient dense animal foods due to the health and tooth challenges she experienced after two years as a raw vegan. Her vegan catharsis came after reading Rami Nagel’s book Cure Tooth Decay.
You will be shocked how rapidly her health challenges resolved after she began to consume nutrient dense animal foods such as cod liver oil, raw butter, and organ meats.
If you know any folks that practice raw veganism, please forward this video.  Folks who follow veganism are in serious denial about how this way of eating is going to eventually destroy their health if it hasn’t already and a testimonial from a former hard core vegan may be just what they need to realize that humans are not designed to subsist purely on plant foods.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
More Information
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12 Year old vegan has bones of an 80 year old
I also experimented with meatless and vegetarian diets in different parts of my life, and my health always deteriorated. I talk to countless clients who have had a similar experience of feeling great initially on the raw vegan diet, but that over time experience a sharp decline in health due to a lack of healthy fats and proteins which supply the fat-soluble vitamins desperately needed by the body to absorb many nutrients. I’m grateful for everyone who blogs about this subject and gives testimonials to how going back to an animal-product based diet can save health.
Thank you for this post! I have wondered how I can talk to my raw friends about their diet so thank you Maria. I went to check out her website and I was disappointed to see that she does not say any of this on thegreensmoothiechallenge.com. She does mention it is a cleansing diet but doesn’t say anything about the need for animal fats. I hope she is brave enough to communicate this message on her website!!
Though I do agree with the pitfalls of strict veganism, I really do wish everyone would spend MORE time and effort educating people of the dangers of eating the meat that over 90% of the population consume! I know that this site and many others DO promote sourcing meat from local farmers that pasture their animals and feed them the kind of food that God intended. However, why are all of these blogs and sites spending more time bashing vegans instead of speaking out to those that eat all this poisoned, unsustainable meat from large agra farms?
There seems to be the assumption that, of course, EVERYONE does or can afford to eat the “good” meat. WRONG!! The dairy that I source my raw milk sells beef and chicken. The beef is super expensive and they only sell their chickens once a year in the early fall.
I don’t mind pointing out the pitfalls of veganism, but seriously folks….you’re only preaching to about 1-2% of the population. We should be shouting from the rooftops daily about the current state of our poisoned meat and the unsustainable way that these animals are raised!
Please!!! Start preaching about things that the meat eaters need to hear too! (sorry, I don’t mean to sound like I’m shouting, but I’m really passionate about this subject!)
I’m sure Sarah has posted before about eating local pastured meats, local raw dairy, pastured eggs, etc. I think the basic idea is not to eat SAD but eat cleanly. I know some eat vegetarian for religious reasons and that diet can be healthy but I can’t imagine a vegan diet being healthy other than short-term. There are just too many things missing there. One argument that always resonated with me is that there are no traditional cultures that have survived while eating a vegan diet. Nuff said.
NOT enough said. I agree that strict veganism can be unhealthy for the long term. I am NOT a vegan.
My point is….I think every time that someone bashes veganism (less than 2% of the population) they should also add how detrimental eating factory farmed meat is to our bodies. That would actually reach over 90% of the population.
Hmmmm…..try to enlighten 1-2% of the population or 90% of the population??? Sounds like a no-brainer to me!
I think Sarah tries to enlighten everyone. She may come over as ‘blunt’ but she always has research to back things up. I don’t think she honestly meant to bash 2% of the population. She was just responding to something that happened in her community…
Hi Shari – You mention in a later post that you wish someone would reply to this post, so I will oblige you.
Have you read most of the posts on this blog? Not ALL of the posts address negative aspects of vegetarianism/veganism. In fact, I would guess that it’s only about 2% of the posts. (The posts, not the comments made by others). By your reasoning, that would be exactly right. Sarah blogs about a huge range of health-related topics, including factory-farmed meats, risks of vaccinations, organic gardening challenges, exercise plans, benefits of cod liver oil and, my personal favorite, the dramatic, positive effects of a traditional, nourishing diet on the behavior of a friend’s children (wink, wink, Sarah).
You say you really do wish people would spend MORE time and effort education people about the dangers of eating factory farmed meat. I read this blog every day that I am able and I would NOT do so if 90% of the posts were about factory farmed meat.
I would also suggest that people who don’t care about ingesting factory farmed meat (or organic vs. conventional foods, or vegan vs. vegetarian vs. animal-based diets) do not visit this site more than once, anyway.
