Raw Fruit Detox (7-Day Fruit Cleansing)

In an effort to become the craziest vegan blogger around, I am embarking on a 7-Day Raw Fruit cleansing detox. Well… that’s only partially true.  I am actually looking to cleanse my body like I never have before, ridding it of all toxins and any other harmful substances.   Of course, I’m not the first person to try a fruit diet for a few days.  Believe it or not, there are people who eat all fruit, all the time; we call them fruitarians.

For centuries, various cultures have experimented with the process of detoxifying the body with an entirely fruit-based diet, often referring to the process as a fruit fast.  Individuals who have completed such fasting claim to have increased energy, weight loss, and better health overall.  Some even believe that they have reduced their risk of certain diseases.

But how bad could my body be?  I eat nothing but whole plant-based foods.  I exercise a minimum of three hours a week.  I don’t need to lose weight or increase my energy.   Believe it or not, toxins are all around us.  They make their way into our drinking water and the air we breathe. 

And if you aren’t buying organic foods, you may have residue from pesticides built up within your body.  The antioxidants, phytonutrients, enzymes, and fiber from fresh organic fruit help to drive out these impurities, stopping the formation of free radical cells.  So you see, even I, could use a fruit detox every once in a while.

I came up with some rules that I knew I could follow and would be beneficial to this process.  If this were going to be a healing process, I would have to take it seriously and lay down some ground rules.

Fruit Detox Rules:

1.  No Coffee (not even decaf)

2.  No Veggies (just fruit)

3.  No added sugar to anything

4.  No cooking (keep it raw)

5.  I will eat at least one meal a day of whole fruit (the other two can be smoothies or juices)

6.   I will track every piece of fruit I eat over the next week, accounting for my nutritional intake.  I will also weigh myself each morning.

I will add to this list if I find it necessary during my raw fruit cleansing journey, but I think that this is a good start.  With that said, it’s day one and time for me to get blending.  I’m actually really excited to be doing this.  I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see (and feel) my body going through such a therapeutic change.  I look forward to sharing my experience with all of you.  I hope that you will check back each day to see my progress.  And if you like fruit recipes, you can expect many of them in the upcoming days.

As I mentioned above, I’ll be tracking every piece of fruit that goes into my mouth.  Not only do I want to track the nutritional content of everything I’ve eaten, but also how much it cost.  We’ll see just how expensive it is to eat a diet rich in exotic fruits.  Stay tuned, this should make for a fun and interesting week!

I must give a shout-out to Emily from ThisRawsomeVeganLife for inspiring me to give this cleansing a try.   She recently went on a 10 day juice fast and enjoyed every bit of it.  I figure if it’s good for her (a healthy raw vegan), it’s gotta be good for me.  If you haven’t met Emily, you should drop by her blog today.  She will show you how fun, healthy, and rejuvenating a vegan diet can be, naturally cleansing the body from the inside out by eating raw plant-based foods (many of them deserts).  Not to mention, her photography is absolutely stunning!

More Info:
Raw Foods Diet Center

Raw Fruit Detox Daily Recaps (Days 1-7)

• Introduction: Raw Fruit Detox (7-Day Fruit Cleansing)
• Raw Fruit Detox (Day 1 Recap)
• Raw Fruit Detox (Day 2 Recap)
• Raw Fruit Detox (Day 3 Recap)
• Raw Fruit Detox (Day 4 Recap)
• Raw Fruit Detox (Day 5 Recap)
• Raw Fruit Detox (Day 6 Recap)

Cleansing with fruit! Detox 101 — Ellen Organic

If you know me, you know I love fruit! Most of my daily intake comes from fruit.
However, I used to not always be this way.

When I was in the throws of a candida overgrowth, I was constantly researching on how to heal my gut. I read so many articles that said to not eat fruit if you are trying to rid candida. Fruit sugars would supposedly feed candida and worsen the condition. That fruit sugar fear mongering got me and I almost never ate the stuff.

Luckily, I later found information that said the exact opposite! That fruit was a powerful detoxifyer and should be the staple of your diet. Fruit isn’t what causes or continues candida but can be used to stop it.

What is fruit? Fruit is made up of glucose and fructose both of which are carbon and oxygen. Carbon and oxygen are the vital elements for life itself.

