I did a food cleanse to detox my body for 21 days and potentially discover sensitivities to some foods. All cleanses are not created equal. This cleanse cuts key suspect foods for 21 days — Dairy, Gluten, Soy, Alcohol, Caffeine, and Refined Sugar. They are inflammatory agents, they mess with your hormones and they are common overindulgences so our bodies reject them unfavorably. What you will need is an open mind, discipline, patience, desire for change, and a plan.
1. In your pantry and refrigerator, remove or hide all soy products, including soy sauce, tofu, miso, tempeh, soy milk, soy oil, soy lecithin and other soy byproducts.
2. Remove or hide all grains and products with gluten including wheat, barley, spelt, kamut, rye, and oats.
3. Remove all dairy products containing casein such as cow’s, cheese, yogurt and butter (they will go bad by day 21).
4. Enjoy a balanced diet of fresh vegetables and fruits, protein such as poultry, fish and some red meat with complementing gluten-free whole grains, seeds and nuts, and legumes.
5. Replace your flour, pasta, snacks and sweets with whole, natural or raw foods. Things like almond flour, “Nooodles” www.nooodle.com , spaghetti squash, rice cakes, fruits, natural sugars like, grade A honey and maple syrup, or Stevia.
6. Plan ahead before you go shopping at the grocery store. Your grocery list will require a thought-out meal plan for the week. For each meal, make a list of groceries you don’t already have stocked. Don’t forget — you’re planning, breakfast, lunch (leftover dinners), dinner and two snacks a day.
7. Read the 3 parts of a food label: package marketing, food label (carb, fat, protein), and ingredients. Look for hidden refined sugars, alcohol, preservatives, MSG… and other artificial ingredients. Look at everything, even your condiments and spices.
8. Incorporate these supplements: A multi-vitamin capsule daily, non-soy based protein powder, a greens supplement, and L-Glutamine supplement, which is purported to enhance exercise performance and help with the following conditions: anxiety, crohn’s disease, depression, insomnia, and ulcerative colitis.
9. Keep foods for the quick hunger fixes on the counter or in front of your refrigerator already prepared, sliced, cleaned and ready to eat.
10. Find a few new recipes on websites and social media that promote your new found way to health.
You will need patience as your body goes through detox and the cravings subside. You will be enticed by physical appearance of food, emotional triggers, and sensory intake but you will have the discipline and dedication to change on your side. And contrary to popular belief, healthy eating is flavorful — I have had some of the most tasty foods ever in the first two weeks of my cleanse, including pumpkin pancakes, taco salad made with grass-fed beef and fresh vegetables and spaghetti using spaghetti squash in place of pasta.