The Fully Raw Diet: 21 Days to Better Health, with Meal and Exercise Plans, Tips, and 75 Recipes

by Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram

The must-have book for FullyRaw fans or anyone who wants to explore a raw-foods vegan diet to lose weight, gain energy, and improve overall health and wellness

The Fully Raw Diet offers a 21-day plan to help people enjoy a clean, plant-based, healthful approach to eating. Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram transformed her own health by eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds—100% fresh, raw, and ripe—and she is now the vivacious, uber-healthy founder of the FullyRaw brand. Her ten-year success with this lifestyle inspires thousands via social media, and her 21-day FullyRaw Video Challenge on YouTube in 2014 dramatically grew her fan base. This book shares her advice and will correspond to a new video challenge, with meal and exercise tips, recipes, and vivid photos. Fans will love the smoothies, salads, main dishes, and desserts, such as Lemon-Ginger Blast, Spicy Mango Basil Salad, Yellow Squash Fettuccine Alfredo, Melon Pops, and Caramel-Apple Cups.

Genres: Cookbooks, Health, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Vegan, Self Help

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2016

Reviews

[Mischenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

To see this review and to learn more about Juicing and health, please visit www.readrantrockandroll.com

The Fully Raw Diet by Kristina Carillo-Bucaram is one of my favorite raw food books. It contains raw recipes, juice recipes, and smoothies. It starts with Kristina's story and what she typically eats in a day and progresses through her journey with health and exercise.

Recipes include juices, smoothies, soups, dips, dressings, salads, main dishes and desserts.

All recipes in this book are 100% raw and involve zero cooking. My favorites are: Fully Raw Fettuccine Alfredo, Raw Zucchini Pasta, Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho, Totally Tropical Smoothie, and Cotton Candy Juice.

4****

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Kristina and have always watched her on YouTube. I'm so happy she made this book as another form of enlightenment on veganism and its pros.

[Jennifer L. Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

For people looking for a healthy alternative to the mainstream fast food culture, they need look no further than The Fully Raw Diet. The author touts the belief that health comes from “the power of fresh fruits and vegetables” and lives by this philosophy fully. Kristina offers heartfelt advice, tips, recipes, and easy conversion scales on how much food you are actually eating at any given time. The book is broken into three parts, this simple to follow diet/exercise plan is a welcome change from pre-package and overly manufactured food that has become common place in the American diet.

Part One: The 21-Day Diet provides a great meal plan for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with ideas for starting an exercise regime without killing yourself. Kristina stresses the need to love yourself and find your happy center while embarking on this new way of eating for your health. She shares her personal journey into being a Vegetarian and what made her become a Raw Vegan.

Part Two: The Fully Raw Kitchen gives you tips on shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season, what equipment you may need, and provides you with 75 recipes that correspond with the diet plan from Part One. This is a section full of delightful Juices and Smoothies, savory Soups, Dips & Dressings, delightfully Epic Meals and glorious Desserts.

Part Three: Fitness and Exercise is a comprehensive start to finding the right regime for you, especially if you haven’t had to work out in a while. Kristina inspires while living in her truth about the correlation of being active.

My suggestion for anyone who wants to start living a healthier lifestyle is to get this book and embrace the lessons and suggestions inside. Full of positive messages, The Fully Raw Diet is a great place to start living your life again.

[Mystical Enchantress · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent raw vegan recipes to try.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely book, been following Kristina for years on YT. For all her insisting it's so afforable though, especially if you buy from farmer's markets and co-ops-- it's actually not.

The ingredients she lists are quite expensive and not readily available to me. Especially organic. Even growing my own produce (which I do), it's limited to whether it's in season or not.

Which also increases the price and the quality is affected if it's not, let alone if it's imported.

The recipes are lovely, the information and suggestions useful. Definitely incorporating elements into my day-to-day. The message isn't lost on me.

Can I go through the 21 days without breaking the bank, though? No. This book caters to a privileged demographic that can afford to spend "$20 a day". I, unfortunately, can't.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, and a nice format. Not enough photos of the recipes, but plenty of the author. Her recipes do not use any oil, which I found interesting. I'm not ready to be fully raw, but I have been incorporating more raw food into my diet and I found her eating recommendations helpful. I'm confused on food combining; some people say eat fruit alone yet this author clearly mixes fruits and vegetables in so many of her recipes. Just something else for me to research and then determine how it affects MY body.

[Heather Salter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it absolutely fascinating but I think it would be hard to do initially, for example I could not imagine eating 5 bananas in one meal ! However, I have taken some great ideas from the book and certainly for the summer two meals a day will be raw, if not three.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh

Okay first I should state that I am already vegan. I am sometimes a raw vegan. And I already have some raw vegan books that I love. Some great recipes.

So I thought I’d add this book to my collection.

The first 90 pages are filled with Kristina’s story, tips, etc.

The next 100 or so pages are the recipes.

The very end of the book is fitness and exercise.

I’ll be honest with you I got nothing – for me – from the first part and the last part. I would have preferred just recipes.

Just not these recipes. I’m left feeling underwhelmed.

And there is NO WAY I could eat that much food in one sitting just to get the correct number of calories. NO WAY. I eat wayyyyy tooooo sloowwww. I would be at the table all day long. Plus I take much longer to clean my produce than Kristina does. It is quite a production.