So – try to enlighten 2% or 90%? A no-brainer? This blog has the capacity to reach 100% of the population. But it’s just a blog. Maybe we need an ad on during the Super Bowl, explaining the dangers of factory farmed meats. Perhaps you could start a daily blog to raise funds in support of that effort ($3 million to reach 111 million people for 30 seconds). Unfortunately, you would only be reaching about 30% of the population. Also, noone would read that blog.
Finally, thehealthyhomeeconomist.com has reached me and my family – a mere 1/777% of the population. Her blog has improved the quality of the lives of myself, my husband and my children. For that, I am incredibly grateful. I hope she does not heed your request to change her blog to suit you. It suits us just fine.
I once read in the anthropologist Richard Leakey’s book that he met a tribe which I think were in the Pacific region who had never eaten animals as they regarded them as their brothers and sisters. There were photos of their children who certainly were not thin. I borrowed this book from the library in 1989 so I don’t remember all the details but this tribe were at least vegeterian- I cannot remember if it was mentioned if they had eggs or animal milk. Leakey was impressed with the tribe’s health.
I myself am almost vegan- the only non vegan food I eat are feta cheese and honey and I eat a high proportion of raw food- my meals are generally salads with houmous, fruit smoothies, nuts, quinoa, sprouts. I also have lots of fresh juices and some coconut milk in my smoothies.
I have been vegeterian since I was 18 and I’m now 44 and am told constantly I look about 28. I have been on wholefoods for 2-3 years and have been doing more raw the last year or so. I feel very well.
Amen! I am so tired of all the vegan bashing that appears on NT and Paleo blogs. It is such a very, very small portion of the population (raw vegan is even more rare). At the same time so little is said to the millions and millions who are eating factory farmed meats. Most of these blogs do mention that eating 100% pastured beef and pastured pork and chicken is optimal, but they don’t spend much time discussing very real dangers of eating conventionally produced meats. Personally, if I truly couldn’t afford local, pastured meats, I’d go vegetarian and use my food budget to get the best quality eggs, dairy, fruits and veggies I could find. IMO it would be far healthier than eating meats which were unnaturally forced to eat GMO grains and a steady diet of antibiotics.
Sending that video to vegan friends will not sway them; it will only serve to annoy them and leave them less open to seeing the positive changes you are making in your own life. If I sent you a video from a former NT follower who has decided that NT had ruined her health and she now eats a vegan diet would you be swayed? Exactly.
Let’s stop the vegan bashing and focus instead on sharing the importance of eating truly naturally produced whole foods with the millions and millions of people who are still buying their meats from the local supercenter.
It is not “bashing” any individual to point out that their science and logic are sorely lacking.
Also, while pastured meat is more healthful and sustainable, as well as more affordable than most people think: All other things being equal, someone who simply avoids the neolithic agents of disease will still enjoy better health on average than someone who does not.
Industrially produced meats *are* a neolithic agent of disease. Cows were never meant to eat grains–and certainly not the GMO grains they are fed in feed lots. Pigs and chickens were never meant to live their entire lives confined to the indoors eating only GMO grains.
I stand by my statement, while defining “neolithic agents of disease” as grains, legumes, sweeteners and “vegetable” oils.
It may be a very small portion of the population that eats a vegan or raw vegan diet- but it is held up in the mainstream media and society as the “optimal” diet to strive for. That is why people argue against it. Not because so many are eating that way- but because so many are touting the so-called “positive” benefits.
I was wondering why Bill Clinton was looking so bad. I didn’t realize he was eating raw vegan.
He’s not. He’s eating a vegan diet. There’s a difference.
There may be a difference, but he’s apparently not including any animal foods in this diet and it shows.
I
10 bucks says Bill Clinton is eating The Standard Vegan Diet of processed meat replacements, too much pasta, and too many refined grains. That’s not a healthy diet for anyone, and certainly not for a vegan. That’s not whole foods vegan eating. And it doesn’t prove anything about eating or not eating meat.
yah and how many diff kind of pharm drugs was that???
actually, he eats fish on occasion, as he has been quoted as saying.
Funny this came up today as I am starting a fast today to try and cleanes out the years of asthma meds I’ve been on. You can bet I’ll be going back to my NT diet after I break it! In spite of being on this diet for 5 years now I still have those rigid lines in my nails and some asthma Sure would like to see these go away eventually!
Dean Wiebe- that’s not in the Bible. Jesus never said that.
