Are there any Raw Vegans out there? I'm curious about raw veganism

I'm not a raw-vegan, nor am I vegan anymore. However, I work in a veggie cafe, most of a our food is vegan (the odd quiche and greek salad not withstanding) and we have a good selection of raw food salads. Cooking is a way to get more nutrients out of the foods we eat (so many food stuffs can be eaten raw) as the heat breaks down tissue and basicly starts the digestion for us by breaking bonds in long molecule chains. However, with modern foods, especially organic and slow grown foods, the nutrient levels are high enough and we can afford to eat enough that nutrient worries really shouldn't be a problem. Some recent studies (just things I've read on slow days at work... sorry I cannot site) have suggested that we are far too worried about the nutrients we take in. For the average Joe, working 9-5 in an office, a single bowl of pasta will contain enough protein for the day (I know, not raw but that was what the article was using). They say the Chinese army could march 100 miles on a bowl of rice. Now this is likely an exaggeration, but there is a grain of truth in it; we don't need as much as we think we do in our modern sedentiary lives. The same goes for vitamins and minerals (not that the nutritionists will be having any of it... they'd be out of their jobs). A balanced diet, whether raw or cooked should provide all you need. And if you listen to your body's cravings it's easy to boost what you're low on at any given time. As for the ethics. It's not really about the ethics, as far as I know. I think it's more to do with aiding digestion; lots more fibre. Also, the Blood Type Diet advises against certain foods because of lectins (think fo them as free radicals; they float around the system looking for cells to latch on to and make them multiply, causing cancers... is the simplest way of putting it). Cooking some foods can 'trigger' lectins in some foods, whilst 'turning them off' in others. For a more indepth view: acu-cell.com/btd.html I don't know many of the advantages of raw foods, but I cannot see the disadvantages as being massive.

I am a part of the Raw Vegan community in Australia and I know lots of people who are thriving on a raw vegan diet. I also know people who struggle with it. It is the same with a normal vegan diet. There are healthy foods that are packed with nutrients and there are those that are not so good for us, even when they are raw plants based foods. We still need to vary our intake of foods. Some people on a raw diet get stuck with their favourite foods and do not get enough variety. Just like people on a regular diet do. There are people who put down others who cook their food, but they are the extremists that find their way into any community. Most are understanding as they have cooked their own food in the past as well.