I agree, it can be confusing. The following would make one believe that eating raw before a fast is not recommended.

Dr. Herbert Shelton (45 years of fasting experience and considered the father of fasting to most) states in his book " Fasting Can Save Your Life ." "Many complicated plans have been designed to prepare the individual or patient for a fast. Some of these involve a period on special foods intended to empty the intestinal tract of material before the fast is started. All such plans are wasteful of the patient's time and money, since they revolve around the idea of feeding at a time when a fast is needed. As there is no reason why one may not go into a fast abruptly and without these rituals, they are not recommended here. THE TRULY ESSENTIAL PREPARATION IS IN THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL ATTITUDES." pg 59.

Dr. Shelton also states "Nothing can circumvent the fact that the quickest, surest, safest way to lose weight is by fasting, and the surest way of maintaining the proper weight level is by refusing to return to the wrong eating habits." pg 22.

He goes on to say that "Only rarely does one see an obese individual stick to a reducing diet for a prolonged period of time." pg 22. To repeat " the quickest, surest, safest way to lose weight is to fast."

Dr. Joel Fuhrman who wrote the book "Fasting and Eating for Health," states that most of the patience's that he supervises in fasting are fasting to lose weight. (Not fasting because of a disease, but weight lose.)

Dr. Shelton, Dr. Fuhrman, and Paul Bragg all differ in some areas of fasting.

What I want to convey here is to follow where the truth leads you; just make sure that it is your truth and not someone else's. Research, especially the effects of detoxification and listen to your body while fasting. But do fast.

I always break a fast by eating oranges, but fruit smoothies sound delicious!