Raw Food Diet - "Light to Heavy" Approach

A "Light to Heavy" raw food meal plan focuses on "lighter", more quickly burning foods such as fruits in the morning and ends with fats and possibly some cooked foods at night.

On her website, author and raw food specialist Natalia Rose says: "Try as much as possible to incorporate the “light to heavy” concept in your daily routine. This means that you eat your lightest food first (green juice, fruits, raw veggies, etc.), culminating in heavier fare such as cooked foods, flesh, and grains later in the day. You should also apply this concept to individual meals: for example, salad first, followed by cooked food or denser raw food." (Link)

How would a "Light to Heavy" day look? 

Breakfast

Fresh fruit is one of my favorite breakfasts (not canned or jarred fruit - which are pasteurized and soaked in sugary syrup). There are endless varieties of fruit - bananas, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, apples, oranges, pineapples, pears, dates, etc. Try blending your favorite combination with some raw protein powder for a fruit smoothie. Or add in a handful of fresh greens for a "green smoothie".

Lunch

Fresh salad - The focus on lunch should be freshly chopped vegetables. Heavy foods like avocados, nuts and heavy oils should be used sparingly. 

Dinner

The focus for dinner can be on heavier foods such as avocados, nuts, seeds, cooked soups, cooked rice and cooked beans. The dinner meal is when people who are not vegans might want to incorporate some animal products such as raw milk, raw milk cheese, wild caught fish  and free range eggs (raw egg yolks or cooked whole eggs). Combining one or more of the above foods with some fresh green or carrot juice makes dinner the largest and must filling meal of the day.