The process for this 7 day cleanse is pretty easy to follow.  There is a packet you take in the morning, capsules you take with breakfast & lunch, and a powder you mix with water and drink before bedtime.  One thing I didn’t like was that the directions are not clear about what else you can or should ingest while doing the cleanse.  I discussed with one of the employees at Sprouts and also researched online.  I found that it is recommended to drink plenty of water, eat mostly fruits, vegetable, and nuts, and add some healthy fat like coconut oil or flaxseed oil.  Also, it is recommended to eliminate high allergen foods (wheat, dairy, soy, etc.) and eliminate sugar, refined flour, processed foods, and caffeine.

Step 1 - Toxin Defense

Step 1

The first step is a little packet that you take first thing in the morning.  The instructions are to open the packet and dump it in your mouth.  Then add a little bit of water and swish it around your mouth.  Finally, swallow the whole thing.  The idea of this step is to balance out your mouth – which is the first point of access to your digestive system.  It contains probiotics that work in both the mouth and the intestinal tract.  It is a defense against toxins at the entry point into your body.  I like the idea of this “point of entry” defense and haven’t seen this idea in other cleanses.

The taste of this packet isn’t bad at all.  I did find that it clumps up pretty easily and sticks to the insides of your mouth.  My suggestion is to put some water in your mouth first and then pour the packet in.  That seems to help the powder mix a little better.

Step 2 - Organ Detox

Step 2

The second step is capsules that you take throughout the day.  These are marked as organ detoxifying and contain things like milk thistle for liver function and green things like chlorella and spirulina as antioxidants.  You take 6 capsules each day.  The directions recommend taking 3 capsules with breakfast and 3 with lunch.  The idea of this step is to support liver function so that your body can better eliminate normal and environmental toxins.  It also contains a range of antioxidants to help with this as well.

Being capsules, obviously there is no taste to discuss.  The capsules themselves are fairly large, but I found them fine to swallow and didn’t notice any aftertaste or refluxed taste.

Step 3 - Digestion & Elimination

Step 3

The third and final step is powder that you mix into a glass of water and drink down. This is done about an hour before bedtime.  The container comes with a little plastic scooper and you add two level scoops to a tall glass of water.  The powder doesn’t really fully dissolve, so you are left with a large glass of thick chunky liquid to drink.

I use the term “drink” loosely – it is more like “chug while trying not to gag”.  The taste isn’t very good, and it is hard to deal with the thick consistency.  This was the worst part of the cleanse.  While it doesn’t taste great, it isn’t terrible and if you just gulp it down quickly it goes fine.  This is the most noticeable step because the contents act as a fiber bulk and your bowel movements the next day will be decidedly larger and bulkier.  It is made up of natural fibers like coconut fiber, flax seed, and chia seed.  The product material claims that the fibers used are less harsh on your digestive system than things like psyllium which many other colon cleanses contain.

Final Thoughts

I did the whole 7 days of this cleanse and it was a good experience overall.  While I did not notice anything drastic, it did feel like my digestive system was a little more settled and happy.  As I mentioned above, the 3rd step of the powder noticeably affected my bowel movements and it seemed to clean me out a little.  Compared to the Master Cleanse, the results are far more subtle.  It was a positive experience, but I’ not sure how often I would repeat the process.

Have you done this cleanse or any others?  If so, or if you have any other feedback or questions, please comment and let me know.

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Keep It Simple

I researched for a long time and there is a huge range of rice cookers available.  My first stop was to our local large Asian supermarket.  I was totally surprised to find way too many choices and most of them very expensive.  Most of the models were over $100 and I really didn’t know what the difference was.

I finally decided to keep it simple and purchased this Aroma 4-cup Rice Cooker for under $30.  It couldn’t be easier as it has a single button that works like a toaster – push it down and the unit automatically pops the button up when it is done cooking the rice.  I wanted to get something so I could get started cooking more rice and get into the habit of feeding my family more rice in general.  If I find that this isn’t full-featured enough, then I will upgrade to a more advanced model.

Use It

What ever you end up selecting, make sure you use it.  I stocked up on rice trying to keep a few different varieties on hand.  With the simplicity and speed of a dedicated rice cooker, there is no excuse for not using it often.  Even with the bare-bones unit I selected, there still is some trial and error and it takes time to figure it out.  My first few batches were dry and a little on the hard side.  I figured out that if I add a little more water and/or let the rice stand in the water first it turns out better.  Also, rinsing the rice first really helps get rid of the excess starchiness of the finished rice.

Then Get Fancy

After using my rice cooker for a few months, I have now started to experiment more with it.  Tonight I used vegetable broth instead of water and I added zucchini and tofu right into the pot when it cooked.  It turned out great and my wife even went back for seconds (which doesn’t usually happen with my rice experiments)!

I am happy that I purchased something and this unit has already exceeded my expectations.  What ever rice cooker you decide to purchase, I urge you to pick something and start cooking.  Eating more rice is a great way to improve your vegetarian diet and it is naturally gluten-free too.

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Gluten Free Pasta Types

The main two types we found are rice based and corn based.  While it does depend on the brand, we found the rice pasta held up better to cooking and tasted better.  The rice pasta also tastes more like typical flour based pasta.  Corn pasta has very different strong corn flavor.  This can be a nice change, but is less like a pasta substitute.

Rice based gluten free pasta

Corn based gluten free pasta

3 Cooking Tips

1. Don’t over cook.  We found that gluten free pastas do not hold up well to boiling and can easily get overcooked and turn mushy.  Follow the directions on the package and err on the early side – check the pasta early and often and make sure not to overcook it.
2. Use lower heat.  Usually I cook regular pasta on a full rolling boil.  For gluten free pasta, I use medium-high to medium heat and a slower boil.  This helps to keep the pasta intact.
3. Rinse with cold water.  Most gluten free pastas will have a starchy residue on them.  A good rinse with cold water removes this and improves the taste and texture.  I throw the rinsed pasta back in the pot to heat it up again.  Then you can serve it from there, or if you are serving the pasta with sauce you can add the sauce and heat it all up together.

Best Bet

Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta - Best Bet!

These bags of brown rice pasta from a company called Tinkyada are the best bet that we found.  They are available in a bunch of styles and taste great.  They have spirals, elbows, shells, spaghetti, and more.  Many of them are available in organic varieties as well.  This pasta holds up great to cooking and can even handle a little over-cooking.  It passes for regular wheat based pasta and can fool people and they most likely won’t realize it isn’t regular pasta.

I have found this brand in several stores around us like HEB, Central Market, and Whole Foods.  They shouldn’t be too hard to find.  Look in the pasta section and the specialty gluten free section of your stores.  I hope you find these tips and recommendations useful.  Be sure to comment and let me know.

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This lady suffered from many health issues which ultimately were caused by sugar and food sensitivities to many grains.  She has put her years of experience into a book with both recipes and methods for transforming your favorite recipes to gluten-free and low-glycemic.

This book contains much about losing and maintaining weight with yoga, but also comes with a complete additional bonus book called Vegetarian Recipes for Health and Happiness.

This comes from a mother-daughter team with the mom’s handed down recipes and the daughter writing them all up in simple to read and use format.  This offer comes with lots of extras including books on weight loss and organic food.

Vegetarian Cooking Made Easy. A Step By Step Guide To A Vegetarian Lifestyle.  This comes with tons of extras including getting started basics, tons of recipes, simple formulas, things to watch out for, plus how to make sure you are getting everything you need.

Do you have any cookbooks or resources you find indispensable?  Be sure to comment and let me know about them.

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