Raw food vegan diet is largely composed of raw plants - actually about 80 percent.
This percentage worries people - the healthy and the borderline healthy alike - who want to have all the nutrients their bodies need.
After all, plants are plants.
As nutritious as they are, they couldn't possibly pack in everything that the body needs.
Or couldn't they? Believe it or not, they could.
We've all been conditioned to think that fruits and vegetables, or plants in general, are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals but not of fat or protein.
So if you're worrying your raw food vegan diet won't give you the protein and fat your body requires, stop! The truth is, correctly drawn up raw food vegan diets involve a combination of sweet fruits, green leafy vegetables, and high-fat plants that give you your RDA of all nutrients.
Now, how much of what should a person on a raw food vegan diet eat? Experts have varied recommendations.
Ultimately, it depends on what your body needs.
Some people develop dental issues due to very high sweet fruit consumption so they'll have to cut down on sweet fruits in their diets.
Others have trouble keeping their weight on manageable levels without high-fat food intake so they need more of fatty plants.
As a rule of thumb, green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, kale, and others commonly eaten raw like lettuce and carrots bring your mineral and protein intake to required levels.
Green leafy vegetables are excellent sources of Vitamin K which promotes normal blood clotting and healthier, stronger bones.
Carrots have long been known to contain high levels of Vitamin A; it's also packed with calcium.
Is it possible for us to subsist on a raw food vegan diet solely? Advocates of the raw lifestyle say yes.
They base their argument on our great evolutionary ancestors, the apes.
These apes survived on leaves, shoots, and fruits.
Advocates argue that a return to the natural foods similar to what our ancestors had will bring great benefits to our health and well-being.