It is amazing to me that a person can eat that much food in one sitting and look as fabulous as she does. So more power to her. I’m thrilled for her. This is just not for me.

Also I live in Pennsylvania where we have four seasons. I could only eat this way a few months a year.

I agree with another reviewer. I would have preferred more pics of the finished food vs. pics of the author.

I’m left with some ideas I can incorporate into other recipes.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that Kristina shares about her own personal background and how she became a vegetarian. She went to another country and she spent time with chickens and she became close to them. Eventually, they had to kill the chickens and she cried over it. And then, she decided to become a vegetarian. I am glad that she has a heart for the animals. She also shares how she learned about raw veganism. She shares how her diet changed her health. She had health problems earlier in her life and her health was connected to the foods that she was eating. She ate a lot of meat and things that were not fruits and vegetables when she was younger. When she started eating a raw food diet, her health problems started going away. She also shared about how her parents were against her raw veganism at first. But eventually, they accepted it and also, started eating more healthy foods. I am glad that she was willing to share what happened to her. Other vegetarians and raw vegans can feel like they are not the only ones who experiences these similar experiences.

[Faye Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful guide! I am not fully raw, nor am I vegan. However, I do try to incorporate raw vegan and cooked dishes into my diet. I watch Kristina's Youtube for a year before giving the book a try. Kristina's guidance through these 21 days was terrific! The way she explained everything from nutritional facts to recipes inspired this meat-eater to give the raw vegan diet a try. Everything was easy and really tasted great! I will be incorporating the recipes into my cooking from now onward! I recommend this 21-day challenge to anyone and everyone. Remember to discuss changes to diet and lifestyle with your dietician and doctors.

[Brittany Benton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Major caveat: almost every single recipe contained within this book is readily available online via Kristina’s YouTube channel.....however, if, like me, to have most of her recipes in one place is worth the price of the book to you....then, I say go for it! If you are a hard-core fan of Fully Raw Kristina’s recipes.....you’ll enjoy this recipe book immensely. I wish caloric & fiber estimates were given as well.....

[NattyD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and functional

I really liked how this book was laid out. The information and instructions are clear and easy to use. Her tone throughout the book seemed calm and encouraging. Instead of feeling anxious and overwhelmed, as some health books tend to make me, I felt capable and prepared. Definitely one of my favorite raw books.

[Tracy Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring me to go fully raw!

I love the simple recipes and I can’t wait to include 1 fully raw meal per day. Once I get the hang of it, I will have 1 fully raw day once or twice a week. I would’ve liked more information about Kristina’s life as a raw vegan, the errors, the challenges etc. There’s some repetitive information. 4 stars!

[Krystle Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! While going fully raw isn't my goal, I loved all of the recipe and meal plan ideas. There are lots I will be trying out. It includes lots of practical advice for those wanting to eat healthier and add more raw meals into there current eating routines. I also enjoyed the warm and inclusive writing style that Kristina offers. Very nice read!

[Sydney Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. I am not fully raw but I am trying to incorporate more raw foods into my vegan diet. I think she drinks way too much juice. I am not a salad fan (texture issues, I'd rather have my greens in a smoothie) so....there are a lot of salads in here.

[Tanya Beers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book! I think it had many great recipes. I am still learning how to eat healthier and take better care of my body and that is why I bought this book. I wish the author would write another one even though I know she also has her own website.

[Torcy Rounds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

I love th outline for the 21 day raw diet. I can follow it perfectly. Looking forward to my final results!

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept. Couldn't go totally raw but learned and got some new ideas. Will pay more intention to how much raw I eat and work on adding more and being more intentional

[H. T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great veggie and fruit based recipes

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible, it got me drinking infused water for a few days. I should just eat more foods as they are. Like a ton of fruit for breakfast.

[Christina Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!

This is definitely an awesome book for transitioning vegans to existing vegans! Great recipes and tips can't wait to try them all yum!

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired me to increase my fruit and veggie intake. I plan to try the "fettuccini alfredo" recipe and the crust recipe that incorporates dates & nuts.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sustainable for me.

[Keith Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and educational. Unfortunately, I’m just not ready to take the plunge.

[Marie Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Rukhsana Afridi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book

I love the recipes and they are so healthy. This book makes me want to cook and eat healthily. Way to go!

[Jeanette Durkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book! There are 75 recipes that require no cooking whatsoever. I'll be trying some of these recipes!

[Lexie ❤️‍ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay yeah I could literally never go raw vegan. LMAO.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yum. This book is stunning, full of beautiful photos that make me want to drink juice and eat fruit. The author is gorgeous, in full possession of the raw glow, making her a perfect spokesperson for this way of being and eating.

I've made some of the juice recipes, which are among the tastiest I've had. REALLY good. The smoothies and salads are also excellent.

The only thing dipping this book from 5 to 4 stars for me is that the author is even more restrictive than most raw foodists, eschewing most nuts, fats and seeds in favor of fruits and veggies almost exclusively. While she's living proof that it's working for her (quite gloriously, from the look of it), I'm not sure my blood sugar could handle that. Maybe I'll try it some day, but doesn't feel right for me at this particular moment. I do, however, love incorporating what she's doing into my life, which works quite nicely.