No, I am not going to exercise cheesy humor like "raw vegan diet is dangerous because you will be too young and beautiful that you will have to endure all those compliments from people" and so on. This way of eating, this way of living may end up being truly dangerous because it often offers magic, and the more desperate a person is the easier it is to sell them the idea of this magic, just like it happens with the cults.
I also can't believe that I have to write this article… At times my article may appear absurd, but I am addressing the absurd phenomena that exist, propagate, and discredit the idea of a raw diet, and I, being in a place of a public person who is being privately and publicly messaged by a variety of people interested in this lifestyle, cannot ignore some trends.
I love this saying: "Do not study physics if you want your life to be filled with miracles". A scientific approach is different from a religious, mystical approach mainly in trying to explain the observations and in encouraging the curiosity, in trying to find a mathematical model, a system of laws and causality relationships, in trying to describe and characterize the observed phenomena, in order to make them predictable, reproducible, accessible and understandable to the public, and to be able to base technology or methods on those phenomena. In contrast, a mystical, cult-like approach monopolizes the ownership of the observation and strives to protect the observation from being unraveled and explained in detail such that it retains the status of hermetic knowledge. "Believe and it will work! Ah? Are you saying it didn't work? I guess it's your fault! You didn't believe enough! Your vibrations are too low!"
And while I agree with the notion that there is a highly subjective, perceived form of reality that exists in our minds, that there are some coincidences that suddenly lead to great changes in life, we are still a part of a huge, material, objectively existing system that is surprisingly well described with sturdy mathematical models. This system can be broken down to multiple sub-systems for which mathematical models will vary: mechanical level, thermodynamics, electrodynamics, molecular, atomic, and nuclear level, etc. Our body can be characterized using primarily mechanics, chemistry (interactions of atoms and molecules and thermodynamics), and electrodynamics. Our mind, in turn, is a system that is characterized by chemistry and electrodynamics.
We are lucky that by this point a large fraction of body functions is characterized and quantified, and the same applies to foods, hence we can use certain models, certain optimums in order to build our nutrition such that it is compatible with life and health. Of course, some subtle relationships in the electromagnetic realm are not explored yet, leaving some space for folklore to conceptualize and interpret the connection between our minds and our cells and other examples of synchronicity, so this area of study remains fluid and, so to speak, easy to monetize because it is not based, nor it is objective, and its implications may vary from case to case.
However, especially in non-conformist communities, we can at times observe a complete voluntary rejection of scientific knowledge making areas of study that are well described and objectified treated the same as metaphysical phenomena. This is exacerbated by the fact that science is tightly related to technology (and specifically biotechnology, including pharmaceutical industry), and sometimes scientific ethics is sacrificed in favor of profits leading to a growing distrust in science as a whole. However, science is not equal to technology.
Example:
People discovered such fossil fuel as oil. The first-level science characterized its chemical composition and interactions, described its origins, conditions and reagents necessary to form oil, found its physical, thermodynamic properties, defined the geological structures that indicate oil stores. Technology used all that knowledge to develop a product: ready-to-use fuel and engines using it, different forms of plastics and fibers for industrial, laboratory, and household use. Each oil-based product carries its own benefits and drawbacks. And now, second-level science studies the impact of those products on the areas where those products are being used in and on the areas secondarily affected by oil-based products (environment, biosphere, public health). This is followed by development of technology addressing the problems induced by the use of oil, and so on. But. How is the mere knowledge about oil, the science, guilty? What harm did it bring? Should we deny or prohibit science that enabled the problems that came after oil-based products were introduced? I would say otherwise, we should maximize our awareness in science and scientific method to be more mindful and well-rounded in the subject of immediate relevance to be able to make informed choices!
