Detox Berry Shake

 

I picked 'detox diet' as the theme for this marathon more than a month ago but honestly, all I had known at that time was the random stuff I heard now and then on health shows. Diets ranging from juice based ones, apple cider vinegar to weird ones where charcoal is used. I am not an expert on the subject and had to go through several articles and posts online to get the gist of the 'detox diet' idea. I have been a vegetarian all my life and I try to eat balanced meals and stay away from junk food as much as possible. That is the only dietary plan I have been following so far in my life. I did not follow any detox plan this week too but surprisingly I realized that the detox meals can be well balanced ones without compromising on taste or flavors.

Detoxification or detox in short is nothing but a form of body cleansing. This approach is followed to get rid of the supposedly  accumulated 'toxins' from the body which may affect an individual's health in the short or long term. The general idea here being that the food we consume in the modern world is filled with contaminants such as food colors, pesticides, flavor enhancers, preservatives and such which are all nothing but unwanted chemicals. The detox diets which are special dietary plans claim to have detoxifying effects on our body and would aid in getting rid of these toxins. Fasting, dieting, avoiding specific foods and colon cleansing are some of the methods approached in detox diet plans. While the medical experts state that cleansing the body is unnecessary as our bodies are capable of doing the job perfectly. (source:wiki and others)

The recipes I picked for this week's theme rely on the idea of aiming towards the consumption of specific foods that are beneficial to body and avoiding certain ones. I am just giving a list from a vegetarian point of view. The detox plans which follow this idea generally avoid gluten, dairy, eggs, fats like butter & mayonnaise, sweeteners (like sugar, honey, maple syrup),  processed foods, caffeine, chocolate, soy products, alcohol, and such. Much emphasis is given to fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains that are non gluten (like brown rice, quinoa, millets), legumes, healthy nuts and oils. I created recipes based on what foods were allowed in the plan.

My recipe today falls under the liquid cleanse which is the simplest form of cleansing and provides the body with nutrients. Liquid cleanses usually involve consuming water, fresh (organic) fruit / vegetable juices, pureed soups, smoothies, and such. This shake can be included as part of the detox plan or can be enjoyed anytime. The berries are rich in antioxidants while mango and banana are rich in fiber. The fruits I picked were sweeter and I froze them in advance.

Ingredients: (Yield 2 servings)
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup mango cubes
1/4 cup pineapple cubes
1 small banana
2 tbsp. flax seeds
Coconut water or unsweetened almond milk as needed
(Using organic fruits would be better if following detox diet because of the pesticides.)

Method:
Blend everything to desired consistency and serve.



This is going to be a part of Blogging marathon #64 under 'detox recipes' and check here to find out what other marathoners are cooking today.

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