Try this Unbelievably Simple Way to Detox with WFPB Foods

What is a WFPB Diet

WFPB is simply an acronym for whole food plant-based. A whole food plant-based diet focuses on consuming fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. This type of diet has been shown to provide numerous health benefits. For one, plant-based diets are typically lower in calories and fat than those that include meat, making them ideal for those trying to lose weight, recover from chronic disease, and prevent disease. Plant-based diets have been linked with lower rates of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. These health benefits are likely because plant-based diets are high in fiber, phytonutrients, and antioxidants, which help to protect against chronic diseases. Eating more plants is a good place to start if you're looking to improve your health.

Is Eating a WFPB Diet Hard

The biggest problem I find with eating whole food plant-based is finding easy to fix, nutritious, and great-tasting recipes. Emphasis on the “easy!” Sometimes I just don’t feel like fixing anything, and grabbing snack foods like chips or cookies is my easy way out. Sometimes juicing gets to be too much. Making smoothies also is a lot of effort. But what if I told you there was an easy way to eat whole food plant-based meals?

In this article I will give you some tips to make your whole food plant-based prep quicker and your burden lighter. Trust me when I say that I know the feeling. Many times I have ordered food from Uber Eats because I just had no energy to cook. The problem with that is that you have no control over what goes into your food, and for the most part it is not organic.

One way I have found to make life easier is food prep. Yes, it needs to be done in advance, but if you take 1 day out of the week for grocery shopping and the next day food prep it does help. If you are motivated go ahead and do them both in the same day. People actually do that!

Cleaning Produce

For fruits and/or vegetables, you will need to soak in the sink or get one of those fancy-schmancy ionic veggie cleaners. Come to think of it, I have one I got for Christmas, and I just haven’t taken it out of the box yet. Another method you can use is this veggie soak from Young Living. I love it, but I usually soak fruits in veggies in the sink when I run out of my veggie soak.

To soak your veggies, fill the sink with water. Add 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. You can also add a tsp or so of lemon juice.

Let the produce sit for 15 minutes. Then take them out and give them a final rinse. You can now choose to do a gentle scrub, but this step is not necessary.  

Now you need to set the produce out to dry. Make sure not to skip the drying, as dried produce stays fresher for a more extended period of time.

Alternatively, you can do a simple baking soda method.  

This method requires about two tbs of baking soda to 1 cup of water. You can also add lemon for the best cleaning results. Don’t overdo the baking soda. More is not always merrier!

Soak your produce in this mixture for about 15 min. Rinse under running water. Dry thoroughly.

To dry your produce, take paper towels and lay them on the counter or tabletop. Then lay the produce on the paper towels. Let air dry. You can also pat dry, which is what I usually do, as I am always in a hurry.

I only buy organic, so the length of time that I wash my produce is pretty minimal. 

All Dry, Now What

Now that your fruit and veggies are thoroughly dry, you can choose to add them to clean sterilized glass jars whole or cut. Some people add a paper towel to eliminate condensation. I haven’t tried that yet. If you decide to add them whole, there will be a lot less room in the jar, but I often find this method easier initially. You can even leave the stems on your produce. However, taking the stems off and cutting them allows for more room and ease just to grab and go! It is perfect when the kids need a snack or when you just want to grab something yourself. My jars keep the produce fresh for about three weeks. This beats the moldy fruits and veggies that I was getting after a couple of days in the fridge!

Prep for Smoothies

While you can make jars dedicated to everything you will put in a smoothie, I find putting them in compostable baggie-sized bags works perfectly. You can prep the produce the same way as above, but instead of putting them in jars, put them in the baggies. You can add pretty much any fruit and vegetable you want to put into a smoothie in those bags, then freeze. When ready to make your smoothie, just grab a bag from the freezer, put produce and liquid into a blender, and blend. Super fast and gives you no excuse to forego drinking some of that deliciousness!

Prep for Juicing

Juice is made basically the same way. Wash, rinse, dry, and cut your produce. Make sure you cut the fruits and veggies to fit the feed chute on your juicer. You will need bigger baggies if you are prepping in advance for juicing. I never peel my veggies, but that might be something you want to do. I feel like that is throwing away a lot of nutrients, though.

