Cleanse Diet Breakfasts

When planning what to eat for breakfast during a cleanse diet, you must be sure to avoid certain types of food. Typical breakfast items that shouldn't appear on your cleanse diet include: processed or refined foods, caffeine, condiments, fats, grains, juices that are not fresh or raw, processed meats, pork, beef, veal, more than minimal salt, sweeteners, milk, butter, yogurt, tomatoes, peppers, nuts & seeds, citrus fruits (except lemon), egg yolks and high-glycemic index fruits (bananas, dates, figs, grapes, pineapple, raisins and watermelon).

THE PURPOSE OF A CLEANSE DIET IS TO DETOXIFY YOUR SYSTEM AND ALSO TO DETERMINE IF YOU HAVE A FOOD ALLERGY, NOT TO LOSE WEIGHT! If you're looking for a diet that will make you healthier, you should start by incorporating the top 10 superfoods to keep you glowing into your meals and practicing portion control. There's no such thing as a diet that works for weight loss, only a lifestyle change will do that!

I'm taking this cleanse diet even a step further by making it a vegetarian plan. All cleanses limit or entirely restrict dairy, so many of the recipes will be vegan. I'm searching all over online for recipes that are either already appropriate for a cleanse diet, or just need a few minor tweaks to make them healthier.

Does it have to be a fast?

When people think of cleanse diets, they usually think of the 'Master Cleanse' or lemonade diet. This diet is called that as you are to do a saltwater flush in the morning, a drink consisting of lemon juice / maple syrup / cayenne pepper throughout the day and a laxative tea at night. Beyonce Knowles famously followed this diet during the filming of 'Dream Girls' in order to rapidly lose weight for her role as a young Diana Ross. Several other celebrities also routinely follow cleansing detox programs - (typically before an awards show to slim down quickly). That plan sounds pretty extreme to me and not particularly healthy either.

The "Cleanse Diets" I'm interested in restore your body by eliminating toxins in a healthy manner.

This cleanse diet has 3 different levels of restrictiveness. You can start with the most restrictive list of allowed food and maintain that for what is generally a two-week plan, or you can start with a moderately restrictive regime and advance as much as you can over the course of your cleanse. You can stick to a Level 1 cleanse, or you can start at Level 3 and gradually let yourself eat more of the foods while you progress down to Level 1. The important part is that you are improving your healthy food repertoire and becoming more conscious of what you eat. Hopefully you'll find some new favorite foods that will remain on your regular menu at home.

A detox or cleansing diet helps your liver clear itself of congestion and extra toxins. This is important as the liver is your body's first treatment against toxins: It turns them into substances that can be disposed of. The liver's primary function is to filter the blood so the blood can nourish the cells. A congested liver doesn't function properly. A cleanse program lets the liver eliminate waste efficiently and improves your energy. It also reduces cellulite, aging & stress and weight. Finally, a good cleanse diet boosts your immune system and wards off long-term degenerative diseases.

Why does coffee make you "regular"?

The caffeine in coffee becomes the toxic caffeine hydrochloride when it mixes with hydrochloric acid in the stomach. When this toxin reaches the liver, the liver reacts by releasing bile in an attempt to flush toxins from the body. Many people will recognize this in the regularity that drinking coffee offers them.

Is decaf coffee any better and what chemicals & pesticides are used in its production?

Decaffeinated coffee is hardly more healthy. The chemical trichloroethylene is used in its production. Trichloroethylene is also used as a degreasing agent in the metal industry and a solvent and dry cleaning agent in the garment industry. Coffee itself is also exposed to the most pesticides of any crop. Extreme temperatures used in roasting coffee additionally deplete coffee of its natural oils and cause them to become rancid. Finally, chlorogenic acid is found in coffee and is linked to many toxic side effects.

What effects does coffee have on the body?

The acid-based oil in coffee is an irritant to gastric mucosa resulting in adrenaline secretions. Adrenaline production stimulates insulin secretion and secondary hypoglycemia. These reactions can counteract medications you may be taking for depression, obesity, pain and hypertension. Heavy coffee drinkers also suffer from Thiamine (B-1) deficiency. Regular coffee intake also reduces your small intestine's ability to absorb vitamins and minerals, possibly creating more vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Impure blood travelling through the body does not allow you to regenerate healthy cells. The degenerative cells that are produced lead to degenerative diseases.

Symptoms of a congested liver can include: dark spots on the skin, decreased mineral absorption resulting in gray hair, a protruding stomach, constipation, spastic colon, irritable bowel, swollen or enlarged gall bladder, and high cholesterol and triglycerides. Eliminating coffee during your cleanse can be likened to an oil change for your car. Give it up for 2 weeks and see if it makes a difference in how you feel and look. If you choose to drink coffee again after your cleanse, you should opt for organically-produced, fair trade coffee.

• Drink 8 glasses of water per day.
• Eat at least 3-4 ounces of lean proteins with every meal and 1-2 ounces lean protein with each snack.
• Use oils with a high smoke point, such as extra-virgin olive oil, flax seed oil or grape seed oil.
• Eat local, organic foods whenever possible.
• Take a multivitamin rich in calcium and magnesium.
• Use a fiber supplement each morning and evening, such as ground flax seeds.
• Use a good probiotic 30 minutes before eating, doing this twice daily.

• Get exercise daily.
• Don't skip meals.
• Don't eat after 7:00pm.
• Go to bed by 10:00pm.