When we bring the context of raw foodism (or any other extravagant diet), this trend of science denial becomes apparent. Juxtaposing biotechnology and related businesses, often regarded by people as science itself, against traditional medicines, schools of alternative nutrition, etc. is a trap that people who suffered from some negative consequences of engaging with biotechnology or who recognized the dysfunctional patterns associated with technology and social trends fall into. It is a trap in the same way any extremism is. It violates the principles of reasoning where each described phenomenon has a defined scope of applicability ("X applies for ..., on a scale ..., in a mathematical space ..."), enabling conditions ("X can only be true if ..."), statistical model ("Statistically, if applicable and enabled, X is true with Y% chance with the number of incidence following function F with respect to the parameters A1, A2, ..."). This is why any radicalism and/or generalization will always fail the simplest logical breakdown. Did I say “always”?
Yes, some general policies based on statistics are sometimes enforced, which is also wrong because there is no process in the biosphere that obeys a very narrow statistical distribution, except for the fact that all living organisms once originated and will eventually die. Where there is life, there is always a spectrum, there is always diversity, deviations that allow us and nature to sort out favorable outcomes and continue the experiment of life.
It was a side tangent to better illustrate the danger of "getting upset with ALL science" and never trusting it again just because you saw something that you disagreed with in how science was used. This is what can make following a raw diet in particular dangerous.
Out of all fields of physics, it is quantum physics that stole the hearts of curious people who look for the explanations of metaphysical phenomena. "We are quantum beings, vibrating entities, energy, our mind can manifest matter", etc. While it holds true on a quantum level because indeed we are composed of elementary particles for which corpuscular-wave, or wave-particle dualism is relevant for describing their individual properties, it is less relevant when those particles form organized matter. We care about electron orbitals and energy levels when we deal with assembly of molecules and interactions between matter and radiation, yet when we no longer need to determine those properties of molecules and predict what will happen when, for example, Zn is exposed to oxygen and why, or what will happen when we expose photosensitive polymer to UV light, those things are used on a higher level, we simply know or can freely access the knowledge about those properties. We don't need to sit and solve Schrodinger's equation every time we want to talk about zinc oxide and its chemical interactions. We can start populating our knowledge base using more efficient models, just like we use mechanics for describing a trajectory of a thrown ball instead of regarding the ball as a superposition of wave packets and using a quantum model.
If we talk about nutrition and raw foodism, what to eat, what not to eat, etc., one of the more extreme notions I heard was "there are no vitamins" or "there are no proteins" implying that everything is metaphysical and "just energy" and that we can live off some form of ambient energy as a sole source of nutrition. On the one hand, matter is energy, but it is a condensed and ordered energy, moreover, it is ordered following very specific laws, but you cannot effectively characterize complex molecules and their interactions using waves, it is simply computationally irrational. This is why different nutritional elements are classified into groups based on their chemical structure, chemical composition, and functions in the living organisms and they are labeled as salts, acid and bases, organic and inorganic compounds, proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates, fatty acids, peptides, etc. Their reactions are well-described as well.
We can feel, move our members because some exchange of ions or atoms took place, because some molecules fell apart and it released energy that was used for some other reactions or was simply released as heat. We have a reflex of breathing because there are reactions in our cells that produce energy for all other reactions to sustain our life. We involuntarily produce saliva to replenish our enamel with minerals and keep our mouth clean. We involuntarily produce, expel, and constantly renew mucus (mucin proteins) to protect our entryways from pathogens (chemical scale) and mechanical-scale dirt. We involuntarily sweat secreting a 1% electrolyte solution thus losing minerals - same minerals that allow our heart to involuntarily contract. Our skin involuntarily self-lubricates with lipids produced by the oil glands and secreted to the surface to protect the outer layer of skin from the environment. Moreover, all our internal and external tissues constantly shed and renew using both matter and energy, our cells have encoded expiration terms, we heal wounds, produce new blood, grow hair and nails, we can even grow an entire organ and a human inside, so microscopically and quite macroscopically, our body is not an enclosed system chemically! Even each of these simple, readily observed mundane processes require quite materialistic components delivered from the ambience - so-called essential nutrients. And we haven't even looked into the complex reactions happening inside of the organs and tissues... Only in absence of exchange with the outer world would a human be able to follow a so-called "autonomy".
