recipes for detox diet

April 10, 2007 4:31 PM

Recipe suggestions for a detox diet limited to mostly raw fruits and veggies?

For the next three weeks, my diet must consit of:
veggies
-collard greens*
-dandelion greens
-mixed greens
-mustard greens
-red, yellow, and green peppers
-onions*
-mushrooms
-spinach
-carrots
-cucumbers
-celery
-radishes
-kale*
-broccoli*
-swiss chard*
-brussels sprouts*
-asparagus*
-cabbage*
-artichokes*
-red beets*

*may be lightly steamed

fruits
-any fruit except avocado

I was despairing until I realized I could make some great tomato salsa (not that I have anything to put it on...). Is there anything else I could make? An actual meal that would be satisfying instead of just depressing?

There is a modified version of the diet that allows for 3oz lean meat, fish, or poultry, 1-2 eggs, and 2 servings of brown rice daily, but I'm trying to avoid that if I can muster the will-power.

(and, yes, I've spoken to my doctor about this!)

posted by rndm to Food & Drink (25 answers total)

Juice! Juice it all!!!!!

oh - and steamed artichokes. That's really all I'd need to survive and be totally happy.
posted by Sassyfras at 4:38 PM on April 10, 2007

there are some wonderfully simple greek recipes that come to mind - experiment with horta, for example. as for juices - i do a mix of blueberries, strawberries, 1/4 cup orange juice and apple juicem a banana and two shots of soy protein (my roommate's recipe) which tastes quite good.
posted by phaedon at 4:55 PM on April 10, 2007

I like to keep things simple, so it sounds like just salad, with onions for a nice zip, and some boiled asparagus, brussel's sprouts, and red beets, with a bit of salt. I'd eat as wide a variety of fruits as possible to prevent boredom. If it weren't for the work playing with the greens and asparagus all the time, I might like this diet at least 1 or 2 meals a day.

I'm curious why you need to do this. Will you be getting enough calories and protein? If it were me, I'd add the fish and eggs, but that's just me.
posted by DarkForest at 5:01 PM on April 10, 2007

While I commend you on the choice to eat a more healthy diet, you do realize the the whole idea of "detoxification" is questionable at best, right?
Healthy eating= good
getting duped into paying big $ for "detoxifying supplements and colon cleansing"= bad
a pretty good site discussing detoxifying diets and what's good and bad about them
posted by cosmicbandito at 5:03 PM on April 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

oops, didn't see the *lightly steamed part. I'm not that fond of raw asparagus or beets...
posted by DarkForest at 5:03 PM on April 10, 2007

You can freeze a lot of fruits (grapes or other bite sized things work best, double check that freezing won't turn the fruit in question into something better not eaten). It makes them taste sweeter, take longer to eat (more filling to your mind), and gives them an interesting texture.
posted by anaelith at 5:09 PM on April 10, 2007

Definitely juice (though you'll need some fiber too). Soup without stock or salt.. is, well, juice (although it could have more texture than soup). My last fast (which lasted about five hours) involved cutting different vegetables into very small and UNIFORM shapes (think minced bell peppers) of different sizes per vegetable (I think I used yellow peppers, cukes, onions, celery). It really kinda worked to make it more interesting without adding salt or oil. Plus it was kind of a fun project.

Oh - and beware of "lightly steamed" beets or artichokes. I think they need a little more than that. Good luck!
posted by kitmandu at 5:10 PM on April 10, 2007

Gazpacho, if you can find good tomatoes. I make a version that's all fruits/vegetables and almost like a really chunky salsa. Basically just tomatoes, a green pepper, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, a bunch of green onions (do those fall under "onions"?), and a cucumber. Dice everything and add enough tomato juice to make it as soupy as you want it. There are endless variations, but this one smells and tastes like summertime.

(It's extra good with a little dollop of sour cream, if that's not completely off of your detox-radar.)
posted by paleography at 5:35 PM on April 10, 2007

The beets can be sliced thin and make an excellent salad on their own - maybe add a little onion (or horseradish if that's okay). Some mushrooms have a very meaty texture, so I would treat them like burgers / meat. Other than that, I think you are limited to what will, I'm sure, be great salads. How long are you supposed to be on this diet? Seems very extreme....
posted by xammerboy at 5:43 PM on April 10, 2007

The itsy-skinny asparagus are lovely raw. Dip into that salsa you're making.
posted by desuetude at 5:46 PM on April 10, 2007

I was despairing

Sheesh, keep on with that. I'm pretty healthy and vegetable-loving, but that list depresses me. All I could come up with was -- as already posted, now -- a bland gazpacho.