When we eat fruit we come alive because we are eating the exact elements required for life to even exist. The opposite of death (disease) is life (health.)

By eating fruit we creating health and eliminating an environment that is hospitable for disease.

Fruits are the easiest macronutrient for the body to digest. This means the body expends less energy to break down, assimilate and eliminate fruits. Higher water content fruits such as watermelon (92% water) only take 20 minutes to fully digest.

The energy our body would typically spend digesting food has now become available for our body to start deep cleaning and repairing our systems.

The amazing thing about the body is that it can self heal. It knows exactly what is and isn’t working. If we gift our bodies with easily digestible, high water content foods such as fruit, we take a load off. Now our bodies can spend the majority of its energy eliminating toxins (candida, parasites, waste) and repairing broken systems (lymph drainage, adrenal strengthening, kidney filtration, etc.)

I’ve found it beneficial to go low fat while you are in the detoxification process.

Fat is the hardest macronutrient for the body to digest. Cashews for example can take 2-6 hours to fully digest. That is a lot, especially when compared to the digestion time of fruit.

Fats are NOT bad for you. Avocados are amazing. However, when you are detoxing, especially if dealing with candida, parasites, or just a toxic body in general, you want to eat what is going to take the least amount of energy. When you are suffering from these imbalances you most likely will have weak adrenals, backed up lymph or a weak pancreas as well. In the body, everything works together. If your body is already having a hard time eliminating toxins, backing it up further with hard to digest fats will only worsen your condition. We want things to be light and easy while we are in the healing process.

Fruits have the highest flavonoids and the highest astringents, each great for detoxification.
Melons, berries, grapes and citrus are powerful detoxifiers.

Citrus is great for dissolving mucus build up in the body. Bacteria thrives off of mucus in the gut which can cause a low immune system, viruses, infections, acne, etc. Citrus acts as an astringent in the body and cleans out mucus.

Citrus also dissolves acid build up in the lymph. The lymphatic system runs throughout the entire body and acts like a drain that releases toxins and waste. Would you want your toilet backed up? Of course not, you want your pipes running clean! Same with the lymphatic system, which drains best in an alkaline environment. Although citrus is acidic in nature, it is alkalizing in the body.

Incorporating these detoxifying fruits into your diet will further your detoxification process!

How to properly wash fruits and vegetables?

The fruits that we eat with the peel want to be properly disinfected, but everyone does it in their own way. Indeed, not only dust, dirt, microbes from hands can appear on the peel, but also traces of fertilizers that the plant was sprayed with. Consumer Reports experts emphasize that chemicals and microbes stick especially strongly to the wax layer, for example, apples.

WITH PLAIN WATER, WITH SOAP OR WITH SOAP?

So, experts recommend washing fruits and vegetables with plain tap water at a comfortable temperature (not necessarily hot). To be sure, rub them with a clean brush (to remove bacteria and chemicals mechanically). If the peel is tender, then just rub it with your hands or a soft sponge. After washing, wipe with a dry cloth or clean towel to remove any remaining dirt (unfortunately, washing usually does not clean 100%).

And that’s it. There is no evidence for the effectiveness of various fruit products or sprays. It is not recommended to use soap, dishwashing detergent, since the peel of the fruit has a porous structure, from which it will not be possible to completely wash the soap. An exception is products that are intended for washing dishes and fruits and do not contain components that can harm the body if ingested. They usually state that they are approved for washing fruit. If there is no such mark, use the product only for its intended purpose.

Vinegar, soda, salt, soak

The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture says that in most cases, thorough washing and even soaking will get rid of only part of the pesticide traces, but the benefits of eating fresh vegetables and fruits still outweigh the harm of a small amount of chemicals eaten.

That being said, if you want to clean the surface of the fruit as much as possible, traditional methods such as salt, baking soda, and vinegar will do a much better job of removing traces of pesticides (and probably germs).

Are there nitrates and pesticides in apples?

The paper says that a 10-minute soak in a solution of soda or salt (ratio of 1 to 10) destroys about 70% of pesticides (while washing in water – about 20%). Nothing is reported about the microbes in the study, but it can be assumed that they are also becoming even smaller.