We need specific nutrients simply because it is more energetically favorable for nature to have it this way, to sustain equilibrium in the entirety of the ecosystem. It is easier to distribute the roles across different species through a food chain and to adapt them to a certain type and level of radiation and inorganic matter, than to, for example, put a photosynthesis mechanism and some plugs to be able to suck up filtered minerals from soil in the mammals. (Or it would have to put a sturdy nuclear fusion chamber somewhere in a belly to produce minerals if it was a principal stance of some extravagant animal to not be getting any pre-assembled nutrition from the environment, but it is simply energy costly and irrational). This is why mammals have developed digestive systems that are not only filtering, but actually capable of fragmenting complex molecules and tissues, as well as synthesizing complex molecules. No mammals other than some raw vegan humans strive to practice autotrophy. And the only difference between humans and mammals in that regard is that mammals' dietary habits are instilled into them by nature in a form of instincts, whereas people have free will over instincts, and higher cognitive functions, and because of that, because of our ability to adapt and create, we developed some confusion in what is natural and what isn't. While, on the one hand, the majority of the population is confused in a way that they consume synthetic substances and isolates not found in nature and not suited for human consumption, there is another extreme.
Some people come to think that humans are like plants and that the digestive system is a rudiment (very advanced, connected to literally all vital organs, very large and heavy, and matter- and energy-costly one, so it doesn't quite resemble a rudiment, does it?).
All of this discourse was to address one of the most dangerous ideas circulating in the raw foodist community worldwide: "we do not need food and when we are clean and detoxified enough, we can just breathe and soak up sunshine as a source of energy". This idea literally takes lives, yet it still remains attractive for many new raw vegans. Some people develop serious complications already at a stage of obsessively trying to detoxify themselves. Yet I hear this over and over, over and over, over and over:
"Oh, are you vegetarian?" - "Yes, but I would like to become vegan." - we are still at the level of reason and ethics.
"Oh, are you vegan? Awesome! You must be very disciplined!" - this is where health reasons start outweighing ethics.
"OMG are you a raw vegan? That's the ultimate goal!!" - "Yes, but I would like to become a fruitarian...You know, fats and proteins are toxic?" - this is where THE CHALLENGE begins.
"OMG are you a fruitarian? You must be so pure!" - "Yes, but I want to do another juice fast to detox. Those solid foods are toxic. I feel so light and energized with just the fruit juices!"
"Oh, how are you?" - "I've been only drinking juices for the past 6 months, it feels so light, I definitely feel so high vibrational and spiritually clear now! I wouldn't want to go back! Teeth? Ah, it's just a detox... You know, hair, nails, and teeth… they were so toxic!"
"You look...thin. Are you alright?" - "I've always wanted to be free! Free from all this food, free from all the bounds of the material world. I feel so spiritual, I haven't eaten anything for a couple of weeks and this is the best I've ever felt, you know? It was always my dream to be so clean that I could feel how my body just makes everything by itself. And all those social constructs about food, about eating are so stupid. I am living proof that we don't need food!" - "Living hehe. You are saying that you are not eating, yet everything that defines you, that is your life's purpose revolves around food that you are NOT eating and you are fully submitted to it, aren't you?"
