I started eating a predominately high raw diet two years ago. I’ve tried many different eating styles over the years since going vegetarian in 2003. Although my diet varies at times, I am most satisfied and energized eating two large fruit meals during the day and finishing with a nice raw or cooked plant based dinner in the evening. One thing that I love most is eating one raw mono meal of fruit daily.
A mono meal is simply eating only one item for that meal. This meal does not have to consist of fruit, yet this has been what has worked best for me on a high raw diet. It may seem boring or even ridiculous to eat this way, but there are so many benefits. Amazing digestion which equals beautiful skin is one of the 5 main reasons that I LOVE mono meals.
1. Amazing Digestion
With every food that we eat, there are specific digestive enzymes needed to digest each unique food. When we combine foods that do not digest well together, we can experience a stomach ache, acid reflux, and other digestive issues. Digestive issues do not allow our body to assimilate nutrients effectively.
Eating simply creates optimal digestion. By eating one mono meal a day, you give your body a rest from having to work so hard to digest multiple items and ingredients in one meal. Easy digestion equals a truly effective way to absorb nutrients easily. This one mono meal truly gives your digestive system a break while still eating as much as you desire.
One of the biggest beauty benefits of mono meals is having a healthy gut which equals absolutely beautiful skin. If you suffer from acne then focusing on gut health is where you will see the most improvement. You can read more on that here and here!
2. No Food Prep Necessary
There is no easier way to prepare a meal than to wash some fruit and/or peel it. Meal prepping is a great way to ensure that you get exactly what you need during a hectic week. Eating predominately fruit and especially mono meals makes this so much simpler. You only need to make sure that you are stocked up with your favorite selections.
3. Minimalist Eating At Its Finest
It is nearly impossible to eat an abundance of fruit that doesn’t taste ripe and delicious. It is important to choose the best organic fruit that you can find for mono meals. This is minimalist eating at its finest!
4. Easily Eat On The Go
Fruit is nature’s fast food. With busy schedules and more responsibilities than we often want to handle, skipping meals can become the norm. Claiming to be too busy to eat isn’t a good idea. I used to skip breakfast or somehow miss lunch then wonder why I didn’t feel my best. A simple mono meal of bananas or grapes was an easy fix to this.
5. Abundant Energy
I love how eating an abundant amount of fruit gives me enormous energy. Not only does eating this way give me phenomenal energy, but also great mental clarity. There is no such thing as brain fog if one is eating meals of raw fruits.
Examples
Here are two examples of mono meals that I enjoy and theiR nutritional breakdown shared from my personal CRON-O-Meter account. CRON-O-Meter shows you how many calories you have eaten as well as protein, fat, vitamins and minerals are in each meal.
Tangerines…
Grapes…
Eating mono meals does not have to be without variety however. Just eat a variety of mono meals throughout the week to increase your nutritional intake. Check out what I eat in a day to see how the nutrition adds up with each meal when incorporating abundant raw fruit and mono meals into your diet.
What do you think about mono meals?
(Image by Dawn Michelle)
Saara Rinne says
I would love this diet otherwise, but aren’t there disturbingly high sugar level per day?
(I love your blog <3 So inspirational place..)
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Saara Rinne,
Fruit contains live enzymes, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Unlike isolated refined sugars the body uses fruit much differently and fruit effects the body differently. You also do not get a high of energy and a crash afterwards as with isolated refined sugars. Fruit provides even and consist energy when eaten in abundance. I’ll have to write more about this. Thanks for your question and comment!
Ladye says
I love mono meals! During my school semesters I eat primarily fruits and vegetables because they’re easy to throw in my purse and my professors don’t care if I’m an apples instead of noisy chips. My fiance and I are getting married this October and a fully raw diet is something we really want to embrace once we’re married and living together. This post is so encouraging! Thank you 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Ladye,
Congratulations to you and your fiancé! I have found so many benefits to eating a high raw diet. I hope that you will discover your own on your journey as well. I’m glad that this was encouraging. Best wishes!
