Veganism: a diet in which someone abstains from consuming any animal products.

Raw veganism: a diet in which someone abstains from consuming any animal products, as well as food that has been cooked at temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.78 degrees Celsius).

This is a rather controversial topic within the vegan community.  For those who practice this more extreme form of eating, the benefits appear to far outweigh any negative consequences. For example, the spiritual aspects of participating in this lifestyle.
             Let's start with energy.  In it's purest form, energy is essence.  The life-breath of something.  Every day we consume energy, whether it be from talking to a friend, or enduring a baby's screams on the bus.  What is happening around us is transferred into us by its effect.  You might feel sad when you hear the baby cry: that's negative energy.  You might feel happy when you're talking to your friend: that's positive energy.  Neutral energy is when the energy is devoid of emotion, whether it be meditation or even just walking barefoot on the grass.  You can feel it and get something from it, but there isn't necessarily a specific/extreme emotional response.
           After the crash course, now onto the part that has to do with food.  The idea behind eating raw food is that you are aiming to consume energy in the purest, most neutral form possible.  The easiest way for me to explain this is through an example.  Say you have a cupcake (or some food you like).  Cupcakes taste really good, right?  It makes you happy when you eat one because you like the way that your senses perceive it (touch, smell, taste, etc.).  It makes you feel good.  However, cupcakes aren't exactly good for your body.  But, the happy feeling that you get when you eat one (positive energy) overrides that concern. 
                Now, imagine what eating something that was devoid of that sort of emotional reaction would be like.  What would you be thinking about?  How colorful it is?  What sorts of nutrients it has?  How it will affect you physically?  You see, by removing that connection to food, it becomes just that; food.  Food that is used for sustenance rather than a hobby.  Food that is being consumed based on its value rather than its appeal.  Food that is neutral. 
            With this comes more emotional leg room.  By removing that bit of baggage, you now have the space to feel other sensations more fully and acutely.  Instead of an attachment to food, the sun feels warmer, the air seems crisper; life is amplified and you grow stronger because of it.
             So where does the cold veggies only come in?  Well, majority of raw fruits and vegetables are very crisp and clean in flavor/texture.  While they can be embellished, majority of the time Nature does not deliver them that way.  Basically, the more plain or clear cut (as in simple) that something is, the more neutral it is.  Of course, a little positive energy here and there never hurt.
            

 

            And that about sums up my take on it.  What begun as a very scientific analysis has quickly become exactly the opposite.