One Week Vegan

Here I am after a six month hiatus.

I am about to embark on a one-week cleanse at the advise of Dr. Pendleberry my Doctor of Oriental Medicine.

Dr. Pendleberry, said that I have a damp, moist, stagnant condition - which sounds like a weather report that belies the dry and often windy weather we have had all winter in Southern California - and which is supposed to respond well to herbal preparations and special diet.

The herbal preparation for an internal damp condition is a saffron colored powder which I stir into a cup of hot water twice a day.  I suspect that it has turmeric and ginger in it.

The special diet is a vegan diet - which means that I will eliminate all animal products from my diet.

I am supposed to focus on green food - such as kale, collards and broccoli.  To fill in the hungry spaces I can have moderate amounts of seeds, sprouted seed grains and legumes, or rice.

I began the cleanse yesterday. 

Yesterday I had enormous amounts of green food.  I had celery, kale, ginger, lime, and green apple juice, steamed broccoli, miso soup with green seaweed, kale, and spinach.  When my energy began to flag mid-afternoon I made a rather yummy non-green smoothie with filtered water, flax seeds, stabilized rice bran, frozen banana, and blueberries.  I punctuated all the green food with some sprouted steamed black eyed peas and rice, and sourdough bread from Grindstone Bakery spread with coconut oil.

Initially, I thought my body would go into shock as I do like my grass-fed butter and eggs in the morning.  And I am used to having a nice piece of protein for dinner too - salmon being a favorite - but, actually I felt pretty good all day.  I felt lighter.  Colors seemed more vibrant when I was out walking - it was a gorgeous day - and I slept well too.

This is actually easier than I thought it would be.