Authors: Kimberly Snyder

The Beauty Detox Solution (30 page)

FOOD	AMOUNT
Raw Greens, Non-Starchy Vegetables	Unlimited quantities
Cooked Non-Starchy Vegetables (steamed, baked or lightly sautÃ©ed with little or no oil)	Unlimited quantities
Fruit	As we become more alkaline, 3 to 4 servings a day is ideal. Green drinks count as 2 to 3 servings, depending on how much is drank over the course of the day.
Starchy Vegetables	Consume 1 to 1Â½ cups per day if you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight and have had difficulty in the past. Many people can have more than one serving by cutting out refined starches and sticking to these starchy vegetables. Individualize your portion size to your activity level and metabolic needs.
Alkaline Grains	Limit to 1 to 1Â½ cups (cooked) per day if you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight and have had difficulty in the past. Some people can have more than one serving by cutting out refined grains and starches and sticking to these whole grains. Individualize your portion size to your activity level and metabolic needs.
Ground Flaxseed	Have 1 (or 2, depending on your size) tablespoon daily, sprinkled on salad.
Nuts	Limit to 1 ounce if you are trying to lose weight. Limit to 2 to 3 ounces daily maximum as a general recommendation. Serving size can increase for active people, athletes, children or those trying to gain weight.
Oil	Avoid altogether if you are trying to lose weight. Restrict to 1 tablespoon a day maximum. When cooking, use limited amounts of coconut oil or grapeseed oil, or lower the temperature and simply use a bit of water or vegetable broth instead.
Meat, Fish and Goat's Cheese	Limit to 2 to 3 ounces maximum a serving. Consume at most once a day, at dinner, and work toward a maximum total of 2 to 3 servings a week.

BEAUTY TIP

Pick Your Poison

While all alcohol should be limited, I know that it is
not
realistic that all of us will never have a drop of alcohol for the rest of our lives! So the trick is to choose wisely.

Wine is okay in moderation, since it has flavonoids and antioxidants. Choose organic or biodynamic wines with no added sulfites. Though it is fermented and does contain sugar, wine is not as hard on the liver as hard alcohol.

The worst and most toxic drinks are the brewed alcoholic ones, like beer, tequila and rum, which cause sugar imbalances in the body and bloating. If you really want a cocktail, stick to vodka. And if you happen to
really
love your occasional beer (like on Saint Paddy's Day!), at least choose a darker variety, which has more minerals, over refined, lighter-colored varieties. The carbohydrates in dark beers are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream, so they have a less upsetting effect on your blood sugar level.

YOUR BEAUTY DETOX KITCHEN

You won't need too many new kitchen appliances to get started, but there are a few essentials. Even though you might have to invest in a few new kitchen tools, the investment will come back to you a hundredfold. When we have good equipment, it makes food preparation easier and helps make our food taste better, so we are more inspired to stick with the program. (For additional product options or recommendations other than those listed, you can visit my website at www.ks1life.com.)

BEAUTY DETOX KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

BLENDER

A good blender is at the top of the list. We'll be using a blender to create the Glowing Green Smoothie and other smoothies, raw soups, salad dressings, nut pÃ¢tÃ©s and more. A good blender will save you lots of time as it pulverizes food very quickly, efficiently breaking down plant food so its nutrition is readily available for the body without it having to work.

My absolute favorite is the Vitamix. While it is an investment, it will last you forever and is truly invaluable. It is also really easy to clean. You can purchase refurbished ones that were floor models, which are virtually as good as new and come at a much lower cost.

JUICER

We'll be using this to make our Glowing Green Juice. Remember that straight fruit juices are
not
recommended. There are several good juicers I recommend:

Two-Speed Breville Juicer:
This is a good basic centrifugal juicer that is easy to clean. Because it is produced from centrifugal motion, juice made from this kind of juicer should ideally be consumed immediately. If you do store juice, be sure to keep it cool and covered, and drink it as soon as you can. The other alternative is freezing individual servings.

Hurom Slow Juicer:
This juicer extracts juice by first crushing the plant matter, then squeezing the pulp to extract more juice. This brand of juicer is said to make much more juice than other juicers.

Norwalk Juicer:
This is the most superior of all juicers, as it uses a hydraulic press to squeeze juice out of the plant fiber rather than masticating the cell walls, as other juicers do. The main advantage is that the juice oxidizes at a much slower rate, so enzymes are intact for much longer and the juice can be stored longer. The cost is upwards of $2,500.

FOOD PROCESSOR

This is an important kitchen tool that serves different functions than a blender. Food processors are better for mixing ingredients (rather than fully blending or emulsifying them) and are ideal for preparing certain nut pÃ¢tÃ©s, crusts or anything that needs to retain some texture. If you are on a budget, invest your money into a blender, and you can think of adding a food processor down the line. My favorite is the Cuisinart.

CUTTING BOARD AND SHARP KNIVES

It is best to keep a separate cutting board reserved only for vegetables and fruit. Sharp knives are an absolute essential and will make your life so much better. I'm not kidding! Be sure to keep your knives sharp with a sharpening stone.

CLEAVER

This large, rectangular-shaped knife is a must for chopping open young coconuts.

SALAD SPINNER

Essential! Soggy salads are just
not
appetizing, and this tool whips all that excess water right of lettuce and other greens. I also use the inner strainer piece to wash my vegetables and fruit when I make the Glowing Green Smoothie or the Glowing Green Juice.

MEASURING CUPS AND SPOONS

The Beauty Detox recipes are all basic, but a set of measuring cups and spoons will help ensure you're getting the ingredients and flavors just right.

FINE MESH STRAINER

This is useful for straining quick nut milks, as well as draining our alkaline grains, like quinoa and millet.

CHEESECLOTH

This is useful for straining nut milk. You yield more nut milk when you use cheesecloth than when you use a strainer.

MANDOLINE

This tool is not necessary, but it's nice for slicing vegetables very thin and to a uniform width.

DEHYDRATOR

There are no dehydrated food recipes in this book, as we are now focusing on eating simple fresh food full of water, along with some healthy whole grains. A dehydrator is simply a box with a fan and a small electric heater, in which food is laid on trays. It slowly “bakes” the moisture out of food over many hours, creating raw breads, crackers, desserts, etc. A dehydrator is useful if you want to make creative raw food recipes that require more time, but is certainly not necessary. If you are interested, the Excalibur brand is a good one.

YOUR BEAUTY DETOX SHOPPING LIST

The products listed below are available at your local grocery stores, health markets and farmers' markets. Be sure to buy local and organic products whenever possible!

Fruit and vegetables should be purchased seasonally, and according to your taste. Below is only a
basic
fruit and vegetable list, and it includes certain staples for salads and green drinks.

Before you start shopping, go through your kitchen pantry and cabinets and discard anything that is not Beauty Detox friendly. It might seem like a lotâtable salt; balsamic vinegar; dusty old spices; canned, salty vegetablesâand that's okay. Remember that these foods are not serving a purpose for you anymore. We are on to better and powerful beauty foods! Check labels if you are not sure, and throw out anything that has foreign chemicals, additives and preservatives. It is time to clean house to make room for our new and improved lifestyle!

The list below is not an exhaustive list, nor is it a required shopping list. But it will give you an idea of how you can stock your new Beauty Detox kitchen. You may even have some of these items already.

Be sure to keep things organized and clean. Organize your spices, dry foods and produce. Keep nuts and seeds in airtight containers, and refrigerate them if you have enough room. The cleaner and more organized your kitchen is, the more enjoyable it will be for you to prepare and enjoy food!

CONDIMENTS, OILS AND SWEETENERS

Raw, unrefined apple cider vinegar