Raw Detox

A few weeks ago I did the seven day RawDivas detox with a friend. I highly recommend it – there are no gimmicks, nothing that you have to buy, no supplements – just eat only raw food for a week. But there is support, and there are some recommendations, and emails that you can receive on each day of the detox. (They are a for profit business, but the seven day detox can be completely free, which is how I did it – sign up and they'll send you the link to the detox page. I haven't received any questionable emails as a result.)

I didn't feel great while I was doing it, but I have no regrets at all. I think I eat a little differently now, trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my daily meals. I'm also very aware that on any given day I only eat so much, and that if I want to eat well, I have to choose well. This seem obvious, but for me it's a bit of a shift. I expect I will try this detox again, especially if I can find a friend to do it at the same time. I'd prefer to do it during warm weather – both my friend and I found that we were cold eating only cold and room temperature food in the middle of New England February.

Today Oprah was discussing The Truth About Food. One study they (she and Dr. Oz) discussed was a raw food experiment. After only ten days, cholesterol was down by 25% and blood pressure was down also. They also discussed a detox experiment which showed no benefit to the detox as far as expelling toxins. However, Dr. Oz sees a detox regime as useful as a reboot or quick start to a better eating plan. They didn't put the two together, and I think that would have been a useful suggestion – detox by going all raw for three, five, seven or more days (I recommend at least four).