Spring ahead with a Cleanse

Spring has finally started to show her head and it’s about time. With warmer weather comes the reminder that the extra long winter hibernation may have packed on some extra pounds. Or, if not poundage, bad habits, especially in regards to food.

It’s been about a month now since I decided to start a “cleanse.”  But, admittedly, I fell off the wagon a few times.  After finding the Amazing April 3-Day Green Cleanse on Facebook, I thought about revisiting the idea of a cleanse– and this time doing it right.

First, a word on two popular words: cleanse and detox.

I’m not someone who believes in the fad cleanse or detox diets, many of which amount to quackery at best, danger at worst.  Will you lose weight if you drink nothing but lemon water with a dash of cayenne pepper? Absolutely. But not because of any magic bullet drink. You’re starving yourself and losing weight via starvation.  Doing a detox diet amounts to starvation. Ditto for so-called cleanse diets that make you buy some magical pre-packaged powder or some super secret recipe book only accessible to their members only club. 

I do not believe you need to buy anyone’s secret recipe to go on a juice or smoothie fast. Fasting has been a practice for thousands of years and many people will devoutly tout the benefits of fasting.  When you do a juice cleanse, you are doing a kind of fasting.  If you have health issues like diabetes, this can be very dangerous. Before embarking on any kind of straight fast or a semi-fast (juice fast, smoothies fast, or a fruit fast), make sure you’ve read up and educated yourself about the side effects.  And I would suggest, you do one of those semi-fasts when you’re going to be home for a few days. Unless you know how your body will react, things could get messy. Simply put: you want to be close to a bathroom when you’re on a semi-fast or any kind of cleanse diet. The body will definitely go through a cleansing process and it ain’t pretty. 

A semi-fast or your own DIY cleanse diet is very simple to do at home. But, when I say cleanse, I mean switching up your diet to a more vegetarian base, eliminating white flour, and anything processed. I don’t mean doing some spiritual cleanse of all toxins. That, in our society, is nigh on impossible.  We are surrounded by toxins every minute of every day.  And, many folks who do these detox diets are inundating themselves with toxins from the roots of their hair (shampoos and hair-care products) to the tips of their toes (over-the-counter moisturizers and skin-care products). Check out this wacky site that tells you about your everyday exposures to harsh and toxic chemicals. If you want to do a genuine, all-over, inside and out cleanse, you have to look at the entire scope of what you do and what products you use in your life.  Anthony and I decided to start eliminating toxins in our lives several years ago, spurned on by a hideous case of eczema that I could not detect the source of. Once I eliminated as many toxins as I could, the eczema was easier to get rid of with herbal remedies.

As a result, my husband and I no longer buy any pre-made skin-care, hair-care product, or any cleaning products.  I don’t use laundry detergent any more. Instead, we use soap-nuts. (Read all about it: Go Nuts and Don’t Ever Buy Detergent Again.) I make my own skin-care products. We use a home-made tooth powder instead of premade toothpaste with it’s caustic ingredients. I don’t use conditioner any more, not store bought; ditto for shampoo. I only use a good castile soap, Dr. Bronner’s, and an oil treatment a few times a month that I make myself (jojoba, olive oil, and rosemary essential oil). I don’t use store-bought cleaning products and make my own from soap nuts, tea tree oil, and vinegar. I don’t smoke and I don’t eat typically pre-made or processed foods. I read labels and make sure I know what’s in the stuff I buy. My make-up is only organic, without harsh chemicals. I use sunscreen and deodorant that doesn’t contain carcinogens.

All these changes are permanent. They eliminate toxins in my everyday life so when I do a basic cleanse– to eliminate animal products, white flour, and processed foods (for me a processed food is cheese; I don’t buy any ready-made foods and we don’t eat fast-food)– I’ve already eliminated a lot of toxins in my everyday life.

This is another reason I don’t believe in the fad cleanses and detoxes. If you are going to continue to expose yourself to toxins in your home and body care items, then there really isn’t any point in trying to detox your body.  

Embarking on a basic, DIY cleanse

Figure out what your range is. Are you doing a 3-day cleanse? A week long? A month?  Make sure you’re not starving yourself, first of all. You can do a smoothie and juice cleanse while giving your body essential vitamins and nutrients.  The first way to do that is get some good quality protein powders in the house.  I do NOT go to the local health food store for them because often times those are body-building formulas that have a host of other things in them.  

I use Mountain Rose Herbs or Nuts. com, and rely on non-animal protein sources: hemp powder, soy powder, maca root powder, and red clover that I also grind to a powder.  I don’t like adding these to juices, but to smoothies as I have better control at blending them in and evening out any harsh flavor.  To make sure I’m not starving, I start the day with a smoothie and then have juice. Dinner might consist of something solid– salad, sweet potato, soup.  But, when doing a fast, it’s just juice and maybe ending the day with a smoothie.  Admittedly, those are very very hard days to do.  The last time I managed to do a 2-day fast, the first day was just juice and smoothie– with yogurt– so it was a semi-fast. The second day was juice, herbal tea, and lemon water with cucumber juice.

