You’re about to read the food-rules for the Fresh Start Cleanse. It might be hard to see some of your favourite foods on the do-not-eat list, so here’s an important tip: focus on what you can eat, not on what you can’t eat. Tell yourself you can have as many berries and veggies as you want. Seriously, go crazy!

Also keep in mind that it’s better to eat 800 calories of healthy food than 200 calories of junk food. Donald Hensrud, M.D., an associate professor of nutrition and preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic, did research that linked the consumption of foods such as potato chips, sugary beverages, and processed meats to weight gain, whereas increasing consumption of foods such as vegetables, nuts, and quality yogurt had the opposite effect.

Note: For more detail on how to eat healthy, you can go through my Eat Smart course as you do the cleanse. That course covers nutrition in more detail and will teach you how to eat in a way which brings healthy and vitality to your body.

Food Protocol

During the Fresh Start Cleanse, make the following changes to your eating patterns:

1. Foods and products to avoid and eliminate: refined sugar, processed foods, dairy, wheat, gluten, alcohol, caffeine.
2. Foods and products to enjoy lots of: fresh organic fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs, pastured chicken, wild caught fish, pastured turkey, pastured beef, nuts, seeds, gluten-free whole grains, sprouted foods, probiotic rich foods, liver-loving foods, healthy fats, fibre-rich foods, legumes, pastured bone broth, superfoods, greens powders, raw sprouted protein powder, filtered water, herbal teas.
3. Food Balance: Eat a healthy mix of fibre, fats, and protein in each meal.

Below I go into more details on all the healthy, tasty food you can enjoy lots of:

1. Enjoy liver-loving foods: cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage, broccoli, and brussel sprouts), pasture-raised bone broth, avocados, oranges, turmeric, green tea, raspberries, blueberries, garlic, dark leafy greens, apples, lemons, limes, beets, seeds, almonds, whole grains, dandelion root.
2. Enjoy probiotic-rich foods: low-sugar kombucha, kimchi, miso, fermented vegetables, sauerkraut, apple cider vinegar, coconut or nut based ‘yogurts’.
3. Enjoy fibre-rich foods: ground chia seeds, ground flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, gluten-free whole grains, legumes.
4. Enjoy healthy fats: wild-caught fish, coconut oil, coconut butter, avocado oil, olive oil, walnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, sesame oil, flax seed oil, avocado, cashew butter, almond butter, sesame seed butter, sunflower seed butter, hemp seeds.
5. Enjoy gluten-and-wheat-free whole grains: quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, oats, millet, amaranth.
6. Enjoy gluten-and-wheat-free flours: chickpea flour, coconut flour, almond flour, hemp flour, pecan flour, walnut flour, pumpkin seed flour, quinoa flour, millet flour, chia flour, buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, banana flour, amaranth flour.

Take Action

The secret to success here is to plan some tasty, healthy recipes now, before you even start the cleanse. Otherwise, you’ll default to old patterns when you’re busy and hungry. To prevent that, follow these 3 steps:

1. Look over the tasty recipe book in the next lesson. Plan out three different options for each of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
2. Make a shopping list and purchase the ingredients for these foods as soon as possible.
3. Toss any items from your fridge that do not follow the above cleanse guidelines. If you are living with someone who demands they stay around, then put them all into one area of the fridge and mentally ignore them. Place all your new healthy ingredients at the front of your fridge so they are easily accessible.

Remember: Your current eating habits are creating your current health, so if you want a new state of health you need new eating habits!