Regarding the vinegar soak, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that although the vinegar soak did not greatly affect the amount of germs and pesticides remaining, a 5% vinegar solution did help. reduce the level of pathogens and pesticides on the surface of tomatoes, broccoli and apples. In short, using a 1:3 solution of vinegar won’t hurt, especially if it helps reduce the fear of eating some kind of bacteria.

With all the effectiveness of these methods, the good old boiling is not inferior in effectiveness to soda and vinegar. Experiments show that a two-minute boil eliminates most of the pesticide residue. However, cooking changes the structure of the fruit/vegetable and may result in the loss of some vitamins. Instead of boiling, you can scald the fruit and keep it in hot water for a while, then rinse with cold water.

HOW TO WASH DIFFERENT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES?

Different fruits and vegetables need to be washed in different ways: some fruits need to be washed to remove traces of dirt, and in the case of leaves, you need to get rid of any insects left in greens or vegetables such as cabbage.

For example, Rospotrebnadzor recommends:

• Root vegetables (potatoes, radishes, carrots, beets and others) should be soaked for 15 minutes in warm water. Then clean thoroughly with a brush and rinse well.

• Cabbage (white, Beijing and other leafy types) must be cleaned from the top layer of leaves before washing with cool water. It is better to pre-soak the head of cabbage in cool water, after a few minutes you will see bugs, spiders and other small insects pop up in the water. For convenience, cauliflower can immediately be divided into inflorescences.
• Green onions, dill, parsley, cilantro, sorrel, salad greens should be sorted out, roots, yellowed and damaged leaves should be removed. Next, soak the greens in cool water for 15 minutes, periodically changing the water and sorting the greens into individual leaves and twigs, until all the dirt settles to the bottom, all insects emerge and the water becomes clean. After that, the greens should be thoroughly rinsed with running water. For better cleansing of greens from pathogenic microbes and helminth eggs, you can hold it for half an hour in a saline or vinegar solution (1 tablespoon of salt or vinegar per 1 liter of water).
• Grapes should be washed “under the shower” from the tap. After washing, let the water drain. If the clusters are tight, they should be separated with scissors, but do not tear the berries from the stalk. It, like a cork, protects the berry from the ingress of foreign microorganisms and prevents rapid decay and spoilage.
• For washing cherries, sweet cherries, raspberries, currants and other berries, the following is recommended: place the berries in a colander in a single layer and rinse under running water for 5 minutes. So earth or dust will come off the surface.
• To wash the strawberries from the remnants of earth and sand, it is better to soak the berries for 5-10 minutes in cool water, and then rinse with running water.

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7 Tips for Washing Food

Vegetables and fruits should be washed before eating, whether they are farm-raised, organic, or purchased from the nearest supermarket. However, now there are cleansers for washing vegetables, fruits and even eggs (!), claiming to remove all mental bacteria, pollution and other E.

coli. Like, you won’t really wash anything off with water, do you know how many chemicals are poured on vegetables and fruits for growth and preservation ?! That’s the same. But is it true that plain water is not enough? Let’s figure it out.

I will not beat around the bush, I will say right away: washing vegetables and fruits with ordinary water eliminates up to 98% of bacteria from their surface! True, it is recommended to use not running, but distilled or bottled water, in order to avoid impurities that tap water is “rich in”. So if you have been washing vegetables “the old fashioned way” all your life, then, in general, you did the right thing.

However, even something as simple as washing fruits and vegetables has its own secrets to be aware of. Here they are:

1. Wash your hands before washing food

This tip is listed as number one on the FDA website. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before washing vegetables or fruits.

2. The temperature of the water should match the temperature of the vegetables/fruits

This tip is easy to remember: if you store vegetables or fruits at room temperature, then you need to wash them with warm water. If you take food out of the refrigerator, on the contrary, wash it with cool water.

Julie Albrecht, PhD, professor and food educator, says that when the temperature changes, water can become a vehicle and transport microorganisms from the surface to the depth of the food. Therefore, the temperature of the water for washing and soaking (!) should be similar to the temperature of vegetables or fruits.

3. Use of special tools

Experts do not recommend using brushes or washcloths to clean fruits with delicate skins. You can rub the roots, after soaking them in water to soften the dirt. If you wish, you can use any non-rough washcloth, and this will be enough.