If you’re not a vegetarian, like me, then you should make up your mind as to whether you’ll be eliminating animal protein for a period of time.  Even though I do eat animal protein, it is not a common part of my diet. I eat meat maybe once or twice a month and I include chicken in that category.  We might have fish more often and do use dairy products on a weekly basis.  Part of our overall switch was to use organic milk exclusively.  

If you use sugar, again make a decision. I opted to stay away from anything that wasn’t pure cane sugar.  Simple white sugar is often from the genetically modified sugar beet. If you use white sugar, make sure it’s pure cane.  But, I’d recommend getting away from white sugar completely.  Eliminating white sugar was something I did more than a year ago.  When I made that switch, I immediately lost 5 pounds– and kept that weight off.  I try to use honey, but when I do use sugar, it’s only turbinado or largely unprocessed cane sugar. 

Then decide if you’re going to so a semi-fast or just eat lots of fruits and veg. There’s a misnomer with the term semi-fast.  A lot of folks think it’s eating anything you want for a few days and then just not eating for one or two days a week.  That puts undue stress on your cardiovascular system and is a no-no.  A true semi-fast is using a blend of smoothies, juices, whole fruit and raw vegetables. If you’re following a program, you might include herbal teas or tonics as well.

When Anthony and I started our own “cleanse” a few weeks ago, I decided to go vegetarian for a while, and I looked at the Cabbage Soup diet for inspiration.  Even though I believe the famed “Cabbage Soup Diet” is seriously flawed (it amounts to starvation as well), there is amazing virtue in cabbage. I looked at some popular Cabbage soup diets and created my own version, which amounted to making a massive pot of minestrone soup, with cabbage as the base, making a massive batch of a pickled cabbage salad, and making large batches of juice. I eliminated all animal products for a solid week and ate the soup and salad every day. The only variations were to have some sauteed greens and sweet potato, a massive green salad, or a vinegar based tuna salad on, you guessed it, greens. Days were rounded out with fruit, smoothies, an apple-cider vinegar tonic, and juice.

Inside of 3 weeks I lost 8 pounds. I backslid and gained 3 back right away. But perhaps falling off the wagon came because I was looking at the Cabbage Soup diet as a foundation.  When eating the same blasted thing every day, even though cabbage is a wonder food, it gets old so fast.  

I’d suggest: make sure you have variation. Don’t let yourself get bored, otherwise your cleanse diet won’t work.  Then, don’t think of it as a diet. Make changes to overall eating. If you decide to juice, don’t let it be a one-off thing. Incorporate it into your everyday diet.

Juicing the right way

If you’re committing to making juicing a lifestyle choice, you won’t know until you try drinking raw, unprocessed juice.  So, before you go out and buy a juicer, go out and buy

some juice. If you have a Whole Foods (or a similar market, Wegmens or Trader Joe’s), browse their organic juice aisle. It won’t be on the shelf, but in the refrigerated section. Real juice that’s not processed must be in the fridge. If you’re not near one of those stores, the only brand that’s a good, natural juice that you can pretty much get anywhere is Naked Juice.  Find some blends of theirs that you like and write down the ingredients. If you like theirs, yours will be ten times better.  This is how I get some inspiration for recipes. I really adore their Green Machine: 

Apple juice, mango puree, pineapple juice, banana puree, kiwi puree, spirulina, natural flavors, chlorella,broccoli, spinach, barley-grass, wheat-grass, parsley, ginger root, blue green algae, odorless garlic.

But their juice is pricey. So, I make my own. Oh, and their “blue green algae” is pretty much more spirulina. I’m not sure why it’s noted twice.

If you’re going to take the plunge and juice: the first step in juicing is getting the right juicer. There is only 1 juicer for me: the Omega 8005 Masticating Juicer. It’s a pricey piece of machinery, but it’s worth every penny. Here’s a great resource for explaining what the difference is between juicers.  A masticating juicer doesn’t break down the enzymes in the

fruit or the veg. When using a standard centrifugal juicer, the machine essentially cooks the life out of the juice. Go into any juice bar and peep behind the counter. They’re using a masticating juicer because it retains the nutrients. Think of it like a mortar and pestle that crushes the fruit and extracts the juice. It’s also the only kind of juicer that you can use for tougher items, like ginger root or kale leaves, while being gentle on delicate fruit like citrus or berries.  It’s one of the higher ticket items that my husband and I ever bought, but it was a gift to ourselves when we got married. I found one on sale for $400. Through a massive cock-up with the shipper, at the time Amazon didn’t carry this model, the seller knocked off $100. Now you can get one for a little over $200.  Still out of your range? One of these babies will last. When other juicers’ motors die, the masticating juicer keeps going. We’ve had ours for going on 7 years now. They’re also a breeze to clean.

