Our 12 Day Vegan-Detox-Program

After the holidays, we’ve adjusted our diet to eat less meat and fish. We were eating vegetarian dishes throughout the week, and fish or meat only about once per week. As a result of this, we already felt better a few days into this. At the time, I was reading “How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease” by Michael Greger, the founder of Nutritionfacts. Based on this book, I wanted to find out how our body reacts to a strict plant-based diet over a period of time, and I’m glad my husband was joining me on this experiment. I still couldn’t imagine giving up meat or fish completely, but I believe in the healing ability of food, and the right balance will help us to live a long and happy life.

Follow us on our 12 day journey of detox and eating only vegan food. Before you start reading through the dishes, make sure that you keep your body properly hydrated by drinking at least 2 liters of water or unsweetened tea. Additionally, consider drinking a glass of water with a fresh squeeze of lime or lemon juice in the mornings, which will further help detox your body.

Day 1

We started our day with my Forest Berry Smoothie and two detox and cleanse supplements from Naturewise. To make the smoothie vegan, use soy milk and/or yogurt.

This was followed by a spicy vegan Thai rice noodle dish for lunch. I actually made the rice noodles myself. The taste was good, but they fell apart while stirring. This recipe will need some more work before I can publish it.

For dinner we had baked eggplant in tomato gravy with Za’atar, a blend of herbs, sesame and salt.

Day 2

After another jet-lagged night for all of us (we just came back from the US), we started the day with my Power Raspberry, Ginger, and Lemon Smoothie and two detox and cleanse supplements from Naturewise.

I then went out shopping for Vegan food and was surprised by the great variety you can get at local health stores, for example Naturata in Luxembourg. I bought Vegan cheese and it actually tastes similar to dairy cheese.

For lunch we had rice paper spring rolls with fresh vegetables accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce. It was the first time I worked with rice paper and it came out nicely.

During the afternoon I nibbled on a handful of almonds because I got hungry between meals.

Celery Root Puree, roasted cauliflower, and a vegan pepper steak we had for dinner on day two.

Day 3

This morning we had a delicious Raw Cacao, Almond, and Chia Smoothie with two detox and cleanse supplements from Naturewise.

For lunch I steamed 1/2 a broccoli per person and roasted a handful of shredded almonds with vegan soy butter and seasoned them with soy cream, salt, and pepper. Very easy to prepare and so delicious!

Our dinner was a Soba & Vegetable Soup with Red Curry Paste and Fried Tofu. We now also started to take two of those cleansing supplements in the evening. Overall we feel very well and today I also noticed that I had no desire to nibble between meals.

Day 4

Day 4 was a bit of a lazy cooking day, because on Thursday’s I have all kids at home by noon and there is usually not a lot of time to cook.

For breakfast we had the same smoothie as yesterday, a delicious Raw Cacao, Almond, and Chia Smoothie with two of those cleansing supplements.

Since we still had some of the soup from yesterday’s dinner left over, I had this soup for lunch. Attila ordered some vegan wrap and salad to the office.

For dinner we had baked sweet potato with vegan sour cream and a very delicious vegan burger with lots of greens.

Day 5

We started our day with a similar version to my Forest Berry Smoothie, but with more raspberries and two detox and cleanse supplements. After dropping my son at play school, I went shopping. A good friend offered to help prepare a vegan Indian dinner for our friends. While shopping, I got very hungry and had to hurry home to prepare lunch. I guess the small smoothie was not enough for me. 🙂

For lunch we had a quick delicious salad with avocado.

Our evening was filled with a delightful multi-course Indian vegan dinner which everyone enjoyed, despite being very skeptical at first.

First course: a curried red lentil and tomato soup with coconut milk

Main dish: a Kashmiri chickpea and pumpkin curry, beluga and red lentil curry, tofu paneer, cauliflower rice, and raita. All completely vegan and unbelievably delicious.

Dessert: a vegan Raffaello…

Day 6

For breakfast we had a delicious sandwich with avocado, salad leaves, and vegan cold cuts, and of course, two of those cleansing supplements.

For lunch, we had some leftovers from the Indian dinner the day before.

And for dinner, there was still some Kashmiri chickpea & pumpkin curry. I also prepared oven roasted cauliflower with a spicy chilli powder, ginger, and coconut curry. This was delicious. Perhaps I’ll write this up as a recipe at some point.

Day 7

We started a lazy day seven with a blood orange and chia smoothie and our cleansing supplements.

Lunch was very simple because we finished all the leftovers we still had in the fridge from the days before.

For dinner, I prepared an Asian vegetable and noodle stir fry with fried smoked tofu. I think that Asian or Indian cuisine is very agreeable with a vegan diet.

Day 8

A delicious vegan porridge with soy yogurt for breakfast and our cleansing supplements.

For lunch, we still had some of the noodles left over from the day before.

Our dinner consisted of baked sweet potato, beans, and a vegan burger Mexican style. It tasted great, except I think I could have left out the vegan cheese. The kind that we had didn’t really taste that great.

Day 9

In the morning we had our smoothie again. It consisted of almond butter, banana, chia seeds, and some almond milk. And of course, those two supplements…

For lunch, we finished the leftovers from the day before.

We were craving Indian food again, and I prepared a lentil curry and an eggplant curry with vegan sour cream. This was very tasty.

Day 10

To start the day, we again had a fruit smoothie and the supplements. For lunch, I had leftovers, and for Attila, I prepared a lunch bag full of vegetables and fruits, and he took it along on his quick business trip.

For dinner, I prepared green vegetables wrapped in rice papers and a dipping sauce of red curry and cashew nuts. This was light and flavorful, and we felt great eating this.

Day 11

For breakfast, we had an interesting smoothie with prunes and almond butter.

For lunch, I prepared a salad using fennel, arugula, and blood orange fillets. For the dressing, I experimented with Tahini. This turned out so tasty, I wrote it up as a recipe right away: Fennel, Arugula, and Blood Orange Salad with Tahini-Lemon-Dressing

In the evening, we had a freshly made miso soup with mushrooms instead of tofu. Attila also wanted to take the opportunity to lose a bit of weight, so we tried to keep it light and leave out the carbs.

Day 12

Our last day… The usual start with a smoothie and of course the supplements.

For lunch, I prepared penne with wild garlic pesto. In the evening, we had dinner on the road as we were going to visit a friend for the weekend. I had prepared several kinds of vegetables and veggie wraps that we took along.

Summary

Overall, this was a great experience. We felt more energized and Attila also lost some weight. I must admit, at times I was missing cheese or cold cuts on a sandwich, and also the occasional egg for breakfast. Surprisingly, Attila didn’t miss cheese or eggs at all. Since the food we had throughout these 12 days was full of variety and flavors, and also didn’t really miss the meat. In the evenings we sometimes missed our glass of wine, but as this was a detox program, we left this out and stuck to our sparkling water.

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