4. With or without soap?

The FDA does not recommend washing fruits and vegetables with soap or dishwashing liquid, even if they have thick skins, such as watermelon.

5. Detergents for washing fruits and vegetables

There are special cleansers for washing vegetables and fruits on the eco-home market. Manufacturers promise to kill all harmful bacteria, remove wax from the surface of fruits and bring nitrates to clean water.

Should I use them? If we talk about bacteria, most of it is washed off when you thoroughly wash the products in water. As for the removal of wax, there is a reason for this, because these products contain high doses of natural acids – citric, malic, etc., due to which they clean and disinfect the surface of the fruit. But on the other hand, you can use ordinary vinegar for the same purpose – it is cheap and widely available.

No data was found on the effectiveness of these products compared to conventional washes for organic brands, but conventional cleaners have been tested. A couple of years ago at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine, researchers compared three fruit and vegetable washes with distilled water.

Blueberries acted as a “guinea pig”. As a result, it turned out that distilled water, on a par with the tested cleaners, cleaned well both microbes and pesticide residues compared to unwashed samples.

The conclusion made by scientists: wash vegetables and fruits with distilled water, and if this seems not enough for you, then use soaking for 1-2 minutes.

It remains to figure out how to get distilled water in the right quantities or …

6. Vinegar, soda and lemon

And yet, it’s hard to believe that ordinary water can wash away all the unhealthy things that cling to vegetables and fruits until they reach the consumer. And if you are suspicious and incredulous hypochondriacs , then it’s time to talk about folk methods for cleaning vegetables and fruits. All you need is vinegar (any kind), baking soda, salt and lemon. All together or just one.

Rules for cleaning food with vinegar

• Research has shown that a ratio of 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar is the most effective. For some fruits, this ratio can be “heavy”, so it’s best to start with the usual recommendation – 1 tbsp. l. vinegar per liter of water.
• Before soaking food, rinse with water to remove dirt and/or soil.
• It is enough to soak the products for 5–10 minutes (remember that the temperatures of the water and the fruits coincide), and then rinse with running water.
• Vinegar does not help fruits and vegetables last longer, so it is best to wash food immediately before eating.
• Dry fruits and vegetables thoroughly with paper towels after washing.

Rules for cleaning products with baking soda

• For hard-skinned fruits and vegetables, you can use baking soda: rinse the product with water, add baking soda and rub gently. Wash off with running water.
• Greens are recommended to be sprinkled with soda along the entire length, let lie down for a couple of minutes, and then rub a little and rinse in running water.

Combo methods (suitable for greens and salads)

Salt + lemon

• 1 liter of water
• 4 tbsp. l. salt
• juice of half a lemon

Vinegar + salt

• 3 cups of water
• 1 glass of vinegar
• 1 st. l. salt

Vinegar + lemon

• 1 liter of water
• 1 st. l. vinegar
• juice of half a lemon

7. Do nuts and dried fruits need to be washed?

According to experts, shelled nuts sold in bulk are among the most “dirty” products. But you also need to wash the nuts because raw nuts and seeds contain a high percentage of phytic acid, which protects the plant from pests. And if it is useful for seeds, then, alas, it is not for people. Phytic acid binds and removes minerals such as calcium, magnesium and iron from the body. At high doses of phytic acid intake, demineralization of the body occurs, which can lead to bone problems.

Therefore, those who eat nuts and seeds a lot and often, it is recommended to soak them in water not only for hygienic reasons. This will help flush out the phytic acid while retaining healthy fats and proteins:

1. Place 4 cups of raw nuts in a bowl.
2. Pour in filtered water to cover the nuts.
3. Add 1-2 tbsp. l. sea ​​salt.
4. Leave to soak for 7 hours or overnight.
5. After the time has elapsed, rinse the nuts with clean water.

Now all that’s left is to dry the nuts. This is best done in a dehydrator for vegetables and fruits, because. temperature should not exceed 45 degrees. If you don’t have this, then you can use a conventional oven by turning on the “coldest” mode.

As for dried fruits, LavkaLavka sanitary doctor Daniil Kaganovich confidently states that dried fruits, along with peeled nuts and spices, which are sold without packaging, demonstrate the saddest microbiological indicators, that is, they are simply the dirtiest products that we buy.