While most fad diets restrict the range of foods their followers can eat, the raw food craze takes aim at their preparation — outlawing cooking. Adherents argue that heat kills nutrients and enzymes, stripping the very “life force” from foods. But experts say that more often than not, the opposite is true: Cooking unlocks the health benefits of many plants.
Of course, raw vegetables are plenty good for you. Admittedly some, like potatoes, are seldom eaten that way, while others, like the widespread staple cassava, are highly toxic without careful preparation. Nevertheless, the British Dietetic Association named the raw vegan diet one of five “celebrity diets to avoid” in 2018, noting that many foods are more nutritious after cooking. “The human body can digest and be nourished by both raw and cooked foods,” the association wrote, “so there’s no reason to believe raw is inherently better.”
