When springtime rolls around, our homes have gathered winter cobwebs and crud. It’s time, once again, to do some down and dirty scrubbing, dusting and clearing out. Many of us have accumulated a bit of unwanted grunge- in the form of toxins and fat – in our bodies as well. It’s time, once again, to do a spring cleanse.
Hunger pangs and willpower seem to loom large in our immediate future. But an appetizing and satisfying Spring cleanse, as unlikely as that might seem, can be your experience, if you learn to make the ingredients you use in your smoothies, salads and green soups really “zing” with flavor. In fact, if you approach your cleanse like a gourmet adventure instead of like an exercise in depravation, clearing away a winter’s worth of accumulated internal debris might actually be quite painless.
Crowd Out the Gunk
The trick to successful spring cleansing lies in The Food Evolution’s “Crowding Out Theory”. The idea is to replace foods that tend to gunk up your system (like sugar, red meat, and dairy products) with foods that are delicious, nutritious, and highly purifying. Fortunately, many of spring’s best seasonal vegetables are all of those things. Radishes, dandelion leaves and kale are superior liver cleansers and all green leafy lettuces and micronutrient-containing vegetables are great for purifying the blood, scrubbing the digestive system and balancing the pH levels in the body.
Add a scrumptious green smoothie in place of breakfast pastry and an interesting, crunchy veggie salad for lunch instead of cheese and bread. Replace meat and potatoes for dinner with a leafy green and assorted vegetable salad with some soaked sunflower or pumpkin seeds complimented by super tasty dressing. In this way, with very little angst, you’ll be crowding out a lot of foods that will interfere with your cleanse.
Raw food eating is part and parcel of a good spring cleanse, but it can take some ingenuity to create the “yum” factor. This zesty salad dressing can really rev up a lettuce and vegetable meal and provide extra nourishment and cleansing support from natural oils and herbs:
Creamy Chive Vinaigrette
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
- 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- ½ cup chopped fresh chives
- ¼ cup champagne vinegar
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ½ ripe avocado
2 teaspoons raw honey
To make the dressing, transfer all ingredients to a blender and process until smooth.
If there is too much of a bite for you, feel free to sauté shallots and garlic in a little grapeseed oil to mellow flavor.
Making it Personal
When beginning something new it’s important to clarify your personal intent. Spring is the renewal of the cycle of the yearly seasons. A spring cleanse is a great way to help bring insight and clarity into your mind and soul by revitalizing your inner household.
Take some extra deep breaths before you dine and, with every bite, connect with the experience of eating. Taste that wonderfully flavorful, organic produce. Really chew your food and enjoy the positive benefits of letting your physical temple rest from its ordinary digestive load. You’ll reset your taste buds, clear out toxins, and shed unwanted pounds while starting the new cycle renewed and refreshed… from the inside out.