Absolutely- there is a reason that a raw vegan diet (like the Gerson therapy) is recommended to people when they have cancer (as in tumors, not blood cancers)- it’s to radically clean the body and starve the underlying parasites that are causing the problem. However, it IS a starving diet, a cleaning diet, and it will not build health at all. It is a tool to be used when needed and then allow a quick return to nourishing, traditional foods, rich in animal proteins and fats (from healthy pastured animals) to rebuild the body and nourish it for life.
When I was so desperate to improve my health, I went to a raw vegan diet because I’d found books that spoke what I knew to be true- that the Standard American Diet was killing me. However, it really went off the rails when it discussed that animal products were the problem- no CONVENTIONAL animal products were the problem. Cooking was not the problem, but consuming every COOKED and FRIED like most modern diets include, without FERMENTED live foods, inclusion of fruits and veggies on the diet (more than corn and potato). Anyway, I didn’t know about Nourishing Traditions then and my husband and I went raw vegan for a few months- and it was horrible. I didn’t feel well, there was too much agave nectar in our diet, and nothing was warm or satisfying. It felt so unnatural, so soul-less. After all, we’ve been gathering around the campfire cooking meat for a really, really long time- millions of years- and this just eating salad and zucchini noodles and nut butters and superfood shakes really goes against that.
Long story short, it was through my foray into a vegan diet (raw vegan!) that brought me to Nourishing Traditions and once I read the first 60 pages, I knew I was home. It was truth that shook me to my core, and it was literally what saved my life. Real, traditional foods are healing and nourishing and it’s exactly what we’re supposed to eat for lifelong health.
“So eat always from the table of God: the fruits of the trees, the grain and grasses of the field, the milk of beasts, and the honey of bees. For everything beyond these is of Satan”
…there is no Biblical scripture that says this..This phrase is from The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book One that talks about worshipping “mother earth” intepreted and held by the Vatican
Christ ate lamb or goat to keep the Passover and we also know he ate fish..
I would wager that the meats back then were far different than the ones we have now even organic due to the environment.
The Bible does say I give you herbs for your food and plants for your medicine
In Genesis it said plants shall be as meat for us and not until after the flood did he allow for meat due to lack of vegetation.
Not co-incidentally perhaps the ages went for the 900s to the 100s and under.
Jesus was respectful to his mother and gracious to the host and would have eaten the foods she prepared which in all likelihood were the foods of the average Jewish person of the day; however, I once read they were of the essence sect where primarily vegetarian was used.
Just cause he occasionally ate clean, organic animals food does not mean necessarily that this was his steady diet. Jesus was more focused perhaps on the spiritual lessons to us than the physical ones but I can guess he would not be advocating for using gmo and refined and irradiated foods and fast foods etc were he alive today.
Actually the real historical Jesus taught that animal sacrifice and eating meat was edited into the Torah (FYI I am Jewish also btw). We Jews who are educated on Torah matters are well aware that Hashem never required animal sacrifice and that it was edited in later (See Jeremiah 8:8)
In fact the Ben Asher Torah Codex has Hashem clearly forbidding the eating of Meat to Moses unlike modern edited Bibles.
Jesus did infact teach a LIVING FOODS VEGETARIAN DIET according to the Essene Gospel of Peace which was locked in Secret Vatican Archives until the 1930’s. The Clementine Homilies also supports this. (Church history also records that the earliest followers of Jesus including his brothers and the Apostles were all vegetarians!)
Of course you can imagine if you think about it why Christianity covers up the fact that animal sacrifice was never required also!
(Folks go read the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul of Tarsus was in fact the ENEMY of the Jesus movement!)
very interesting discussion!
Bob, if you are Jewish, have you heard of Sid Roth? ( check out http://www.sidroth.org )
-becky
I will pray for you and the lies you believe about the old and new covenant. This website is about food as is the comment section so I will not comment any further. In Christ, Sara
Here is a good read, I though to share this with you. May it be a blessing.~Cor 4:3-4 http://www.bartleby.com/108/47/4.html
how incredibly rude & hypocritical of you to comment on others’ religious beliefs as lies and then chide them to change the subject away from religion.
Tina, Yes, I was simply agreeing that is was a good food documentary. If one chooses to have a total plant food base diet that is great. I think people should know that some of us that took that route had to go back to meat. My own body was having trouble asborbing enough amino acids, minerals etc from just plants for my body to absorb all the vitamins and minerals it needed. 🙂 PEACE!
Barbara – I thought Forks over Knives was about being a vegetarian? Am I wrong?