It may start with rebellion against science that derived somewhat universal guidelines for nutrition: this many calories, fats, carbs, protein containing all essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, essential vitamins, minerals (they are all essential), and trace elements. It also identified and characterized some useful phytochemicals that help humans remain healthy while exposed to the ambient radiation and oxidation. And while those nutritional recommendations may allow some deviation in specific humans with specific traits and local environmental conditions, they are still quite fair and are close to the physiological norm. The rebellion may be fueled by the fact that policy-making institutions take the nutrition recommendations and build something like a food pyramid insisting on consumption of whole grains, meat, dairy, and vegetable and fruits, and giving guidelines for how and in what quantities to consume edible synthetics, such as sugar, alcohol, instead of disregarding them altogether. It may seem like a food pyramid is the climax of scientific thought in the area of nutrition, but it is not and it becomes especially evident if you for once go on scholar.google.com to search for some specific areas of study. The same nutritional guidelines can be achieved with a variety of different foods. And yes, something like microbiome studies is still somewhat young and not everything is known about the role and capabilities of the gut microbes. Yes, gut bacteria can synthesize some amino acids, neurotransmitters, and vitamins, but they synthesize them from condensed matter, not from energy - bacteria literally serve as the last-stage decomposers of matter (they can also operate as producers) in nature. Science is always advancing and is always in development. At the same time, we know as much as needed to build nutrition that covers our fundamental needs and we can also derive some supplementation guidelines due to living in anthropogenically augmented ecosystems. Yes, a well-balanced raw vegan diet with B12 (and, seasonally, D3) supplementation can be healthful, nutritionally complete, and prolific. And yes, a raw vegan diet can be a problem when it suddenly becomes anything but food.
In general, food has its own compartment in life. We are somewhat more than animals because we are capable of analysis, imagination, complex diverse organization, self-imposed discipline, existential questions, and creativity. And we have a purely animalistic component that feels rewarded (through hormones) when it eats, eliminates, reproduces, and moves. However even the puppies that are more motivated by food than play and social activities are considered not healthy...
When there is a disbalance in one’s life, different essential compartments can be filled with wrong things, so food, in particular, can start taking up too much attention and time, gradually overwhelming a person's identity, given that food is something so readily available to us nowadays.
Basing one’s identity on something one is very dangerous because that one thing can become irrelevant, dysfunctional, can be taken away, or can start threatening a person’s life. And the more primitive and limited this one thing is, the more vulnerable identifying through it becomes. The fact that the mere identity, a core of a person is based on that thing will make abandonment of that one thing catastrophic, unimaginable, extremely traumatizing, just like it happens in people who spent most of their lives in cults and then, years later, happened to realize something that shattered their faith in the cult and brought them emptiness and deep remorse about all the years spent in the cult that didn’t allow them to really experience life that could have been lived.
At the same time, that grand idea, that one thing that defines a person becomes the only area of growth, and desire to grow and develop is natural for humans. How to grow personally when your personality is raw foodist? There are only so many nutrients and only so many foods we can eat. Identity through food is limited in principle because we cannot infinitely develop and productively challenge ourselves in eating (in contrast with arts or sciences, professional areas, social outreach, for instance, where we can continuously refine our skill and expressive language for strikingly conveying our vision and senses, develop precision of thought, and coherence of reasoning, raise new generations that will continue our work, invent something by arranging chaos into ordered matter). But…we can technically challenge ourselves by NOT eating or eating in some intricate ways! And here we enter a totally different territory where food becomes much more than food seamlessly blending with infinite realm of subjective spiritual world that can be completely detached from the material reality and where a person can be completely free in their imagination.
Fruit/mono/juice/water/dry fasting is often presented as an ultimate solution to one’s problems, and while it can indeed be a healing practice for certain health conditions, when done purposefully and mindfully, knowing the risks, knowing what it is for and how it is supposed to be done, in some cases it turns into obsession.
Obsessive fasting and detox are the leading cause of health problems and premature death of raw foodism enthusiasts. At the same time this phenomenon is typical in people who begin to associate their self-worth, their self-esteem, their self-identity with so-called toxins. Fasting becomes a foundation, a prerequisite for their spiritual life, it becomes an integral part of their public image and identity.
