A raw fruit and vegetable feast is when you indulge in only fruits and vegetables, along with nuts and seeds in their natural state. It can help boost your nutrition and inspire you to become more creative in the kitchen.

To learn more about a raw food diet, we spoke with our friend, Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram, who has been a raw vegan for 19 years. She shares her vibrant recipes and tips for raw living as part of her FullyRaw lifestyle brand and business, which includes her app, private community, YouTube channel with more than one million subscribers, website, and social media. She is the author of The Fully Raw Diet: 21 Days to Better Health, with Meal and Exercise Plans, Tips, and 75 Recipes and lives in Hawaii on a fruit orchard where she grows much of her own fresh food. She was the founder and director of Houston’s Rawfully Organic co-op and FullyRaw Juice company.

I like to say that this is the abundant lifestyle because you get to eat until you’re completely satisfied.”— Kristina

“It’s a guilt-free and shame- free lifestyle. I call it health freedom because our society is typically promoting restrictions, calorie counting, and dieting. That’s the opposite of what I’m promoting.”— Kristina

What Is a Raw Food Lifestyle?

It’s a way of eating that focuses on fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. You can also enjoy sprouts, microgreens, and fermented foods.

“A raw vegan lifestyle generally consists of someone who prioritizes eating fresh, whole, ripe, organic, and local fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds,” she said. “It is living in alignment with nature as much as possible. It’s no longer the norm in today’s society to eat fruits and vegetables. It’s actually harder to eat healthier, and it’s easier to find unhealthy fast foods, junk foods, processed foods, and more.”

Research published in 2021 analyzing self-reported health data from studies involving about two million people found that those who ate more fruits and vegetables daily had better health outcomes.^[1]

Specifically, people who ate at least five servings per day compared to those who said they ate only two servings a day had a:

• 13% lower risk of death from any cause
• 12% lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke
• 10% lower risk of death from cancer
• 35% lower risk from respiratory disease

Dr. Daniel Wang, lead author of the study and a member of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, explained that both fruits and vegetables are major sources of several nutrients that are strongly linked to good health, particularly the health of the heart and blood vessels: potassium, magnesium, fiber, and polyphenols (antioxidant plant compounds).

Going Raw: Kristina’s Story

There are infinite reasons to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables. For Kristina, her journey began when she was young and struggling with her health.

When Kristina was 14 years old, she started having health issues and was later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (hyperglycemia) around age 16. She says she did not grow up on fast food or junk food.

“I grew up on my mother’s Lebanese food and on my father’s Ecuadorian food,” she said. “Most of that really was meat and oil. A cooked meat dish (kibbeh) with a dollop of hummus, and more meat, drizzled with extra olive oil on top.”

Kristina says she hit a rock bottom at age 18. She missed many days of high school due to illness and almost didn’t graduate, despite having the highest GPA in her class. She was hospitalized often for symptoms associated with diabetes and hyperglycemia including high blood sugar, blackout migraines, fainting spells, dizziness, dehydration, and chronic constipation.

“When doctors tell you this is something you’re going to have to live with for the rest of your life, it’s hard to see beyond that,” she said. “I felt very stuck and very hopeless".

At the time she transitioned to eating only sugar-free, diabetic-approved foods that came in packages, recommended by her doctors, who also cautioned against eating fresh fruit because of the sugar content.

After a chance meeting in a health food store, she learned about raw food and became inspired to try it. She went raw vegan overnight, loading up with a box of peaches and embarking on a mono diet for the next two weeks. She ate only peaches during that time, and after the first three days, she started to notice positive changes in her body.

“I noticed my blood sugar levels stabilizing,” she recalled. “I wasn’t dizzy when I was walking. It was bizarre that the one thing doctors were telling me to not eat, which was fruit, was actually making me feel better.”

After a few weeks, she started learning how to prepare salads and started eating other fruits and vegetables.

For her full story, watch her video here.

“When you really become connected with what you’re putting into your body, it changes everything,” Kristina told us.

After 30 days of eating raw, she started feeling so much better. She said she planned to keep going, taking it one day at a time.

“Before I knew it, six months had passed,” she shared. “After a year and a half, I had naturally reversed my type 2 diabetes just by changing my diet. It changed the trajectory of my life. It completely changed my life.”

