We can all wish to be that lucky! Most people, however, have a few rough days, typically at the beginning. Some individuals experience detox symptoms — aches, headaches, fatigue, irritability — your typical flu-like experience. Others may have no physical pains, but they have mental and emotional challenges. Some people feel crappy for weeks as their body fights through withdrawal caused after years of food addictions.
If you've ever quit caffeine — coffee or soda, you know what I'm talking about. You don't think you're hooked until you try to go without it and BAM! A headache hits you like a train two days in. I've even known a few people who seemed to have no symptoms whatsoever and then the bill came, with a late notice, several months later — time to pay up.
I'm not a doctor and even if I was, I think it would still be too hard for me to come up with a one-size-fits-all answer or explanation why some people feel great right away and others fail to thrive. I think the experience is just going to be different for everyone, mostly because we all come to a plant-based lifestyle from a different place. What might be a small change for one person could be a huge change for someone else.
It's where we came from that often dictates how our experience will be. How far we go with our dietary change can also affect what our experience is like. For example, I had a client who came to me because she wasn't feeling as great as she expected.
It didn't take long for me to figure out why. She'd been eating vegan, true, but vegan junk foods were still in her diet. I told her it's like a lottery ticket, you have to get all the numbers right to get the big jackpot. If you're only going half way — if you've only got a few winning numbers on your ticket — you're going to get a smaller prize.
Once we removed the junk food, the oils, the excess salt and sugar, the processed garbage, and got her on a more whole foods diet, she found that greatness she sought after. Another friend of mine was a total candy addict. She actually carried candy in her purse so a sweet fix wasn't more than a hand reach away. Eventually, my pal came to accept her relationship with candy wasn't a healthy one and she also wanted to lose weight.
I went to her house and helped her throw out all her candy. For the first day, she was okay. By the second, she complained of "feeling like garbage" and by that night, she felt so awful that she went to the gas station, bought and ate jelly beans. That hit her hard. The next morning she called and agreed, she had a problem.
She was willing to do whatever it took. I won't lie. It wasn't easy. She went through horrible withdrawal from her sugar addiction. She felt terrible for days. Skip to content. Lost your password? Click Here. A vegan detox is so powerful and reveals a lot about the impact our food has on us. What Is A Vegan Detox? There are generally two types of vegan detoxes: 1. Why Take A Vegan Detox? Curious about vegan snacks? The benefits of going vegan are almost endless and long-lasting.
Here are some reasons why a vegan detox could be for you: 1. Promotes Overall Health A huge benefit of going vegan, whether for 3 days, 30 days, or forever, is the enormous positive impact it has on health.
Increases Energy Levels Animal products, especially meat take a lot of work for our bodies to break down. More Bathroom Breaks When you start consuming fewer animals and more healthy foods your intake of fiber booms. Clearing Skin Going vegan does wonders for clearing up acne. Eating more beta-carotene foods like carrots and sweet potatoes can also give people radiant, glowing skin 4 5. Improved Focus Vegan diets are almost entirely devoid of cholesterol.
Can Help With Weight Loss If weight loss is your goal, a vegan detox can help you achieve that in a healthy and controlled way. There is a misconception that going vegan automatically means being healthy.
These include: Sugar — Vegan diets include sugar, which contains a lot of empty calories. How Often Should You Detox? But how often should you detox? Everyone cleanses differently. We all have different needs, goals, preferences and timelines. Sylvie Tremblay holds a Master of Science in molecular and cellular biology, and has years of experience as a cancer researcher and geneticist.
Nina Bahadur. Nina is a writer and editor with a focus on health and culture. She loves pilates, skiing, and her rescue dog. Video of the Day. What Is a Detox Diet? Raw Vegan Diet Benefits. They may help you lose weight. According to Stanford Medicine , a raw vegan diet "emphasizes foods that are only slowly digested and that contain fewer calories for a given volume. They cut out refined carbs. Since people who eat an exclusively raw food diet don't eat highly-processed foods, they won't be consuming refined carbohydrates , which have a high glycemic index and may contribute to insulin resistance and obesity.
They also cut out extra sugar. People on this type of diet eat only naturally-occurring sugars rather than added sugar , which has been linked to obesity, cancer and an increased risk of heart disease.
Vegan diets can lower blood pressure and cholesterol. However, this finding is not specific to raw vegan diets, AARP explains, and eating a vegetarian diet might have the same results. Raw Vegan Diet Drawbacks. Eat a variety of foods high in vitamin C which will clear your skin and speed up detoxification even further. Vitamin C-rich foods include broccoli, citrus fruits, berries, spinach, kale, apples, pineapple, papaya, sweet potatoes, and peppers. Also be sure to eat foods rich in beta-carotene vitamin A , which clears the skin and promotes a healthy glow; it also supports your immune system which will help you during the transition.
Vitamin A-rich foods include sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash, carrots, spinach, kale, turnip and collard greens, Swiss chard, spirulina, and goji berries. Omega-3 rich plant-based foods include walnuts, chia, flax, hemp, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocados, and acai fruit.
Be sure you also wash your skin with a natural cleanser and for those that use makeup, wash it with something free of chemicals such as coconut oil.
When it comes to changing up your meals, there are so many ways you can learn to replace animal-based proteins with plant-based foods. Open your mind to the concept of getting to choose between limitless amounts of produce, nuts, seeds, grains, beans, legumes, and fruits. Always keep in mind that your body needs adequate sleep, with no less than eight hours a night. Be sure to maintain a regular exercise routine and try detoxifying activities like yoga and hot baths.
All of these things keep our bodies healthy even though we often seem to forget about them. Remember, detox is temporary, but a positive healthy change can be life-altering. We also highly recommend downloading our Food Monster App , which is available for iPhone , and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. The app has more than 15, plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day.
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