What Happens If You Eat Raw Food Every Day?

November 12, 2025 •

5 min read

While raw food diets are often lauded for their high nutrient and enzyme content, experts warn that sustained, restrictive raw food consumption is difficult to maintain and may lead to serious nutritional deficiencies. This eating pattern, which avoids heating food above 104–118°F (40–48°C), comes with a complex mix of potential benefits and significant risks that are important to understand for long-term health.

Quick Summary

This article explores the health impacts of eating a diet consisting primarily of uncooked and unprocessed foods, covering potential benefits like weight loss and increased fiber, alongside serious drawbacks such as heightened foodborne illness risk and long-term nutritional deficiencies.

Key Points

Nutrient Deficiencies: A daily raw food diet can lead to deficiencies in key nutrients like vitamin B12, iron, and calcium, potentially causing long-term health issues.
Foodborne Illness Risk: Consuming raw animal products, and even some contaminated produce, significantly increases the risk of contracting dangerous foodborne illnesses from bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli.
Digestive Challenges: High fiber content in raw foods and the presence of anti-nutrients can cause digestive distress, bloating, and poor nutrient absorption for some individuals.
Enhanced Nutrient Bioavailability: Cooking some foods, such as tomatoes and carrots, actually makes certain antioxidants like lycopene and beta-carotene more readily available to the body.
Healthy Weight Loss: While raw diets can promote weight loss due to lower calorie density, a strict approach may result in unhealthy weight loss and insufficient protein and energy intake.
The Best Approach is Balanced: Neither an exclusively raw nor a fully cooked diet is ideal; a mixed approach, combining raw fruits and vegetables with safely cooked foods, provides the most comprehensive nutrition.

The Benefits of a Raw Food Diet

A diet rich in raw, unprocessed plant-based foods can offer several advantages, many of which stem from high intake of fresh produce, nuts, seeds, and sprouted legumes.

Increased Nutrient and Fiber Intake

Raw foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Since cooking can sometimes reduce the content of water-soluble vitamins like C and B, eating raw can help preserve these nutrients. A high intake of fruits and vegetables naturally boosts fiber consumption, which is beneficial for digestion and can help with weight management. The soluble fiber found in many raw foods acts as a prebiotic, feeding the beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome and promoting overall digestive health.

Potential for Weight Loss

Raw foods are generally lower in calories and higher in fiber and water content than their cooked or processed counterparts. This can help you feel full on fewer calories, making it a viable strategy for weight loss. Research has shown that individuals who follow a raw food diet tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI).

Elimination of Processed Foods

Adhering to a raw food diet necessitates the elimination of highly processed, packaged foods, which are often high in added sugars, sodium, and unhealthy fats. Avoiding these ultra-processed products can reduce inflammation and lower the risk of chronic diseases associated with poor diet, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The Significant Risks and Drawbacks

While the upsides are appealing, a daily raw food diet presents notable challenges and health risks that must be considered.

Risk of Foodborne Illness

One of the most significant dangers is the increased risk of foodborne illness from bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter. This risk is especially high when consuming raw animal products such as unpasteurized milk, eggs, meat, and fish. However, even raw produce like sprouts and lettuce can be contaminated. Cooking food effectively kills these pathogens, making a purely raw diet inherently riskier.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Despite the high concentration of some nutrients, a raw food diet is often inadequate in others. Common deficiencies for those on a strict raw vegan diet include vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, and calcium. Many of these nutrients are most readily available from cooked or animal-based foods. Cooking also increases the bioavailability of certain nutrients, such as lycopene in tomatoes and beta-carotene in carrots, making them more easily absorbed by the body. The long-term effects can include low bone density and elevated homocysteine levels due to B12 deficiency.

Digestive Issues and Anti-nutrients

For some, a high-fiber raw diet can cause significant digestive discomfort, including gas, bloating, and cramping. This is because raw foods, particularly legumes and some vegetables, contain anti-nutrients like phytic acid and lectins that can hinder nutrient absorption and are neutralized by cooking. While some individuals may adjust over time, others with sensitive digestive systems may find the constant high fiber load problematic.

Potential for Weight Loss to be Unhealthy

While weight loss is a potential benefit, a restrictive raw diet may not provide sufficient calories, leading to unintended and potentially unhealthy weight loss. For women of childbearing age, this can lead to menstrual irregularities or amenorrhea. The diet can also be low in protein, which is essential for preserving muscle mass, especially during calorie restriction.