“If you are unable to synthesize vitamins and amino acids in your gut, if you show any signs of aging, if you have flatulence, if you have hair loss or any other symptom - you name it - you are just not there yet, you are toxic, everything that is off is a consequence of toxicity, you must detox more, you have stuff to do, don’t you dare to stop now, before you even step into the magic land? Do you even realize what you are missing out on? You must work on cleaning your body more, you must become empty, sustain that emptiness, you must find meaning in it, you must work on your mind to access this deep understanding, this religious ecstasy of abstaining from food to really understand this world, to find awakening, to find enlightenment where nothing matters and you feel the absolute, when your entire being is completely devoted to the pure divine, unbound from the earthly, filthy, primitive act of eating burdening and “polluting” the divine vessel. And after the euphoria and delirium of a sustained fasting you realize that you have an access to the portal to the higher pleasures and meanings, where you do not need to achieve anything, care about the material world, people, obtain access to the resources. You are now respected by the people who also identify through the toxins. You are powerful, you demonstrated that you can do it and are an authority. You also now know that you can be autonomous and free from the burdens of the world, you abject this worldly biology that so many people serve all the time, but you are higher than that, you have put biology in its place, you now can experience life as high as it can be and you know that it is just one detox away. Can I be cleaner than that? Can I achieve highs higher than that? And all of that comes with just not eating? Why do people not do this? Why don’t they want to access this endless bliss?..
Do you feel weak during a fast? It is toxins leaving you, just make sure to power through, you are just too toxic. No, please, don’t break the fast, your detox has only begun. The best is ahead! You do not understand, you are too toxic, you cannot just fast once and be done, you need to fast more, do it regularly, and make sure to be clean between the fasts. Beware! Toxins accumulate quickly and you don’t want all of that gunk inside of your divine vessel! Have you passed mucoid plaque yet? Detox more, you must pass mucoid plaque - this will free you from the demons and you will achieve heaven on earth and only then you will feel real life. Doctors do not understand this, they are saying that they never saw it, but they are corrupt idiots who try to conceal this phenomenon from the people because they work for the system that doesn’t want that higher consciousness awakened, but we know! The higher consciousness is achieved through a good enema! Leave this world, be strange and unique, loyal to your ways even if all of your friends are telling you to stop because you’ve become too thin and exhausted and do not talk about anything but your divine detox journey! At the end of the day, what do they know about real life? What do they know about the true sense of purity and ascension? You are far too mentally developed than them. And you are too close to the main prize to stop now. You must be willing to bet your life for this bliss, it is worth it. Focus on the goal, push yourself to this last challenge of your destiny.”
This is a short and rather exaggerated summary of approximately every single story of obsessive detox, which often result in rather sad outcomes. It is interesting to note that raw foodism is primarily regarded through this perverted lens by society, yet despite it appearing as a grotesque stereotype, this extremist, cult-like, denial approach to raw foodism is promoted again and again, this attitude is pursued by people who want to try this lifestyle and who then, if they escape on time, are seriously bothered by “failing on a raw diet” or writing how raw vegan diet didn’t work for them. The answer to those yearnings is that they were looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place. Food is food. Your body needs nutrients - a good, well-balanced diet provides you nutrients, which are well described and quantified by science and you can experiment and find your methods for better fulfilling your needs. Life is diverse, and biological functions surely must be optimized to suit one’s lifestyle and goals to keep a person healthy and energetic to be able to enjoy life and its challenges. And life itself must be optimized leaving space for all essential aspects of existence if you want to be deeply satisfied with your path in all areas of life.
There is a fine balance found in everything. “All or nothing” is a cognitive distortion that is very convenient to cling on to for a lazy mind that doesn’t want to get occupied searching for the optimum, searching for a particular solution by sorting out everything that lies in between “All” and “Nothing”. It is important to be as well-rounded as possible to be able to find solutions to the problems when they arise. It is important to be open-minded and free from the emotional attachments to the self-imposed rules, to practice aware neutrality. It is important to exercise the ability to solve multi-variable, parametric problems, challenging your analytical skills, while being sensitive and attentive to intuition. It is important to revisit your life and recognize if you are feeling alive and prolific, if you are serving the system of life or if you are escaping it, rejecting some aspects of life. You have much more to explore in life beyond your relationships with food.
-Anastasiia Fedorenko
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