Frequently Asked Questions

If you wonder it, we answer it.


What, exactly, is raw food?
It can be as simple as a salad loaded with veggies or as gourmet as mock salmon in hollandaise with delectable chocolate cheesecake for dessert. The common denominator is that raw food is made exclusively from fresh, primarily organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. It's vegan: There's no meat, dairy or eggs. Nor are there any refined sugars or preservatives. Most raw recipes are knockoffs of favorite dishes made far healthier with whole, living ingredients and nutrient-friendly preparation. The experience of the food doesn't change, except for in the positive.

Is all of the food uncooked and cold?
To be considered raw—with its live enzymes and peak nutritional properties intact—food can't be heated over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Dehydrators are used in preparation to "cook" and "bake" certain recipes, rendering crispiness and binding without exceeding that temperature ceiling. Pure Market Express food comes ready or nearly ready to eat. Serve it chilled, at room temp or warmed (on stovetop or hotplate but not in the microwave) to 110 degrees. Customers routinely comment that, given the rich flavors and textures of, say, raw lasagna, they don't even notice that it's not piping hot. Certain soups and cacao bean—the raw equivalent of hot chocolate—are more comforting slightly warm.

What are the benefits of eating raw?
You are what you eat. By not consuming the bad stuff—meat, dairy, sugar, processed foods—you're already ahead. Plant-based eating embodies what even the most mainstream dietary paths—represented by USDA's food guide pyramid—advocate: consuming unlimited fruits and vegetables with their abundant antioxidants. Then, because cooking's high temperatures haven't zapped the food's natural enzymes, vitamins, minerals and amino acids, you get the most nutritional value possible. Effortless weight loss, increased energy, clearer skin, bright eyes and enhanced mental clarity are givens. Chronic conditions such as candida, fibromyalgia, food allergies, mood disorders, even cancer, respond favorably as well. Visit our Why Raw section.

How much raw food do you need to eat to feel a difference?
The more you eat raw, the better. Many proponents advocate having at least 75 percent of one's diet be raw. There's long been evidence that eating raw for breakfast best "breaks" the overnight "fast" and provides sustained energy that eclipses a caffeinated lift. A salad for lunch followed by a healthful, appropriately portioned cooked dinner will render positive changes in most everyone. However, those who've eaten both ways—partially versus entirely raw—report that their metabolisms ramp up when they're eating only raw. They eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and still lose weight and feel great. This whatever-whenever ability disappears with the introduction of cooked foods.

Does a raw food diet provide enough protein?
To learn how much protein you need per the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get your weight in kilomgrams. Multiply this by 0.8 if you're healthy but sedentary, or by a number between 1 and 1.8 that corresponds to how often and vigorously you do strength training or endurance exercise, your stress level or your illness recovery. Being pregnant also counts. The total equals the number of grams of protein you need daily. Thus, a 154-pound sedentary person weighs 70 kilograms and needs 56 grams of protein. Raw recipes are loaded with a huge variety of ingredients, and the grams add up. The Green Smoothie contains an entire bunch of raw spinach for 9.72 grams of protein. But for its color, the spinach is largely hidden but hugely important nutritionally. Such also applies in other recipes to hemp seeds, two tablespoons of which deliver 11 grams of protein, an ounce of nuts (4 to 6 grams), and sprouts (6 grams). It adds up.

Are there side effects to eating raw food?
Unhealthful food leaves behind a residue in your system, the most obvious of which is excess weight. The bountiful fiber in a raw diet is like a big broom that swishes through your digestive system, grabbing fats and carrying them to the colon before elimination. Raw foods thus clean and flush you out. People who go entirely raw will likely, within a week or two, experience diarrhea, gas and/or symptoms akin to those of a cold (headache, congestion). Though generally unpleasant, this detoxification period is necessary and good, and leaves you feeling energized. Though letting the accumulated toxins flush out is best, diarrhea can be controlled, if desired, by consuming binders such as bananas, dehydrated fruit, steamed rice, cooked oatmeal and/or steamed veggies, phasing out the cooked foods as time passes and your body adjusts.

Eating raw is said to be ecologically responsible. How is that?
Different foods take different amounts of natural resources and energy to produce. Eating lower on the food chain can make as effective a dent in carbon emissions as driving a hybrid car. The foods that compose a raw diet—fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds—are far and away more eco-friendly to produce than meat and dairy. To wit: The water required to raise and butcher 10 pounds of steak—irrigating fields, running slaughterhouses, powering both refrigeration units and sewage plants—is equivalent to a household's average water consumption for a whole year. Then there's the runoff from the fertilizer used to grow grain, 70 percent of which is fed to animals, after which cattle belch methane, a greenhouse gas that's 20 times as potent as carbon. Throughout this process, billions of gallons of oil are needed to fuel tractors and to transport feed and livestock. In the end, a grilled steak leaves a carbon footprint of 10.5 pounds compared to one of less than .18 pound for vegetables. And the health benefits follow suit. Visit our Why Raw section