Once you settle on a juicer that works for you, where do you begin? 

The idea of juicing can be daunting.   Many folks start off meaning well, but they abandon it because juicing can be complicated work. It’s not like you can simply throw an entire apple into the juicer and expect results. And, in my experience, those gimmicky products that claim they can do just that– are either massively overpriced or just that, gimmicks.  Because juicing can be tedious– in terms of prepping and clean up– I like doing large batches of juice.

You will need prep space. Once you settle on your juicer, use it once or twice, you’ll be able to eyeball how large the pieces of fruit and veg can be to fit into the chute. You’ll need to clean and cut the stuff you’ll be juicing ahead of time. Don’t plan on keeping your machine running while you cut up veg. 

You’ll need something to put your juice into. Since I make kombucha at home, I have scads of bottles. But, the best bottle for home-brew isn’t necessarily the best bottle for juice. I like a wide mouth bottle that I can clean easier. The best bottle is a glass milk bottle. I do use an open glass pitcher to mix the juice, but not to store it. You’ll also want some strainers, funnels, and when you’re setting up to make juice, a compost bucket close to hand to dump the pulp when you’re all done. If you have pets, dogs especially, and you make pet food at home, you can add the pulp to the food. I don’t recommend this for cats since many of the items you might juice (apples especially) are toxic to cats.

Even though this is a great recipe from the folks at healthybodyguru.com, I can’t just make one glass. First, my husband would become krankenstein if he didn’t have a glass of yumminess too. Second, what’s the difference if I’m prepping 1 apple or 5? I’m doing the same amount of legwork, and clean-up. If I do enough for 2-3 days of juice, then I don’t have to do the whole shebang every day. 

If you’ve shopped around for juice blends and hit on blends you like, then you already have an idea of what your tastebuds will find appealing.  If you do a simple Google search on juicing, you’ll get a zillion recipe sites. I can tell you specific recipes, but if you don’t like those specifics, then you might get turned off to juicing.  I have to confess: I hate juiced greens.  In the beginning, it tasted like I’m drinking liquid grass. I didn’t like wheat-grass and I didn’t get jazzed at the idea of kale juice.

Until I tried Naked Juice’s Green Machine and tried to replicate it myself.  The thing I like about Naked Juice, they blend vegetables and fruits to get a balanced flavor.  Now, as long as I have a healthy supply of apples on hand, I LOVE juicing greens.  So two staples in my juices, think of them like a base, are carrot and apple.  Both add sweetness, but they also add a nice tang.  Different apples add different notes, so I like blending the varieties with Granny Smith and a MacIntosh or Empire variety taking a second place. Carrots, I save for juicing last because the coarseness of them actually cleans out any residual juice hiding in the augur attachment of my juicer. 

As I add vegetables to my diet, and have added more of them over the years to the point where vegetables are the main dish with animal protein a side (if there’s any at all on the plate), I’ve also tried to cut down on how much waste I’m producing. If I’m not preparing a batch of my “Wasted Veggie Broth,” as I cook I’m looking ahead to making juice. If I’m making kale in any way be it salad or saute, I save the stalks and tough leaves in a container in the fridge. If I’m making cole-slaw or prepping cabbage for soup, I save the core and tough leaves. Same goes for anything else really: fennel fronds, celery leaves, the ends of asparagus, the tough stems of broccoli.  I won’t juice seeds from peppers or pepper tops, they’re too woody. And I don’t do onions, they’re just too overwhelming.  You can use most of the apple, just not the center-most core, and all of your carrot, but I’m skittish about juicing carrot tops, especially the leafy bits.  And, whatever you save in your fridge, be sure to juice it in a day or two of saving it.

The other thing I like to do is strain the juice after it’s done, and the pulp that remains add that to a smoothie.  I don’t like really “chewy” juice, but don’t mind a chunky smoothie. Go figure.

Oh, one more thing. Always have a lemon in the mix. Lemon just makes your juice pop. I generally peel the lemon and add it into the juicer. 

 

Some favorite blends:

• Apple, beet, carrot, ginger
• Apple, radish, cucumber, cabbage, spinach, kale (with this since there are a lot of greens, I use a LOT of apple)
• Cucumber, lemon, lime, watermelon (sometimes strawberries in this mix brings it to another level)
• Cucumber, watermelon, lemon, cilantro (or basil or mint)
• Apple, carrot, cucumber, cabbage, kale, lemon, ginger, pineapple. Sometimes I mix this blend up by adding 1 or 2 jalapenos to the blend, or 1 garlic clove. I won’t give you amounts since what I like (more than 3 inches of ginger, half a head of cabbage, and half a head of kale) might be too intense for you. So experiment. Another variation, into a blender, wazz up a mango with some pineapple juice. Add this to your juice blend. I don’t like juicing mangos because it seems like so much waste and to get really dry pulp, I have to pass it through the juicer several times. It’s just easier to wazz up the mango into a puree in the blender and mix that into the juice.

