Healing and Repairing my Digestion: Part IV

By October 5, 2017

For more on my healing and repairing digestion series, check out: Part I, Part II, Part III Horray for day 3, the last day of our journey! We’re saying goodbye to juices and hello to whole food smoothies, puréed soups, and colon hydrotherapy. But before we get into the nitty gritty, I thought I’d share my day 2 juice experiences with you all:
  • Day 2 was much better than day 1. The hunger subsided and I was filled with lots and lots of energy, at least for the morning
  • Come the afternoon I started to feel hungry, tired, lethargic and a bit volatile. I decided to drink about 1 liter of juice in an hour or so and felt way better afterward
  • I chose not to workout
  • The gurgling continued in my intestines for the entire day
  • I continued with the warm ginger and lemon water
  • My digestion was improved from day 1
  • Fresh fruit popsicles are awesome!
  • No headaches or stomach pains
  • My sinuses are so ridiculously clear, it’s astounding. This may point to sensitivities or allergies to some of the foods I generally eat. I’ve structured today’s plan around incorporating foods slowly so that I can hopefully determine the culprit
  • In total, I drank 2000mL of juice, 2500mL of water, and ate 3 dixie cup sized popsicles.
I’d love to extend the cleanse to five days but seeing as this is my first one and that I’m heading to India in a couple of weeks, I’ve decided to see what these three days do for me and reassess whether I’ll need to do another one when I get home in March.

Today’s menu

I’m beginning the day with a vegetable + fruit based smoothie, moving on to introduce seeds and nuts in the mid-morning, welcoming the afternoon with a bit of juice and; if all goes well, finishing with a bit of plant based protein and grains.

A couple of notes

  • Now that I’ll be having solid foods again, I plan on having 1/2 lemon or 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 5 minutes before eating to assist with hydrochloric acid stimulation
  • No nuts today except almond milk to see if I’m sensitive to it
  • No animal proteins
  • Minimal grains and proteins, slowly adding in over the next couple of days
Some questions that may come up from today’s post… How should someone come off a juice cleanse or fast? If you’re embarking on a juice cleanse for more than five days, it’s advisable to transition back to your diet by consuming pureed fruits and steamed vegetables for at least two days followed by whole grains, fish, beans, seeds, and oils for the following two days. Why the minimal amount of protein in today’s plan? When on a juice cleanse, you want to slowly reintroduce protein into your diet. It can take several days for your body to get used to more protein and other heavier foods coming in, especially after a smoothie or juice cleanse that’s comprised of vegetables and fruits only. Because I was on a small two day juice cleanse, I should be okay with adding in lentils today and animal proteins in a couple days time. You want to be particularly mindful of your transition plan when you’re cleansing for a longer period of time. When I was preparing to take pictures of these recipes last night, I was curious to know whether they were any good. They smelt amazing, but I’ve learned that that’s not always a good indication of a perfect recipe. After the shoot, I poured them in mason jars and tucked them away in the fridge for the morning. I woke up an hour before I generally do just so I could take a little sip of them. Partly because I wanted to actually try the recipe before posting it and another part because well, I haven’t had food in 2 days haha Okay… let’s get to this darn smoothie already!
Caramel Apple Green Smoothie
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar-free, Yeast free, Corn free, Grain free
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
This smoothie is everything I imaged it would be. It’s sweet, caramel-like and just down-right tasty.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 frozen apple
  • 2 tablespoon sunbutter
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 2 medjool dates, pitted
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • pinch salt
  • 2 ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Place in your blender in the order of the ingredients listed, then blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.
View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down)
Sautéed Fennel and Lentil Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar-free, Yeast free, Corn free
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
This puréed soup is delicious and comforting. I completely forgot I was on a cleanse while I indulged in my first spoonful.
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup diced onion
  • 1 small sweet potato, diced – yield ~1/4 cup
  • ¼ fennel bulb, sliced – yield ~1/3 cup
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • ⅓ cup cooked millet
  • ⅓ cup cooked lentils
Instructions
  1. To cook the millet, rinse and drain ¼ cup raw millet before placing it in a small saucepan. Cover with ⅔ cup water. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Then reduce heat to low. Cook gently without stirring for 15-20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Place the olive oil, onion, sweet potato, and fennel in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring often until sweet potatoes are tender.
Notes
Non-power blender version: Add vegetable stock to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour in your food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth.

Power blender version (like blendtec or vitamix): Drop sauteed vegetables in blender with all other ingredients. Turn blender on low, progressing to high and run for 2-3 minutes until soup is hot.
  View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down) There you have it, my first juice fast is complete! Your words of encouragement this week inspired me to continue on with this little project. I’m hoping that these three days have done wonders to my digestive system and overall health, but I guess only time will tell! Thanks for being there for me :) Also, the winners have been posted for the stevia giveaway. Check them out here.
link

This entry was tagged: caramel, cleanse, cleansing, fennel, lentil, millet, smoothies


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Hi! I’m Leanne (RHN FBCS)

a Keto Nutritionist, host of The Keto Diet Podcast, and best-selling author of The Keto Diet & Keto for Women. I want to live in a world where every woman has access to knowledge to better her health.

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