La Neal says
Interesting approach. When I am not sure what I want to eat or am feeling ill, fruit (and tea) is always the solution. I am far from raw vegan (was veg/vegan for years, but it didn’t work for me) but have slowly discovered that simpler eating is more sustainable for my lifestyle, especially as a single person. I may give mono eating a try for breakfast and see how I like it. Breakfast is the hardest meal for me to get right. I have to have a substantial first meal, but often what was appealing one day isn’t the next. I’m usually content with a salad for lunch. Dinner is still a bit tricky but i don’t stress it. I wake up pretty early for work, so minimal preparation is a goal. This may be a solve!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi La Neal,
A mono meal is a great way to start the day. Simple is my preference as well. I’d love to know your experience if you do give this a try. Have a beautiful day!
Pius says
Ok
How about grains which is too much dry?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Pius,
You can mono meals grains if that works for you. We enjoy oatmeal for breakfast most days of the week. I am learning more and more about preparing grains properly. I do think it is important to incorporate as much water rich fruits and vegetables in our diets. There is no one way to do anything it is just finding what works for you and doing your best to avoid processed foods which have no nutritional value.
Cassie says
Hi Dawn!
Thanks for sharing all your insights with us on your blog! I really appreciate it (and I’m sure other readers do as well).
I was wondering if you had any suggestions for clearing up keratosis pilaris with diet, or if you have heard of ways to do this- I’ve read that it can be caused by a vitamin A deficiency, but reading your successes with your skincare and eating a vegan based diet made me wonder if this could work with keratosis pilaris as well.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Cassie,
Thanks for your kind words! For starters I’m not a health care professional by any means but I will share some thoughts with you. Because keratosis pilaris is a skin condition focusing on diet, nutrition, detoxing, and minimizing stress would most likely be your best approach. Our skin is our largest organ and often reflects what is happening inside the body. I shared this article on detoxing and this one on healing acne although keratosis pilaris isn’t acne the article may also be helpful. You can also check out some of the recipes and “what I eat in a day” posts to see what has been working for me. I hope this helps!
Leanne Lindsey says
I am really intrigued by this and hadn’t heard of it until now. I generally follow a plant based diet but I do eat fish and seafood from time to time.
A couple of things tho:
– is this a particular reason you have you meal for dinner, not lunch (or even breakfast) in terms of giving your body more time to digest the mixed or cooked foods?
– I find I don’t feel full when I eat solely fruit. And I lose a significant amount of weight (I’m 5ft and weigh approx. 7 stones). Do you think it’s simply a matter of eating more and perhaps more frequently?
I crave carbs a lot, especially when my period is due and struggle when I don’t have enough protein. But I’m not sure if my body just needs to adjust…
I’m really interested to try this approach as I love the simplicity and also want to clean up my health and skin as much as possible. So any feedback is greatly appreciated. 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Leanne Lindsey,
I eat two extra large fruit meals during the day because fruit is where I get most of my calories and energy from. You can see the breakdown of nutrition in my “what I eat in a day” articles according to my CRON-O-Meter account. I eat a large salad or cooked meal at night because I learned this way of eating from fully raw 80/10/10 and raw til 4 examples. I used both of these examples of eating a high raw diet to find what works best for me.
If you eat an abundance of fruit you will feel full. For me this is around 1000 calories of fruit per meal. Sometimes it is a bit more and sometimes a bit less. Also fruit and vegetables are actually carbohydrates. They contain 80% carbohydrates, 10% fat, and 10% protein.
Definitely do your research and take your time finding what works best for you. I ate a vegetarian diet for many years before deciding to try a high raw fruit based diet. I hope this answers some of your questions.
Leanne Lindsey says
Thanks, this helps a lot. I’m definitely going to give it a go. I’ve started with breakfast and will build from there. Thanks again for sharing and responding. x
Barbara Carlson says
Dear Dawn, do you eat your mono fruit meal all in one sitting? Or do you nibble at it for the whole morning?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Barbara,
I’ll eat a mono meal in one sitting usually unless I have to stop eating to tend to the baby. I prefer to have breaks in between my meals versus nibbling.