Spring represents new beginnings and as the season blossoms, it’s important to prepare the body, mind and spirit to remove the waste it has accumulated during the Winter months. You may have noticed cravings for lighter, greener foods, a sudden urge to re-organize your refrigerator or unexplained motivation to purge your closets. I’ve enlisted some expert guest bloggers to help me explore all of the various ways to spring clean.
Vegetarian Chef, Amy Chaplin, has a blog, Coconut and Quinoa, that I swear by for clean, beautiful-looking, taste bud-tantalizing vegetarian recipes. Here, she shares some everyday tips for spring cleansing.
Re-published with permission from Amy’s latest newsletter
Spring is a great time to cleanse. During any seasonal change cleansing helps prepare our bodies for the months ahead and gives us a fresh approach to what we eat daily.
Juice cleanses are not for everyone and many of my readers asked for alternatives.
Below are some tips you can add to your everyday routine to help cleanse your body gently.
A Real Whole Foods Diet
If you can, dedicate 2 to 3 weeks to eating meals that consist of whole grains, beans and plenty of vegetables, leaving out any dairy, concentrated sweeteners, refined oils and refined grains. This is one of the best ways to support your body in healing and cleansing yourself naturally.
Sample lunches to go include brown rice with seeds, tempeh, greens and pickled red cabbage. All recipes can be found on coconut and quinoa.
Morning Lemon Water
Begin the day with 1 cup of hot filtered water and the juice of half a lemon, drink on an empty stomach. This helps stimulate liver detoxification and alkalize your body.
Adding 8 drops of green leaf stevia extract or concentrate will spark liver rejuvenation too. Just be sure you use green stevia; otherwise it doesn’t have the healing benefits. Here is an on-line source.
Snack on Radishes
Eating 2 raw radishes on an empty stomach (between meals) helps cleanse the gallbladder. Doing this for 6 to 8 weeks is a nice alternative to a gall bladder flush.
Increase Dark Leafy Greens
Greens are naturally cleansing and bitter greens are particularly cleansing for the liver. Since they are the first greens that appear in spring, it is the perfect time to add some to the mix. Dandelion and other bitter greens have a very cooling effect on the body so don’t overdo it. Below is wild arugula, that I picked up at the farmers market, some of the leaves are flowering!
If you are looking for something more intense, for a 3 to 5 day period, check out my Seasonal Cleanse.
Happy Spring!
About Amy Chaplin
Amy Chaplin is a freelance vegan and vegetarian chef based in New York City. She cooks privately, develops recipes and writes a blog called coconut and quinoa.”
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