The Journey of a Cleanse + Finding Balance

To us, the intention of a cleanse is to reset the body, and build gut health - key to optimising general health. A cleanse should also help to improve bodily intelligence, tune into natural hunger cues, learn how to reduce sugar and caffeine cravings, and discover what works for your body and what doesn’t.

We suggest following your cleanse for a minimum of 10 days to experience a full reset and rebuilding of healthy, happy organs for efficient natural detoxification. After 10 days, you should notice a difference in how you look, feel and what you crave, having trained your taste buds for the better.

How to cleanse:

1. Avoid or reduce wheat, dairy and refined sugars. It's this combination of high sugar, high carb, high fat foods that make you accustomed to taste-numbing foods and stop you from appreciating the sweet, sour and bitter flavours you get from vegetables. While you may not have an intolerance to wheat or dairy, eating foods that are designed to work with your body, not against it, will help the natural detoxification and resetting process. Thankfully, we now have great alternatives, with a plethora of plant-based ingredients on the market, and good quality gluten-free oats and flour readily available.
2. Aim for 5-10 portions of different coloured fruit and vegetables a day. This will ensure you become accustomed to eating a wider range of flavours, with a higher intake of nutrients. This way you will feel more nourished and satisfied, as well as more likely to appreciate food that doesn't have all the added sugars, salt and other nasties. Our fresh, cold-pressed juices are a great way of upping your fruit and veg intake.
3. Focus on whole, unprocessed foods, with slow-release carbohydrates, so that you feel nourished and satisfied, with steady energy levels, throughout the day. When in a rush, it's common again to reach for sugary quick-fixes, which will set you off on the wrong foot in terms of becoming attached to these foods.
4. Reduce, or ideally eliminate, alcohol and caffeine. These both affect our blood sugar levels and it has been proven that when our blood sugar levels are more stable, we are less likely to crave quick fix foods and instead reach for fruit and vegetables, which will train your body to appreciate a more variety of flavours. Try simple swaps like having a cup of herbal tea in place of that extra caffeinated cup and alternate a glass of water with alcoholic drinks each round.

Your journey to feeling great:

Day 1: Feeling bloated, sluggish, tired and/or foggy. In need of a cleanse.

Day 2-3: You may feel some headaches. It often happens during a cleanse. Toxins get released from the fat tissue. The immune system gets busy and creates inflammation which can cause joint pain. Make sure you're drinking lots of water. Turmeric is your friend here. And lots of water. It should pass.

Day 3: Feeling an uplift in energy due to an increased intake of balanced nutrients. You may feel a little bloated, however, due to eating higher fibre or a difference in your diet before. No side effects should last longer than 2-3 days. See how you're feeling on Monday. Bloating is a common symptom of gut work. The bacteria in your gut can get a bit over excited by the high fibre and all the good work you are doing and it can take a few weeks for the colony to calm down. Try peppermint or ginger tea for debloating.

Day 4: You will find you are sleeping better, thanks to the avoidance of stimulants (sugar and caffeine), and increase of sleep-inducing micronutrients, such as vitamin C, tryptophan, potassium, melatonin, and vitamin B6.

Day 5: You are beginning to feel lighter and brighter, as the body rids of excess toxins and waste, and builds a stronger microbiome. You feel ready for a bit of a break and balance over the weekend. We would suggest still trying to reduce the amount of sugar and caffeine to feel the full effects of the cleanse. A glass of wine is fine if you would like one, but sugar and coffee are 2 of the biggest culprits for withdrawal headaches. Also sugar is very addictive (we say this being aware that alcohol is too). Steering clear of refined sugars is such a gift to your blood sugar levels and in turn your overall energy. Early lunches, dinner and bed is a lovely combo, it will help your digestion, gut and energy levels. That being said it really is up to you, your cleanse should not only help your gut but bring ease and the joy of health into the forefront. As a rule of thumb if you stick to whole foods, a wide variety of fruit and veg, good fats and lean proteins, you can’t go too far wrong.

Day 7: You are craving some fresh, healthy nutrients to nourish your body with.

Day 9: You will feel energised, like you are thriving. Why? During the 10 day process, a more balanced, varied diet will have provided the good gut bacteria to grow a stronger microbiome. As a result your gut will be able to absorb nutrients that support other bodily functions — from energy production to hormone balance, skin health to mental health, and even toxins and waste. You should also find you have better digestion as a healthier and stronger gut microbiome allows your body to break down food more easily. Furthermore, a healthy, balanced diet and reduction of alcohol and caffeine will have helped your liver to rest - another vital part of the functioning human body. Finally, your increase in fruit, veg and water as well as controlled salt and blood sugar levels will have kept your kidneys working efficiently, counteracting a build up of waste in the body that can increase blood pressure.

Day 10: You feel a sense of mental clarity, as if the fog has been lifted, and an improved mood. If the gut isn't in good working order it has a significant effect not only on our physical health but our mental health too. This is because healthy bacteria work with the body to promote the transmission of nerve messages to and from the brain. There are over 100,000 nerve cells in your digestive system – more than in your spinal cord, which is why we refer to the gut as the second brain.

Day 11: You have now completed the cleanse! Time to enjoy another weekend and celebrate feeling your absolute best! Try and eat balanced and intuitively, with a renowned love for healthy, nourishing food.

Focus on eating mindfully too. Why?

Science shows that when we eat mindfully we not only eat less, but may even absorb more of the important vitamins and minerals from our food, which of course has benefits throughout the body. Slowing down, focussing on what you are about to eat (the smells, tastes, colours and flavours) and chewing properly triggers the parasympathetic nervous system via the vagus nerve, which puts our gut into digest mode. Signals are sent from the brain to the gut to release acid into our stomach and enzymes into our intestine, which together ensure we break our food down properly. This in turn discourages indigestion, bloating, gas or changes to bowel movements that can be uncomfortable and sometimes even debilitating.

All of this makes us more sensitive to the way our food makes us feel rather than just whether we enjoy it, strengthening our intuition around food that uplifts us. Not to mention, the longer you take to eat your food, the more your body is likely to benefit from what you’ve eaten.

Day 12: You may notice an improvement in your skin health as our food, that is rich in antioxidants, will have helped to fight the damage being caused by free radicals. Furthermore, an increase in Vitamin A will have improved the maintenance and repair of skin, whilst a low glycaemic load from the cleanse will help to balance hormone levels and reduce sebaceous glands found under the skin to produce more sebum, which can cause breakouts. The benefits will last in the long-run, not just as a quick fix.

Day 13: The start of your long-term, balanced health journey throughout summer. Optimise the benefits of the cleanse and maintain those healthy habits in between summer plans and travel destinations with our Flexi plan. Find out more here.

Need a little help?

All the above can seem like a lot. Luckily, this is why we've created our seasonal 10-Day Summer Set to make this process as easy and enjoyable as possible, delivering your fresh and delicious meals for the entire day to your doorstep each morning. Our programme will show you the wonders of plant-powered food, and how delicious it can be. We hope to provide the ultimate toolkit to transform, experience a full body reset and build healthy habits that stick.