A low-fat raw vegan plan is a diet inside a diet. Veganism removes animal foods. "Raw" then removes anything cooked, and "low-fat" cuts back high-fat foods such as nuts, seeds and avocado. Each layer removes a group of foods, and this article follows one nutrient through all three: fibre. The figures come from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy records, per 100g) and the targets come from the NHS.
The target the plan has to hit
The NHS says government guidelines put adult fibre intake at 30g a day, as part of a healthy balanced diet. Most adults eat only about 20g. It also says to get fibre from a variety of sources, because eating too much of one type of food may not give you a balanced diet.
The NHS example meals show where that fibre can come from. Wholemeal toast with peanut butter and an orange gives around 8.3g. Wholemeal spaghetti with a lentil and tomato sauce gives around 11g. A dinner of chicken, a skin-on baked potato, carrots and green beans gives around 11.2g. Several of those foods are cooked: toast, pasta, lentils and a baked potato.
What each layer takes away
Going vegan removes the chicken. The NHS vegan advice still builds meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy foods, plus beans and pulses. Going raw takes away the cooked ones, such as bread, pasta, baked potatoes and cooked lentils. Going low-fat then trims high-fat raw foods: nuts, seeds and avocado.
So the fibre has to come mostly from raw fruit and vegetables. The useful question is which of them carry a lot of fibre without much fat.
Fibre and fat side by side
The NHS gives two label lines that fit this question. A food with 6g or more of fibre per 100g counts as high-fibre. A food with 3g of fat or less per 100g counts as low-fat. Here is how some common raw foods compare, per 100g:
| Food (FDC record) | Fibre | Fat | Energy | Fibre per 100 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberries, raw (167755) | 6.5g | 0.65g | 52 kcal | 12.5g |
| Kale, raw (168421) | 4.1g | 1.49g | 35 kcal | 11.7g |
| Broccoli, raw (170379) | 2.6g | 0.37g | 34 kcal | 7.6g |
| Carrots, raw (170393) | 2.8g | 0.24g | 41 kcal | 6.8g |
| Pears, raw (169118) | 3.1g | 0.14g | 57 kcal | 5.4g |
| Apples, raw, with skin (171688) | 2.4g | 0.17g | 52 kcal | 4.6g |
| Bananas, raw (173944) | 2.6g | 0.33g | 89 kcal | 2.9g |
| Dates, Deglet Noor (171726) | 8.0g | 0.39g | 282 kcal | 2.8g |
| Dates, Medjool (168191) | 6.7g | 0.15g | 277 kcal | 2.4g |
| Avocados, raw (171705) | 6.7g | 14.7g | 160 kcal | 4.2g |
| Chia seeds, dried (170554) | 34.4g | 30.7g | 486 kcal | 7.1g |
| Flaxseed (169414) | 27.3g | 42.2g | 534 kcal | 5.1g |
| Almonds (170567) | 12.5g | 49.9g | 579 kcal | 2.2g |
Seven foods in the table reach the 6g high-fibre line: raspberries, both dates, avocado, chia, flax and almonds. Only three of those seven also stay under the 3g low-fat line, and they are raspberries, Deglet Noor dates and Medjool dates. Chia and flax are the richest in fibre by far, but at 30.7g and 42.2g of fat per 100g they are well above the NHS high-fat line of 17.5g.
The last column shows the other side. Per 100 calories, kale and raspberries give four to five times the fibre of dates. Dates carry a lot of fibre per gram, but each 100g also carries 277 to 282 kcal. Medjool has 66.5g of total sugars per 100g and Deglet Noor 63.4g, far over the NHS high-sugar line of 22.5g.
Where dates fit, and how much
The NHS counts a 30g portion of dried fruit, dates included, as one of your 5 A Day. It says to eat it at mealtimes, not as a between-meal snack, to reduce the impact on teeth. Its fibre page repeats the point: dried fruit is sticky, so it is better eaten as part of a meal.
At 30g, Deglet Noor gives about 2.4g of fibre and Medjool about 2.0g, with roughly 0.1g of fat or less. That is a useful amount. It is not a reason to build the day around dates, given the sugar figures above and the NHS advice to vary fibre sources.
One raw, low-fat illustration
To see whether 30g is reachable, add up a small set of raw foods using the FDC figures above. This is an illustration of the arithmetic, not a menu.
- 200g raspberries: 13.0g fibre, 1.3g fat
- 200g pears: 6.2g fibre, 0.3g fat
- 150g carrots: 4.2g fibre, 0.4g fat
- 100g kale: 4.1g fibre, 1.5g fat
- 30g Deglet Noor dates, eaten with a meal: 2.4g fibre, 0.1g fat
That comes to about 29.9g of fibre with about 3.5g of fat, for roughly 400 kcal. The list comes to only about 400 kcal, so it is not a full day of eating. The NHS also notes that the fibre in any food depends on how it is prepared and how much of it you eat, so treat these totals as estimates.
So, a diet plan within a diet?
Yes, in the sense that each layer is a filter on the last one. For fibre, the filters remove the cooked starches and pulses found in the NHS example meals, and the low-fat rule shuts out the seeds that carry the most fibre per gram in the table above. What remains (berries, leafy greens, other raw vegetables and fruit, plus a mealtime portion of dried fruit such as dates) can come to about 30g on paper. The NHS vegan guidance warns that a vegan diet needs good planning to supply every nutrient, and that applies with more force once raw and low-fat rules are added. Fibre is only one of those nutrients.
About dates on this site
Kurmanabi writes about dates. "Rotab" (rutab) is the soft, fresh-ripe stage of a date and "tamar" is the fully ripe, drier stage. For rotab dates, see Kurma Rotab Green Diamond. You can read about Kurmanabi, send a question through the contact page, or browse more articles on the Kurmanabi blog.
This article is general information about food composition, not personal dietary advice.