Metabolic Detox Programme: Day 10 - The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen

Ah the joy of chomping down on something solid – that almost sounds rude!

It’s great to be eating solids again today, and oh the choice! Would never have believed at the start of the detox that I would look at the list of allowed foods in such wonder! Although this may sound weird, especially considering my middle liquid day disaster, I actually really enjoyed it and found it far easier than I ever thought I would. You didn’t have to think about what to eat – just had to blitz up a smoothie / juice or take a soup out of the fridge (or freezer if you had been organised in making up big batches beforehand). And far from being put off soups for life, it’s made me realise just how deliciously easy they are at packing in all those veg into your diet. Will definitely be making soups on a large scale from now on.

I celebrated having solid foods by having pancakes for breakfast, a large chicken salad for lunch and the delicious spiced cod and puy lentils with loads of veg for supper, plus a couple of handfuls of nuts and seeds for snacking – these are SO the way forward rather than grabbing a packet of crisps / biscuits, not only do they taste yummy but also leave you feeling very virtuous knowing that you are getting your daily dose of so many important minerals, vitamins and good-fats.

As I had pretty much run out of fruits and berries (all those smoothies!) decided to pop into my local Waitrose to pick up some more. As recommended, I headed straight for the organic aisle (no nastie pesticides and artificial fertilizers for me please!), but immediately took a step back. Was shocked firstly at the limited amount of organic fruit and veg available – vegetable growers don’t call this time of year ‘the lean season’ for nothing, and secondly at the price - £4.50 for a tiny packet of organic blueberries, you must be joking!! My Scottish miserly side definitely came to the fore as I put the offending packet back on the shelf. It made my veg box look such good value.

Although the programme recommends eating organic foods, sometimes it isn’t possible, both economically and availability wise, to go down the organic route all of the time. Instead why not try the Dirty Dozen / Clean Fifteen Cheat Sheet which group fruit and vegetables according to how susceptible they are to pesticides, i.e. the Dirty Dozen which are the fruit and vegetables most affected by pesticides, and therefore should always be organic, and the Clean Fifteen which are fruit and vegetables least affected by pesticides, and therefore are less important to be organic.

Detox-friendly Dirty Dozen (always buy organic):

Apples

Celery

Cherries

Cucumber

Grapes

Kale

Pears

Raspberries

Spinach

Strawberries

Sweet Peppers

 

Detox-friendly Clean Fifteen (low pesticide foods):

Asparagus

Avocado

Broccoli

Cabbage

Onions

Papayas

Pineapples

Peas

Sweet potatoes

Another way of looking at it is for any fruit or vegetable which doesn’t have a tough, inedible thick skin it is best to choose organic, and remember to wash any inorganic produce thoroughly so as to remove any residual pesticides. Also it goes without saying that you should chose organic meats and fish (and dairy products / eggs when not on the Detox Programme) wherever possible, preferably from a local suppler or butcher / fishmonger who can tell you exactly where it has come from – see the local food heroes page for suppliers. These again have lower levels of pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones and other medications / nasties than conventionally reared animals, as well as being reared to high welfare standards, plus of course taste far superior!

So looks as though I’ll be having to fork out a small fortune for those organic blueberries after all….