Eating raw during the day before settling into a warm dinner is a good idea. The body is metabolically active during the day, and a dense, hot meal can slow the body down. Munching on carrots, apples, and celery, or chugging a green smoothie, water, or a fresh juice, can supply the body with ample energy without sacrificing taste or flavor. With that being said, here are six tips on how to eat raw before six o’clock:

1. Sip a Smoothie When the Sun Rises

Rise with the sun and recharge your body with a green smoothie that’s full of protein-rich greens and carbohydrate-rich fruits — two ingredients that are paramount to overall health.

2. Go Get Some Granola For Your Growling Tummy

Sprouted grains like buckwheat can complete your breakfast if you need a little more than a liquid smoothie. One way to prepare these grains is by making them into granola with dried fruits or nuts. Another way to prepare these grains is by making a raw cereal or museli. Top it with some homemade or store-bought, raw nut milk.

3. Launch Into Lunch With Lettuce

The humble, ubiquitous salad is the quintessential raw meal. Choose a green that best suits your palate. Romaine, red leaf, kale, spinach, watercress, arugula, and many more greens are all abundant with nutrients and distinct textures, providing a great base for a great salad.

4. Low Energy? Get Some Protein

Nuts, seeds, and sprouted beans all contain a decent amount of protein, which keeps you full. The raw protein in these foods may not be as bioavailable as other foods, but if you consume a wide range of them, you have nothing to worry about as far as protein is concerned.

5. Master Munchy Meltdowns With Mixed Fruits

Fruits, especially melons when eaten plain, are easily digestible and recharge the body with a quick burst of carbohydrates and fructose. Your body prefers to run on glucose, which is easily manufactured by the body from carbohydrates and fructose, so make sure you get enough fruits in your diet!

6. Juice Before You Dine

What better way to conclude your raw eating for the day than with a freshly-made green juice? If you don’t have a juicer, you can easily drink another green smoothie or you can purchase cold-pressed, raw juices.

Including more raw fruits and vegetables as well as sprouted nuts, gains, seeds, and beans into your daily diet is always a good idea. Consuming fruits and vegetables in their unadulterated state is the best way to get the most nutrients out of food, but cooking can also bring out more nutrients in foods as well. Therefore, it’s important to still eat some cooked foods like starchy vegetables, but if you’re following this plan, eat them only after 6 o’clock.

Now that you’ve read this, check out these other articles in the series: How to Eat Gluten-Free Before 6 and How to Eat Clean Before 6.

Lead image source: Savory RAW No-Meat Meatballs