"Bland" -- are you 'allowed' ANY seasonings? Hot peppers, even?

If yes -- put some hot peppers through a juicer. Ditto onions, garlic, etc, for ease of seasoning. Potato juice is an extremely effective thickener; no idea how it is raw, and I don't see potatoes on your list, so, no mind.

Fruit soups?

Googling "raw foods recipes" will get you a fair whack of, well, ways in which to assemble fruit and veg. I'm coming up blank for hearty meals, though. The raw-vegans seem to rely pretty heavily on nuts and seasonings to make stuff that at least looks like "real meals."

I am very curious to know why you want to do this, and what it's supposed to do.
posted by kmennie at 6:09 PM on April 10, 2007

Cucumbers, peeled and sliced, make a pretty good substitute for chips/bread. I use them when I make hummus instead of pita or chips.
posted by mckenney at 6:27 PM on April 10, 2007

I cannot say enough good things about Green Lemonade. Everything in it is on your list except the ginger (which is optional if you're set on that list). It's really fabulous. It's from the Raw Food Detox Diet and it really taste great. We make it all the time. That book has some other good recipes too.
posted by dog food sugar at 6:45 PM on April 10, 2007

The boyfriend and I also like making spring rolls with a bunch of julienne carrots, celery and whatever else is fresh in the kitchen and wrap the whole thing in red cabbage leaves. It's amazing raw. You have to have one of those tools that julienne's things. It's variations on one of the recipes in the Raw Food book I mentioned above. It might be good lightly steamed too - we just haven't tried that.

One thing about it that makes it a truly savory feast is a rather decadent dipping sauce made out of soy sauce, maple syrup (equal parts), and chopped ginger and garlic to taste. To die for.

Good luck!
posted by dog food sugar at 7:05 PM on April 10, 2007

Are you following Natalia Rose's "Raw Foods Detox Diet?" I know that she lists avocado as one of her 'experiences', but I notice that it's off your list specificially... is that part of the detox or just a personal request (I hate avocado myself)

Are you allowed to eat raw seeds or nuts, like sunflower seeds or cashews and almonds? They're great for adding bulk to a dish & can be used to make great raw lasagnas or burgers.

Are sprouts (alfalfa, radish, broccoli, etc) allowed? I love sprouts wrapped up in lettuce leaves.

If you're allowed sprouts and nuts, I have some great recipes for you... including a raw carrot cake that's gotten rave reviews from my raw foodie friends.

Now, I so want to say, if you already think that this is going to be depressing and you haven't even started yet, you might want to rethink going with the modified version.

Disclaimer: I don't eat raw myself, but I work in Natural Foods & thus have learned a lot about the raw foods movement.
posted by aristan at 7:36 PM on April 10, 2007

Oh, I just noticed you can have mushrooms... Portabella mushrooms are fan-freaking-tastic grilled like you would a burger.
posted by aristan at 7:39 PM on April 10, 2007

There is nothing wrong with adding more fresh fruit and vegetables to your diet and drinking more water but your body already has it's own built-in detoxers. They are called liver and kidneys and you can ruin them with fad diets.

Don't fall for the hype.
posted by The Mermaid at 7:56 PM on April 10, 2007

(Please, please, please, do not eat any sort of raw potato concoction. The very best it can do for you is not cause you to be sick.)
There isn't a whole lot of room for creativity being limited to those (almost) raw foods. Juicing is your best bet. Three weeks is a long time to go without a major source of protein. Even raw foodists gorge on (raw) nuts. Consider this. No matter what you do, eat as much of a variety of these items as you can possibly get your hands on. That is going to be your best bet for rounding out your nutrition.
If you stick with this menu, make sure you are taking it easy and resting throughout the three weeks. A detox/fast is not a refreshing and rejuvenating experience if you are burning more energy than you are replacing. Washing out toxins by consuming super-healthy foods is one thing, but burning up your emergency reserves of life-energy in the name of health is mis-led and dangerous.
posted by iurodivii at 8:25 PM on April 10, 2007

cold fruit soups are incredible. the link is to a list of soups- most probably have too many forbidden ingredients, but i intended it just as a starting point to give you ideas.

