By Jonathan Ward
North America’s largest potluck for raw food vegans takes place every month in a Glebe church basement, but some nutritional scientists call the radical and increasingly popular diet “absurd and unhealthy.”
“I’m sure they don’t eat raw potatoes, even though they probably should,” says Dr. Gerald Buchanan, a professor of organic chemistry at Carleton University who specializes in the chemistry of food, drugs and health. “It’s a crock to say you lose nutritional value by cooking – why wouldn’t they just bake the potato?”
Like traditional vegans, people who follow raw vegan diets avoid all animal products such as eggs and anything made from milk. But they also avoid food that has been cooked, steamed, fried, baked, canned or processed.
That means raw food vegans abstain from staples of regular vegan diets such as soy milk, tofu, cereals and breads – all of which contain at least one cooked ingredient. Instead, they survive on mainly fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts.
Natasha Kyssa is the founder and co-owner of consulting company SimplyRaw, which hosts the monthly potlucks.
Kyssa, a raw food vegan for 16 years, says she believes raw foodism has become popular because of its extraordinary health benefits.
“You can see it in their faces – people on this diet are glowing,” says Kyssa. “That’s why it’s getting so big – once you realize how good you can feel, there’s no going back.”
SimplyRaw’s most recent potluck late last month attracted between 60 and 70 people, a number Kyssa says was lower than usual, but good considering the weather. Some who attended are devoted raw foodists such as Kyssa, while others are just trying the diet to “detoxify.”
Carolyne Bourassa travelled from Montreal through heavy snow and bad traffic to the potluck. She says she has been coming for a year and a half, making this trip her 15th.
“I was vegan for a long time, but I’ve been a raw vegan for two years now, all the way, hardcore,” says Bourassa. “I feel great, way better than before.”
The central argument behind raw foodism revolves around enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that serve as biological catalysts – in human bodies they cause chemical reactions that serve thousands of functions. A commonly known function of enzymes is to help break down food through saliva.
Proponents of raw foodism say cooking food kills its enzymes – enzymes , they believe improve human health. But even though cooking has been scientifically proven to kill enzymes, Buchanan says our bodies produce all the enzymes we need.
“As long as you get enough macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) – and they come from vitamin and mineral-rich sources, your body will produce all the enzymes you need,” he says. “We certainly don’t use food for its enzyme content.”
Kyssa says she rejects certain scientific views because they are meat and dairy-centric. Contrary to Buchanan, Kyssa believes the human body has a limited supply of enzymes.
“One example is ageing,” says Kyssa. “That’s definitely one sign that your enzymes are becoming depleted,” she says.
Mark Faul, Kyssa’s husband and co-owner of SimplyRaw, says the scientific community has not been properly exposed to raw food diets and that is why many doctors and nutritionists do not endorse them.
“Raw foodism is really on the fringe,” says Faul. “There’s a socially constructed stigma against it in the medical field.”
Kyssa and Faul say their potlucks prove that Ottawa’s raw food scene is booming, but expect it to take a long time before “raw foodist” becomes a household term like “vegetarian.”
Meanwhile Buchanan says the diet is “rubbish,” adding that he believes eating a variety of cooked and raw foods is the best way to stay healthy.
“Some raw food is definitely good in your diet, but it’s totally extreme to have it as the sole component,” he says.
“This seems to be another one of those fads.”