A Typical Day for Kristina

The outline that has worked for Kristina for 19 years, and what she recommends to thousands of others, is to start the day with a fresh juice (about 32 ounces or more), a smoothie bowl for lunch, and a large rainbow salad for dinner or any other raw vegan dish, with fruit snacks in between. This way of eating does encompass a more high-carbohydrate, low-fat approach, and you can always consume more plant-based fats as desired. Modifications are welcome, and every human body is different, so Kristina encourages you to listen to your own body.

Breakfast:

Get the Glow Juice

Get the recipe

Lunch:

Sunshine Smoothie Bowl

Get the recipe

Dinner:

Rainbow Salad with Dressing

Get the recipe

Dessert:

Dragon Fruit Mango Sorbet

Get the recipe

The Health Benefits of Raw Food

Eating raw foods helps you to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. Instead of relying on processed foods, you focus on plant-based ingredients. You naturally eat more colorful foods, as both fruits and vegetables represent so many colors—and all the nutrients associated with those colors. You can review the colors and their associated benefits here.

Getting people to replace foods that aren’t beneficial to them with fresh, whole fruits and vegetables in their natural state and learning how to prepare them in a way that’s delicious can be really fun and easy. You’ll feel the difference.”— Kristina

A study in the Journal of Nutrition found that those who ate a raw, vegan diet were far less likely than the general population to have high levels of LDL cholesterol, considered the “bad” type of cholesterol.^[2]

A 2023 review of scientific literature evaluating raw, vegan diets found improvements in cardiovascular health, weight and BMI, blood sugar, blood pressure, inflammatory markers, reduced joint disease symptoms, and improved quality of life.^[3]

Just like when adapting any new lifestyle or diet, make sure you receive the right guidance from a professional to ensure you’re consuming enough calories, supplementing to fill in the gaps, and approaching wellness with intention. Kristina recommends getting your blood tested so you have a beginning marker and know how to move forward appropriately.

“I get my blood checked every year, and I have zero deficiencies,” Kristina told us. “I’m doing absolutely wonderful.”

Eating raw is a plentiful way to enjoy meals. When you eat raw foods, you’ll naturally consume a larger volume of food. Fruits and vegetables are higher in water content and lower in calories, so you need to eat a high volume of them to feel full and satisfied.

Eating raw can be affordable. When you replace processed foods with fresh produce, you’ll find that it is much easier on your grocery or farmers’ market bill. You’re not spending money in the center aisles of the grocery store or buying any meat, fish, or other animal products, which can add up.

Getting Started

If you’re interested in trying a raw food diet, or just experimenting with more raw meals, the best way to begin is simply by adding more raw fruits and vegetables to your daily diet. Kristina recommends starting with one raw meal a day. You can substitute your regular food for a big juice, smoothie, or salad.

“I encourage people to consume one FullyRaw vegan meal a day,” she said. “That’s it. It can be really easy to replace a breakfast or a lunch with a juice or a smoothie or a salad.”

Learning how to eat more raw foods takes both patience and effort. Most people need guidance and community. It may also take time for your palate to adjust and for your body to be able to digest higher fiber foods. “It takes time to turn good intentions into healthy habits,” Kristina wrote in her book.

Understanding food volume is a fundamental step in the beginning of a raw vegan journey. It is helpful to track the amount of food you’re eating to ensure you are eating enough.

Part of the problem people face when they approach this lifestyle is that they eat one apple expecting to feel full but it’s not enough. I often hear, ‘I’m so hungry, I could never be raw vegan.”— Kristina

One apple has less than 100 calories, so you are going to need to eat more. Kristina noted that when most people begin this lifestyle, they don’t consume enough calories because they don’t realize how much they need to eat.

On average, most men and women need to consume about 2,000 calories for optimal energy, hormone health, and vitality.

Like any other way of eating, raw food can vary depending on your taste and preferences. Kristina recommends a low-fat, vegan way of eating, coined by nutritionist Douglas Graham, who has worked with professional athletes and others to achieve top performance and health. This approach has also been called 80/10/10. The numbers refer to where your calories come from. About 80 percent of your calories come from simple carbohydrates (such as fruit), 10 percent come from protein (found in fruits and vegetables), and 10 percent from fat (found in oils, avocados, nuts, and seeds).