basically, you just puree things like berries or melon with some apple juice and a squeeze of lime. yummers.

for what it's worth, three weeks on this diet does not sound like a good idea to me- not that it's my place to judge you, but i wanted to help and also i didn't want to endorse it wholesale.

one thing to consider either way: when you're eating this much produce, you're eating way more pesticides- so consider being more careful than usual about washing it, or buy organic for the most pesticidey ones. (i can't find a list right now, but sometimes magazines publish lists of which foods have the most pesticide residues.)

common sense would basically advise you to buy organic if the fruit/veg is hard to wash or has a large surface-to-volume ratio. common sense would also say to worry less about organic if you don't eat the peel. so buy organic grapes and berries, but don't stress about organic pineapple or banana.

whatever you decide to do, good luck!
posted by twistofrhyme at 9:02 PM on April 10, 2007

1) "Organic" food is a clever way to separate yuppies from their money. To the extent that there's a nutritional difference between organic and conventional foods, it's that the conventional foods are less likely to have evolved "natural" pesticides that could be toxic.

2) All these people suggesting soup and grilling are ignoring the "raw" part of the request.

3) But I'm going to ignore it, too: Twistofrhyme is right that this diet is a nutritional disaster. Even very petite women need 60 grams of protein a day or the body will consume muscle to get the protein, with the risk that the muscle being consumed is heart muscle. Maybe you're planning on consuming 15 cups of raw broccoli a day, but I doubt it.
posted by commander_cool at 9:18 PM on April 10, 2007

I'm about to go to bed so won't dig up the links on my own but do a search for my name with these words/phrases to dig up some past recipes

collard greens
carrot ginger
chocolate ganache
miso
pineapple
mango
juicer
juice
blender

for what it's worth, three weeks on this diet does not sound like a good idea to me

Why? Many people do it year round. It's called a Raw Food Diet or Living Food Diet.

re: pesticides. Most covered for fruit are strawberries, raspberries, grapes. Buy organic if you can. Tomatoes also.

Book recommendations: The Balanced Plate, Rawvolution, Raw Food Real World. Many recipes require good blenders or food processors or dehydrators.
posted by dobbs at 10:09 PM on April 10, 2007

I of course meant search for my name and those phrases on ask.metafilter.

commander_cool, soup doesn't have to be cooked.

Oh, and I missed that you don't have any nuts on your list which is bizarre to me and therefore yes, your diet is lacking in protein.
posted by dobbs at 10:12 PM on April 10, 2007

I don't want to be another dude who's commenting on the question instead of answering it, but twistofrhyme and commander_cool are right. A balanced diet that's high in fiber and fresh foods and low in saturated and trans fat is the right way to be healthy, not some mumbo-jumbo about "detox." The whole concept of a "detox" is unscientific because the word can't be defined in scientific terms. The lean meat and brown rice option sounds much healthier.
posted by rxrfrx at 4:11 AM on April 11, 2007

10 to buy organic

Top 43 to buy organic

The Dirty Dozen
posted by desuetude at 6:02 AM on April 11, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for all the great ideas and advice! I realize that detox diets in general are pretty ridiculous. I have no interest in 'purifying my body of toxins', since I'm pretty sure my body handles that just fine on its own. I do have an interesting in ridding myself of my stupid starbucks-in-the-morning, greasy-chinese-for-lunch, bagel-in-the-afternoon, and delicious-dessert-before-bed habits. I know I can theoretically handle that on my own without some silly diet, but I've been trying that for the past few months and it just doesn't work. I'm hoping the super-regimented form of the diet will keep me from making excuses everytime I decide what to eat. I plan on tracking everything I have to make sure I get enough of the important stuff... I'll be taking 2 protein shakes a day, but if that's not enough protein, I'll definitely add the chicken/eggs.

Thanks everyone!
posted by rndm at 10:02 AM on April 11, 2007