You can juice just about anything. If you have herbs and want to try them, go slow as some will add a major punch.  I wouldn’t juice any woody herbs– no sage, rosemary, thyme– in large batches otherwise your juice will taste like soap.  I think I added one sage leaf once to a juice and it was such a bomb because it tasted like I was drinking soap. Parsley and cilantro are favorite additions. Mint is also a nice one, but it can be strong. Same for basil or lemon balm. Both are great additions, but the flavor is concentrated so a little goes a long way.

Some great juice recipe resources:

https://juicerecipes.com/
http://healthybodyguru.com/category/recipes/beverages/ 
http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/recipes/

Making Smoothies

Another class on their own, smoothies are made entirely differently than juice.  But, if you’re doing a cleanse, smoothies are a mainstay.  I generally add nutrition and herb powders to smoothies.  Other things to have on hand for smoothie making are: nuts, nut butters, acidophilus, yogurt or soy milk, herbal teas.

Aside from our masticating juicer, the best investment I made into healthy eating was to get a book on smoothies. I found an el-cheapo in Barnes and Noble: Super Smoothies by Ellen Brown for something like $4, or less. The only issue with the book: no index. But, the smoothies are simple and there are great ideas for increasing the protein value in smoothies. She also gave me great ideas that I never thought of prior to reading the book– like using dried fruit or nut butters.  A favorite smoothie uses tahini and dried apricots as a base. Depending on what I have on hand, I’ll add mango, pineapple, or strawberries to the mix. So, get yourself a smoothie book so you don’t have to run online every time you want to experiment with smoothies.

Then, get a basic, cheap blender. While investing in a pricey masticating juicer is necessary if you want the best juice, investing in a blender that’s more than $100 is not. The only thing you want your blender to be able to do is puree for a smoothie. Don’t get a gimmicky smoothie only blender– especially not with a spout or spigot at the bottom which, over time, will leak.  Get a blender with a solid glass pitcher. Don’t get plastic or metal as the former scratches and harbors bacteria and the latter can react badly to acid-rich fruits.  We have a Cuisinart Powerblend duet and have had it for years. It’s easy to clean and the best part– I can get parts for it online and have. It has a blender beaker and food processor bowl that both fit into the same base.

For smoothie making, one useless ingredient that I completely ignore is ice. You DON’T NEED ICE TO MAKE A SMOOTHIE. If you add ice, you’re making a slushie.  Instead of ice, use frozen fruit or make frozen cubes from herbal teas. Do NOT for the love of the gods above use frozen water, unless you like watered down smoothies.  Fill an ice cube tray with green tea, an herbal tea, coconut water, or pineapple juice instead.  

Another great tip from Ellen Brown, before blending up anything wet, put your powders in the blender and wazz them up first. To the powders, add any seeds (flax, sesame, chia) or whole nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews) and any herb or supplement powders (bee pollen, powdered acidophilus, bromelain, vitamin c, powdered red clover [which is a protein, yay]).  If you do this before adding anything wet, you won’t get clumps of powder later on.

One powder that you DO NOT add in first is maca. I learned the hard way with maca.  There’s only one way to prepare it to prevent nasty maca lumps.  First, measure out your maca (5 grams per person is PLENTY; for a large smoothie batch–5 to 6 cups for 2 people– I only add 10-11 grams, no more). It’s strong stuff so determine your dosage. Many places that advocate large doses of Maca (10 grams or more per person per day) think of Maca as a food and not a supplement. Fine, but too much maca can leave you with side effects. My own range from irritability to acne and eczema flare ups. Anthony got heart palpitations and anxiety. 5 grams for me and for him is a perfect dose. It gives me energy and curbs my appetite and functions like a protein. But, I can’t mix maca with other energetic herbal supplements, like rhodiola or tulsi– both I’ve used sparingly in herbal teas that I use to thin out my smoothies.  After you measure your dose of maca, place it in the bottom of a heat proof jar or bowl.  Add to the powder about 2-3 tbsp of freshly boiled water. For 10-11 grams, I add a quarter cup. Whisk the water into the maca and allow it to stand at room temp for a few minutes. It’ll become a thick, custardy, yogurt-like consistency– but won’t have any lumps.  Add that to your smoothie. If you add the powder into your smoothie straight, you’ll get lumpy bits.

So, whatever you want to do– remember to experiment. Come up with flavors in your juices and your smoothies that you like. Happy cleansing!