It takes a little bit of unlearning, when approaching this lifestyle.”— Kristina

“I say that because when people start eating this way, the first question they usually have for me is, ‘Isn’t that too much sugar?’ or ‘I can’t eat that much fruit.’”

“People fear they are going to gain weight or develop diabetes because of these misconceptions about sugar,” she told us.

“You have to learn how to eat this way,” she said. “The calorie density of fruits and vegetables is different from most mainstream meals that are easily accessible.”

Fruits and vegetables contain a considerable amount of water, fiber, and other nutrients the body needs. Fruits tend to be higher in calories and carbohydrates, while vegetables and leafy greens are full of minerals and phytonutrients. Nuts and seeds are strong calorie sources and also help to provide necessary healthy fats and proteins. When it comes to raw food, calories are a good thing, along with choosing from an ample variety of food sources.

Seasonal Variety

When it comes to variety and raw foods, it’s great to remember all the different fruits and vegetables that are available throughout the seasons. Summer is a great time to try more raw foods since so many seasonal fruits and vegetables are at their peak of freshness.

“I really love to eat seasonally,” Kristina said. “I have never ever been in a position where I couldn’t find something in season.” Kristina has traveled throughout the world, leading workshops and exploring, maintaining her raw lifestyle wherever she goes.

“In 2019, I visited 22 countries, and I’ve never been in a place where I couldn’t find fruits or vegetables to eat, and I’ve never been in a place where I felt like there wasn’t enough variety as well,” she said.

When she’s home in Hawaii, she grows 80 percent of her food from her garden and property, and the rest she gets from her local farmers’ market each week. She loves talking to the farmers about what’s in season. Kristina has planted more than 700 fruit trees on her property and is excited about all that’s to come when they mature.

“When mango season begins, it’s game over for me because they’re one of my favorite fruits,” she said. “I’m eating and enjoying mangoes all month. But there’s so much to be excited about in the produce world.”

One of the benefits of shopping for seasonal foods is that fresh produce is harvested at its peak ripeness. It’s naturally going to taste fresher and have more flavor.

When fruits and vegetables travel long distances, such as strawberries grown in Mexico that get shipped to the U.S. and Canada in the winter, factors like temperature and more storage days can lead to browning and a loss of essential vitamins and minerals.^[4]

Eating seasonally also helps you build more variety in your diet. “Every time I make a salad, I’m enamored and inspired by the vibrant colors,” she explained. “I’m excited when I make food. It’s a beautiful and therapeutic process to make nourishing food for your body. I feel that when I’m juicing too.”

Staying Motivated

We asked Kristina how she has thrived on this way of eating for almost two decades.

“Consistency is key,” she shared. “I’m always telling people to start with one raw vegan meal a day, and when that becomes an actual part of your daily life, then move up to two FullyRaw meals a day.”

She also explained that many people approach this lifestyle as a diet, just as people do with juicing too.

“This is more of a mindset,” she said. “Food is only one component on a wellness spectrum. People get really wrapped up in the physical benefits, thinking this way of eating will help them look good or younger. While the physical benefits are incredible and yield the results people want, it’s important to take into consideration that this lifestyle is much more than the physical component. It encompasses all of the different facets of health. It’s not just a diet, it’s a lifestyle.”

She emphasized the bigger picture that has helped her and so many others to continue to choose raw foods.

“The longer that I’ve done this, the more fulfilling part to me has been how good it feels to live in alignment with my passion and to know that I’m connected with what I’m eating,” she said. “I’m helping animals. I’m doing something good for the planet. I’m living embodied and peacefully. It’s about way more than the food.”

She considers this style of eating and living as a gift.

“I feel like one of the reasons that I’m still doing this is because my heart has always been in the right place,” she told us. “I really love this lifestyle. I love fruit. I love vegetables. I see that it really changes lives. I really believe that this lifestyle is a gift, and it’s provided me with so much more inner peace and healing than I could have ever imagined. Eating FullyRaw is much more than about the food. It’s a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual celebration and practice for me daily.”

Consuming more raw foods is an easy way to expand the amount and variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily routine and get more creative in the kitchen. Even adding one raw meal per day can be quick, affordable, and colorful. Always consult with a medical professional for your specific dietary needs and concerns.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical advice. You should consult a medical professional before starting any nutritional program or making changes to your diet.