Missing things in the raw food diet?

[bankshalom]

Hello everyone,

I was curious if there are any important vitamins, minerals, etc. I am missing in this raw food diet such as zinc, vitamin B12,etc.

If anyone has a detailed list and suggestions I would appreciate it.

Thank you,
Chaim

[samariah]

good sources of zinc are: pumpkin seeds, coconut meat, i think sprouted grains, hempseeds (i think), in general nuts and sprouted grains.

I know kombucha has b12 but im not sure what else exactly.

[dreamrawalwz]

You're most likely receiving more nutrients through raw than cooked. The only one I'd supplement with is B12 if you feel comfortable doing that.

[exurb]

I think you suddenly open up all these other excellent nutrients that the average american diet is low in. However, I do believe strongly that it is possible to get too little of some nutrients if you're not aware of them and go a little out of your way to eat them.

The ones I've noticed in addition to the obvious B-12, is calcium, iron, zinc, and a few others. If you're one of those on here who is terrified of nuts, fats, avos, seeds, you will probably not be in a good range for Vitamin E. Also, many raw foodists are too low in the nutrients we usually get from grains (or fortified grains in the typical American diet, because there ain't much nutrients left in things like bread so they add them). These are the usual array of B-vitamins which are very important, so if you're wanting to cover all nutrients, be sure to include some sprouted grains in your diet (many raw foodists do not consume any grains). Protein while a debatable topic may also be low if you have an unbalanced raw diet, especially with lots of sweet fruits taking up most of your calories. Vitamin D will need to be taken in by sunshine. D is showing up more an more as important to prevent diseases, so make sure you get enough sun to make enough vitamin D.

That pretty much covers what I've encountered as nutrients that one could potentially get low in. I strongly believe that you still need to balance your diet carefully with respect to getting essential nutrients. If you just eat what you feel like eating, or really over-restrict, IMO you will definitely show up deficiencies in the long run. I wouldn't worry about deficiencies so much in the short run, but if you get to be long term raw, IMO you will have to consider nutrition or issues may show up.