Prep for Salads

My favorite way to prepare salad is found in my salad blog. Basically, it is the jar method. You can see more salad recipes and this method here. I highly recommend trying the Southwestern Salad in a jar. It is so easy to make and so tasty. It is actually my all-time favorite salad now.

Another way is to make your salad dressing, then prepare your produce by washing, drying, and cutting the ingredients. Put the salad dressing at the bottom of a bowl. Next, you will add the hard veggies, then soft veggies, including sprouts, and then put the lettuce on the top. Cover with a lid or paper towel. Eat within 12 hours.  

I love the jar method because the produce will keep longer. I have kept mine for up to 5 days that way.

Prep for Nut Milks

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You can also prep your milks in advance. There are all kinds of healthy plant-based milks that you can make and enjoy. There is oat milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk, flax milk, macadamia nut milk, soy milk, walnut milk, and the list goes on. Making nut milk the old-fashioned way, with a blender and a nut milk bag, are fine, but I love my milk machine for the ease. Not to mention it is so much less messy. 

You can use the milk for chia pudding, overnight oats, or really anything. I often put almond milk and nutritious yeast to make a tasty mushroom gravy.

If you want to get your own milk machine, you can get $33 off of the bundle package by clicking here!

Recipe for Overnight Oats

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (I love these with homemade vanilla almond milk)

2 tsp chia seeds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup Fruit

Spices of choice (cinnamon is great)!

Instructions

In an 8 oz glass jar, mix together all ingredients. Seal the jar and make sure the lid is on tight. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning you will have a super nutritious breakfast. You can add toppings at this point like nuts, seeds, hemp hearts, flax oil, coconut, etc. Enjoy!!

Recipe for Chia Pudding

Ingredients

6 oz of plant-based milk

3 tbs chia seeds

1/4 cup of fruit

1 tsp or so of spices (cinnamon is great)

Instructions

Add 4 oz. of plant-based milk to an 8 oz. glass jar, Cut up some fruit and add to the milk. Add any spices. Add in the chia seeds. Close the lid tightly and shake the jar until all ingredients are mixed together. Now add the rest of the plant milk until filled to the brim. Now give it another shake. Put in the refrigerator. I start off by putting the jar upside down, and then in a couple of hours I go give it another shake and put the jar upright.

Other Ideas

You can prep quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and many other things in advance too. Just store them in an air tight container, and as always, I recommend using glass containers whenever possible. You can make pots of beans, soups, veggie stew, roasted veggies, etc., to help keep you on track. Feel free to browse around my website to find other really delicious wfpb recipes.

Final Thoughts

A whole food plant-based diet is rich in fiber, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, all promoting detoxification. Fiber helps keep the digestive system clean and moving efficiently, while antioxidants protect cells from damage caused by toxins. Phytochemicals help the liver break down and remove toxins from the body. In addition, a plant-based diet is naturally low in fat and sugar, which can further promote detoxification. Fat stores toxins in the body, and sugar suppresses the immune system, making it more difficult for the body to fight off infection. Eating a diet rich in whole foods and low in fat and sugar can give your body the tools it needs to detoxify itself effectively. BUT! In can take a lot of perseverance! I get that!! And while the ways above are almost always cheaper, there are benefits to choosing a service that will deliver you nutritious plant-based meals.

So What is the “Simple Way to Detox”

When you are in a state of disease or healing, when you are tired or stressed, when you just can’t think of anything to fix or just don’t want to, there are alternatives. One way is to order from one of those organic health food delivery sites. Another one is to order from here. They have plant based soups, fantastic juices, wellness shots, etc. They even have different nourish programs, and a really wonderful Phast program. I recommend trying a couple of different places, and sticking with them, or change it up every now and then.

Cheers to your health!

Please feel free to email me with any questions at admin@acarrotaday.com. I would love to chat with you and answer any questions that you may have. I also read all comments, which you can leave below!

Disclaimer: The contents of this website are based on personal experiences, opinions, and my own research. Information on this website is for educational purposes and is not meant to diagnose, replace, treat or cure any medical or mental health condition. Please see your doctor with any health-related questions. Statements on this website have not been approved or evaluated by the FDA. While perusing this site, please use your best judgment in conjunction with your Naturopath or other health care provider.