USE

• GREEN TEA
• BLACK STRAP MOLASSES, AGAVE NECTAR, STEVIA, BROWN RICE 'YINNIE' SYRUP, FRUIT SWEETENER
• GRAPE SEED OIL, FLAX SEED OIL OR EXTRA-VIRGIN COLD-PRESSED OLIVE OIL

DON'T USE

• COFFEE OR BLACK TEA
• SUGAR, MAPLE SYRUP, HONEY AND OTHER SWEETENERS
• PROCESSED VEGETABLE OILS

In order to keep your body healthy while you restrict yourself on a cleanse diet, you should be sure you're adding some supplements. A good probiotic should be taken twice daily to replenish the good bacteria in your digestive system while you purge the bad ones. You need to keep your nutrient levels high and maintain bone health with a good multi-vitamin rich in both calcium and magnesium. Top off your fiber with flax seeds. You will also be avoiding processed oils and replacing them with oils having a high smoke point, such as flax seed oil, extra-virgin cold-pressed oil and grape seed oil. While these ingredients may be somewhat difficult to search out at your local chemist or drug store, you can conveniently purchase them online at Amazon.com.

You should primarily use organic foods during your cleanse diet. Most grocery stores now carry a selection of some organic foods, whole grains and ancient grains such as quinoa. If you are unfamiliar with these products though, it may be easiest to buy these foods online from a retailer like Amazon.com.

Clicking on the links for these grains below will take you to their wikipedia pages so you can find out more about them. I've gotten my nutritional information from calorieking.com. Their coverage is excellent, you can check the different nutritional data between brands and cooking methods at their site. I've used US measurements for the information presented below: Here is a good link to a weight and quantity converter if you'd like to translate these amounts to the metric system or another one.

• Egg Whites - with the yolks discarded are a good, albeit not vegan, source of lean protein.

  - 1 egg white has 17 calories, < 0.1g fat, 0.2g carbs, 3.6g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 55mg sodium, 2.3mg calcium, 53.8mg potassium

• Beans and legumes - chick peas (garbanzos), azuki beans, lima beans, lentils, urad, mung beans, faba beans. Do NOT eat soy beans and peanuts on a cleanse program though.
• Quinoa - A grain-like crop (although not a true grain) grown for its edible seeds. It is closely related to spinach, beets and tumbleweeds.

  - 1/2 cup quinoa cooked with water has 127 calories, 2g fat, 23.5g carbs, 4.5g protein, 10mg sodium, 251.5mg potassium

• Amaranth - The amaranth plant is not a member of the grass family, and as such is gluten free. The seeds are often used by people with gluten intolerance.

  - 1/4 cup whole grain amaranth has 180 calories, 3g fat, 31g carbs, 7g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 10mg sodium, 170mg potassium, 80mg calcium

• Teff - A gluten-free grain from North Africa that is high in protein, calcium and fiber.

  - 1/4 cup whole grain teff has 180 calories, 1g fat, 37g carbs, 7g protein, 5mg sodium, 100mg calcium

• Wild Rice - Four varieties of wild rice (Northern Wild Rice, Wild Rice, Texas Wild Rice and Manchurian Wild Rice) are gluten-free grains that are high in protein and fiber.

  - 1 cup cooked wild rice has 166 calories, 0.5g fat, 34.9g carbs, 6.5g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 5mg sodium, 165.6mg potassium, 4.9mg calcium

• Millet - Millet seeds are not closely related to wheat, making them a good choice for people with Celiac's Disease. They are rich in B vitamins and offer 11% protein by weight.

  - 1 cup cooked millet has 207 calories, 1.7g fat, 41.2g carbs, 6.1g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 3mg sodium, 5.2mg calcium, 107.9mg potassium

Potatoes, Tomatoes, Eggplants, and Peppers are Nightshade Vegetables

Some researchers propose that alkaloids present in nightshade foods contribute to excessive calcium loss from bone and subsequent calcium deposits in soft tissue. These researchers recommend elimination of nightshade foods for people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or other joint problems like gout. Nicotine is an alkaloid and is best known to be present in the tobacco plant. Nicotine is also present in nightshade foods: Eggplant (or aubergine) has the highest nicotine content of all the nightshade vegetables. The nicotine content is nowhere near that of tobacco, but its an interesting anecdote nonetheless.

If you suffer from existing joint problems like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or gout, temporarily refraining from eating nightshade foods will help you determine if nightshade vegetables are contributing to your problems. Even if you don't suffer from joint pain, you should avoid excessive alkaloid intake of alkaloids. You should be sure to avoid sprouted potatoes and those with green spots at all times: these marks indicate a high alkaloid content. After your cleanse diet, you can return to eating nightshade foods for your health if you like. Just be sure to store potatoes for 1-3 weeks maximum in a dark cupboard, as exposure to light increases alkaloid formation. Thoroughly wash potatoes before cooking, spotting the green areas and removing them.

I'm not personally familiar with any of these books. Feel free to have a look though at books on the Master Cleanse as well as other cleansing diets. The selections here either are entirely vegetarian or transition you from a meat-based to a plant-based (vegan) diet.

• CalorieKing
• The Food Lovers Cleanse - Sarah Dickerman, Bon Appetit
• Detoxification: Feel Better in Two Weeks With Women To Women Quick Cleanse - Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP
• Insulin Resistance: How to Use the Glycemic Index (GI) and the Glycemic Load (GL) - Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP
• What are nightshades and in which foods are they found? The Worlds Healthiest Foods
• The Master Cleanse Website
• Nuts & Seeds Food List (Blood Type Diet) - Educating Instead of Medicating, curezone.com
• Detox Diets - Every Diet
• Mucus Clearing Diet - North American Diet
• Improving Health After Years Of Drinking Coffee - Regular or Decaffeinated - Chet Days' Health & Beyond

If you did, how did it go? Were you able to last for the full 2 weeks? Would you have been more successful if you had a variety of tasty recipes on hand that satisfied your cleanse requirements?