3 Day Smoothie & Herbal Tea Fast
The holidays are coming to a welcome end, and wow, can my body sure use a cleanse and re-set! And although I've tried my hardest not to over indulge, I totally broke tips #8 and #9 in MY OWN damn article, How to Have a Modern Hippie Holidays {10 Helpful Tips!}So now that I've been honest with you...no judgement please :) I already had my husband calling me a "Modern Hippie Hypocrite" while pouring my 6th "3rd" glass of wine, and binging on BBQ chips (my weakness).As disciplined as I tried to be, that extra alcohol, sugar and gluten is not going unnoticed: my energy is shot, I had a good cry last night for no reason at all, my pants are feeling rather tight, and my eczema has totally flared up again! We truly ARE what we EAT.In an attempt to counteract the unhealthy, over-indulgence of the holidays, my husband and I have decided to jump into 2015, hangover-free, and start the year off with the Body and Liver Re-set!So, here's the plan!Starting tomorrow, January 1st, 2015, we're going on a 3 day Smoothie and Herbal Tea fast! Yep! Three days of smoothie-goodness, jam packed full of fruits, veggies, seeds, and liver-cleansing herbal teas.Why a Smoothie Fast? Because my body is CRAVING some nutrients, and I need to "clean the pipes," if you know what I'm saying. The hope is to regain my energy, clear up my skin, clean out the ol' digestive system, and force some raw fruits and veggies into my body. Dandelion, milk thistle and turmeric & ginger teas will also aid in cleansing the liver and digestive system!Why 3 days? Because that's the amount of time it takes for food to pass through the entire digestive track, so come January 4th, I'll have a clean slate to re-introduce foods to (some will not be welcome back).
The Smoothies
Smoothies vs Juicing - Smoothies are made by puréeing fruits and veg in a blender - pulp, peel and all. Juicing only extracts the juice, leaving the pulp and peel for the compost, which seems a bit wasteful to me. I prefer smoothies over fresh juices because they contain all of the fiber and nutrients that make up the pulp and peel, help to keep you "regular," and leave no waste.I'm not going to share any specific smoothie recipes because you can use pretty much any fruit or veggie you want (plus, there are already millions of recipes on the net). I generally concoct a smoothie with what I have on have, but some standard ingredients that I add are:
- Fruit - banana, mango, melon, orange, apple, grapes, papaya, pineapple. peaches.
- Berries - blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries.
- Leafy greens & veggies - spinach, kale, cucumber, broccoli.
- Carrot or beet juice - you'll probably need a juicer for this.
- Coconut or almond milk
- Coconut water
- Spiced probiotic apple sauce
- Hemp hearts
- Chia
For this smoothie fast, avoid adding:
- Dairy - milk, yogurt etc.
- Sweeteners - sugar, honey, artificial sweeteners etc.
- Protein powder
The Herbal Teas
Different herbs and plants, as I'm sure you know, have various medicinal and cleansing properties. For this 3 day body and liver reset, these herbal teas will aid in cleansing the digestive organs, and specifically, the liver (which really takes a beating during the holidays).The Liver Cleansing Teas:
- Dandelion Root Tea - I make my own from my summer stash of dried dandelion roots and leaves, but you can also buy it HERE.
- Milk Thistle Tea - You can also make it yourself, or buy it HERE.
- Ginger, Lemon & Turmeric Tea - a tasty, tea with powerful cleansing and anti-inflammatory properties.
- How to Make: For 1 cup of water use 1 teaspoon each of fresh grated turmeric and ginger roots. If you use ground turmeric and ginger, use 1/3 teaspoon each. Squeeze in a slice of lemon.
- Prep: In a small saucepan, bring water to boil. Add fresh grated turmeric and ginger, reduce heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. If using ground turmeric and ginger, boil for 7 minutes. Then strain the tea and add the lemon.
Calming Night-time Tea:For the last tea of the day, make a relaxing lemon balm, peppermint, lavender, or chamomile herbal tea.
The Schedule
I've constructed a schedule so that we have a guide to easily follow. I don't have recipes for the smoothies, because like I mentioned before, it's all about using what you have on hand, but I do urge you to make different smoothies throughout the day!Here is the schedule to be repeated for 3 days:
- Morning: wake up and drink a large glass of water with a wedge of fresh, organic, lemon squeezed in.
- Breakfast Smoothie
- Herbal Tea: liver-cleansing tea - either milk thistle, dandelion, or ginger & turmeric tea.
- Lunch Smoothie
- Herbal Tea: liver-cleansing tea - either milk thistle, dandelion, or ginger & turmeric tea.
- Dinner Smoothie
- Herbal Tea: calming night-time tea - peppermint, lemon balm, lavender, or chamomile tea.
Notes
I've shared this Body & Liver Re-set only because several of you have mentioned to me that a detox/cleanse/body reset is something that you're interested in for the New Year too! This is something that we were already planning on doing, but not necessarily writing about, so I've explained the very basics of the plan/goal, and left all of the science-y stuff out for now :)If your interested in jumping on board, awesome! Let's do it together! Let me know how you feel before and after and what kind of smoothies that you concoct! I'd love to hear from you.This body-reset may NOT be for you - listen to your body - but if you're looking to regain your energy, rid your body of the yucky (but so yummy) food that you've been eating over the holiday, have a healthy poop (sorry about that one), clear up your skin and cleanse your liver, then I highly suggest giving this Body and Liver Re-set a try!
