What Don’t Vegans Eat

When is the Right Time to Eat Raw?

I was recently sent an email from reader Bethany regarding when is the best time to eat delicious, fruity raw meals.

Bethany said:

Are there “certain time frames” that you should eat raw food, to preserve optimal digestion? I hear from some that you shouldn’t eat after 6 or 7 PM, some that say don’t eat breakfast, or do eat breakfast, or dont eat after 3, or dont snack, or do snack…all this conflicting info, and it leaves me befuddled.

Thanks for the email, Bethany!  I’ll do my best to “un”-befuddle you.

Dinner

The general rule when it comes to night eating is that you should finish your last meal at least 3 hours before bed time.  This ensures that you have fully digested all of your food before you go to bed, which is important because digestion can compromise your sleep.

So if you’re a total homebody and social dunce like me who actually enjoys going to bed at 9pm, then you would finish your last meal no later than 6pm.

Personally, I find my own time frame to be much more lenient than this.  While I do try to have dinner between 5-6pm, there are plenty of times when I don’t finish eating until 8pm.

I still sleep just fine.

Now, waking up and snacking during the middle of the night is a whole different issue.  Not only does this waste your precious sleepy time, but it can definitely effect the quality of your sleep for the rest of the night.

Breakfast

The argument behind skipping breakfast is that most people are not hungry early in the day and that it is better not to force yourself to eat, but to wait for true hunger.

There is really no hard and fast rule on this one, but the raw foodists who do decided to follow this rule typically stick to very few meals (for obvious reasons).

For instance, when I skip breakfast, I generally do not eat until between 12-2pm and so it would be very difficult for me to eat 3 full meals on those days.  It is much easier to make my first meal a large one – which is perfect since I have not eaten all day – and then have a “normal-sized” dinner meal a few hours later.

If you find that you are not hungry until later in the day, feel free to forgo breakfast until you are truly hungry.  If you find that you are absolutely ravenous first thing in the morning, by all means, EAT!

Snacking

For various reasons mentioned in my week as a raw food grazer, I much prefer eating 2-3 big meals during the day as opposed to 4-6 smaller ones.

To recap, grazing means:

• Constant Hunger!
• Tiny, Unsatisfying Portions!!
• Boring Meals!!!

In my opinion, eating a few large meals is just so much easier.  I really hate having to constantly prepare meals…even though “preparing” typically means grabbing some bananas or starting up the blender.

I love food, but I simply do not have the time to eat and think about eating all day!

The Big Picture

All this aside, I really would not worry about any of this in the beginning.

If you are new to raw foods or having any sort of trouble maintaining a raw food diet, it is much more important for you to get used to eating a large quantity of fruit and to ensure enough calories are obtained first and foremost.

In other words…

• If you find that you are hungry an hour before bedtime, then go eat some fruit!

• If you find that you wake up hungry in the middle of the night, get up and eat some fruit!

• If you find that you must eat breakfast to get enough calories during the day, then eat breakfast!

• If you find that you need a fruity afternoon snack to keep you on track, well then, snack it up!

Once you feel comfortable with the basics of a low fat raw vegan diet, then feel free to move on to the minor “when to eat” stuff…

In the mean time, I’ll do my best to keep the raw food police off your back.

About the Author

For more information on the best raw vegan diet, be sure to visit Fit On Raw and subscribe to Swayze’s newsletter Peachy Keen Ezine. By subscribing, you will also receive the free report The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet as well as the 5-week mini-course The Fool Proof Transition to Raw.

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