Wes True, there are vegetarian sources of omega-3s and mono-unsaturated fats. But two things that make it harder to thrive on a raw unprocessed vegan diet are B12 and the Omega 6:3 ratio. Almost every plant food that is high in Omega-3, aside from flaxseed, contains more than twice as much Omega-6 as Omega-3. So a vegan raw food eater (which you are not) would have to eat a huge amount of flaxseed to balance out the Omega-6, especially if like most raw food eaters he gets 20% or more of his calories as fat. Also, if he uses a grinding toy, then he's relying heavily on processed food. Does anyone eat a "sizeable quantity" of raw greens? How much raw cabbage or spinach can anyone eat before it gets "hot", and how many lettuces before suffering diarrhea? Herbivores have guts adapted to sizeable quantities of grass or leaves, so doesn't it make sense to let them do the processing? Isn't it easier to eat flaxseed via the yolks of chickens which love to peck it up? > what man did/does, is not necessarily what's optimum for man to do Yes, but surely the question is, has man evolved to depend on it? One reason that I choose to eat raw food is that there is no evidence of cooking in Africa before 60 Ky ago, and hence little evidence that man is adapted to it. But the evidence for meat-eating goes back much further, to our genesis as a species, and perhaps our relatively small guts and relatively large brains betray evolutionary adaptations to a somewhat higher level of meat-intake than chimps. > I included some raw fish as part of my diet for a while, but haven't had > any since December. I've been thriving better in all regards without it. That sounds like a mighty short trial. Don't you find that your tastes seesaw unpredictably? Chimps go happily for weeks without a meat dish, but they always return to it eventually. I agree with you that theory may point in a certain direction, but it's results that count. That, and the pleasure of eating really delicious raw meals. I don't much like flaxseed, and it ALWAYS gives me a headache the next morning. But chacun a son gout! Cheers Lance