Raw vs. Cooked: A Comparison


Feature	Raw Foods	Cooked Foods
Nutrient Content	Higher in heat-sensitive nutrients like Vitamin C and some B vitamins.	Some nutrients enhanced (e.g., lycopene in tomatoes, beta-carotene in carrots).
Digestion	Can be more difficult to digest for some due to intact fiber and anti-nutrients.	Cell walls are broken down, making nutrients more bioavailable and easier to digest.
Enzymes	Contains naturally occurring food enzymes, which are destroyed by heat.	Food enzymes are denatured by heat, but the human body produces its own digestive enzymes.
Safety	Higher risk of foodborne illness from bacteria and parasites, especially with animal products.	Heat-treatment kills harmful pathogens, increasing food safety.
Calorie Density	Generally lower calorie density, making it easier to eat large volumes for fewer calories.	Can have higher calorie density, depending on cooking methods and added ingredients.

Embracing a Balanced Approach

Neither an all-raw nor an all-cooked diet represents the pinnacle of human nutrition. A more sustainable and balanced approach involves incorporating the benefits of both. A diet that features a mix of raw fruits and vegetables, alongside properly cooked legumes, grains, and, if desired, animal products, offers the greatest nutritional variety and reduces many of the risks associated with a strict raw diet. Cooking certain foods is necessary for safety and to unlock key nutrients, while eating a portion of your diet raw provides a high intake of heat-sensitive vitamins and enzymes. For example, steaming vegetables lightly retains most nutrients while enhancing digestion, a more balanced approach than strict rawism.

The Importance of Variety and Preparation

Sprouting and Soaking: For nuts, seeds, and legumes, sprouting or soaking can improve digestibility and reduce anti-nutrients, making them safer and more nutritious for raw consumption.
Safe Handling: For any raw food, particularly produce, thorough washing is critical to remove potential contaminants.
Nutrient Cycling: Combining raw and cooked elements throughout the day ensures you get the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals. Think of a salad for lunch and a stir-fry for dinner.

Conclusion

While the raw food diet emphasizes nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods and offers benefits like weight loss and reduced inflammation, committing to it daily is not a strategy supported by sound science or long-term health outcomes. The risks of foodborne illness and significant nutrient deficiencies, particularly in vitamin B12, outweigh the potential rewards for most people. A balanced diet that judiciously combines fresh, raw produce with safely prepared and cooked foods offers the best of both worlds, maximizing nutritional intake while minimizing health risks. Consulting with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian can help ensure all nutritional needs are met, especially when considering a long-term dietary shift. For further information on food safety best practices, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides comprehensive resources on their website.

Authoritative Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020). "Foods That Can Cause Food Poisoning."
Healthline. (2023). "The Raw Vegan Diet: Benefits, Risks and Meal Plan."
Healthline. (2017). "Is Raw Food Healthier Than Cooked Food?"
Healthline. (2023). "The Raw Food Diet: A Beginner's Guide and Review."
WebMD. (2023). "Raw Food Diet Review: Benefits, What You Eat, & More."

Frequently Asked Questions

No, it is not considered safe to eat only raw food every day. While raw fruits and vegetables are generally safe when washed properly, eating raw animal products like meat, fish, and eggs carries a significant risk of foodborne illness from harmful bacteria.

No, a 100% raw diet makes it very difficult to get all the necessary nutrients. It is often deficient in vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and protein, which are more readily obtained from cooked or animal products. Supplements are often necessary to compensate for these deficiencies.

No, cooking does not destroy all nutrients. While some water-soluble vitamins can be reduced, cooking can also increase the availability of other beneficial compounds, like the antioxidant lycopene in tomatoes and beta-carotene in carrots.

For some people, yes. The high fiber content in raw foods, especially if you are not used to it, can cause bloating, gas, and digestive upset. Additionally, some raw legumes and vegetables contain anti-nutrients that can inhibit digestion.

The weight loss is not always healthy. While a raw diet is low in calories, it can be so restrictive that it leads to an overall insufficient caloric intake, potentially causing low bone density and menstrual irregularities in women.

Yes, and this is generally considered the healthiest approach. Incorporating a variety of both raw fruits and vegetables with properly cooked whole grains, legumes, and lean proteins provides a more balanced and safer diet.

Yes, many fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha are considered raw because they are not heated above the temperature threshold. Fermented foods introduce beneficial probiotics and are often included in a raw food diet.