Summer Is The Perfect Time For A Raw Food Cleanse

Enjoy Chia Seed Pudding on your raw food cleanse.

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Raw Food Cleanse

It's been almost a hundred degrees here all week and I've naturally been craving raw foods. So I thought it might be a perfect time to do a raw food cleanse. 

I've been writing about raw food cleanses for at least 7 years now. For me, it's a much easier way to detox than doing a juice fast or other liquid fasts. Eating raw food is satisfying, doesn't trigger a severe detox reaction and it doesn't require taking a bunch of herbal supplements (although B12 supplementation is always necessary when on a raw vegan diet.)

How Long?

What I like about doing a raw food cleanse is that any amount of time gets results. You can do it for a day, a weekend, a week, 21 days, or a month. It depends on your goals. Are you trying to lose weight, lower your cholesterol, break some bad eating habits, jumpstart a healthier lifestyle program, or just do a general detox? 

The Rules

It's really simple. Just eat mostly organic raw food - vegetables, fruits, nuts, sprouted grains and legumes. If you want, add a 1/2 cup of cooked beans or quinoa each day to one of your meals, but otherwise just raw food. Drink lots of pure water and skip the soft drinks and booze.

For breakfast, or anytime of day, drink raw smoothies like my favorite Blueberry, Pear and Baby Spinach Smoothie. Or start the day with a breakfast fruit salad with nuts. If you are feeling ambitious and you have a dehydrator, make Raw Granola.

Blackberry, Strawberry, and Mango Breakfast Salad.

For lunch or dinner, enjoy a raw soup like Raw Zucchini with Crushed Pistachios, or make a gigantic raw salad like Bernadette's Everything In The Garden Salad.

Scoop up fresh guacamole with slices of jicama and bell pepper. Make a Veggie Sushi Roll.

Enjoy raw desserts like Chia Pudding or raw Peach and Blueberry Crisp. If you have a Yonanas Elite Healthy Dessert Maker, you can eat 100% raw fruit soft-serve "ice cream" every night!

My favorite yonanas dessert is frozen bananas with cherries.

There are many delicious raw food recipes on the blog that you can use or you can download my ebook, Health Begins in the Kitchen for more recipes and detailed instructions on how to do a raw food cleanse with menus.

So don't deprive yourself or try a dangerous juice fast. Try a raw food cleanse!

Raw Kale Salad With Satsuma Oranges And Pumpkin Seeds

Even in winter, we should consume some amount of raw food.

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Raw Food in the Winter
In the winter we crave hot soup, warm muffins, and cooked meals in general. I admit I have been favoring steel cut oatmeal over cold smoothies in the morning and soups over salads lately. But it's very important to include some raw foods in your diet no matter what season we are in. In my book, Health Begins in the Kitchen: Delicious and Easy Vegan Recipes and Seasonal Food Plan, I discuss how those amounts vary with each season. And what better way to add a little raw food in your winter diet than to eat a lovely raw kale salad with seasonal fruit such as satsuma oranges.

My Seasonal Food Plan discusses how the amount of
raw food consumed should vary throughout the year.

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Kale Salad with Satsuma Oranges
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
[makes 4 servings]

Ingredients
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon cold-pressed hemp oil or extra virgin olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced kale (ribs removed and washed)
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 small satsuma oranges, peeled and separated
1/2 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seed kernels

Directions
Place the lemon juice and oil in a medium-sized bowl and stir to combine. Add the kale and stir until completely coated. Let marinate for 20 minutes to allow the kale to become tender. You can even massage the oil into the kale, if you enjoy playing with your food like I do, to quicken the process.

Salt to taste. Add the satsuma orange segments and the avocado, if using (see why you should put avocado on almost everything!). Toss to combine. 

Top with pumpkin seed kernels and serve.

Nutrition
Made with hemp oil and avocado: 142 calories, 9 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 656 mg omega-3 and 3,485 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 177 mg sodium.

Made with extra virgin olive oil and avocado: 141 calories, 9 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 182 mg omega-3 and 1,1814 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 177 mg sodium.

Made with extra virgin olive oil without avocado: 113 calories, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 163 mg omega-3 and 1,527 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 176 mg sodium.