There are a few distinct differences between vegetarian and raw food diets. Basically, a vegetarian is someone who is committed to not eat meat, fish, poultry or any animal products, but only consumes vegetables, pasta, and rice. On the other hand, a raw foodist is a vegetarian, but one who eats unprocessed, uncooked, organic, whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, nuts seeds, legumes, dried fruits, seaweeds, etc. It denotes a diet that is at least 75% uncooked! Raw foodist cooks very little and definitely doesn’t cook or process fruits and vegetables. Raw foodist simply eats them raw.

Raw foodist, vegans and frutarians are some of the different categories of vegetarians. Yes, raw foodist is a category of vegetarianism as mentioned earlier. However, to be a raw food purist, you should eat raw vegetables like raw broccoli, not steamed. To a vegetarian, who doesn’t eat meat or fish or any animal products, steamed vegetables are just as good, though every person would concur that steaming can take out nutrients from foods and turn them into less nutritious. A vegetarian might consume dairy or egg products but a vegan will not consume any animal products at all. The raw foodist then is a vegan who consumes only uncooked, unprocessed raw foods.