TheSpring Clean Dietis quite relaxed compared to others. The best part is that you can as much as you want, so you shouldn’t get hungry. The thing that’s important is how and when you eat what.

Foods not allowed

• All meat products, sugar, wheat (and gluten, if possible), dairy (with a few exceptions see below).
• All processed foods (even if proclaimed as vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian etc.) and foods with artificial flavourings, colourings, additives etc.
• Fizzy drinks, caffeine (black tea and coffee), alcohol, flavoured drinks and pasteurised fruit juices

Foods allowed

• All fruits and vegetables (fresh & frozen)
• Fish (oily and white), seafood
• Eggs
• Dairy:in moderation – naturally low-fat dairy products (Kefir, Greek yogurt, soft goat’s cheese and Feta) – mustbe organic.
• All nuts and seeds
• Pulses (dried and tinned),
• Certain jarred food (olives, sundried tomatoes, caper, roasted peppers in oil, gherkins, sauerkraut etc). These can be shop-bought as long as they don’t contain sugar and synthetic preservatives. Best ones are homemade!  Here are some tasty but easy homemade preserves, sauces and relishes for you to try.
• Jarred spice pastes – such as harissa, tamarind, chipotle (check the label –no sugar!)
• All fresh & dried herbs, spices, spice mixtures
• All herb teas (particularly green, rooibos/redbush and fennel tea)
• Plant based milk – soy, oat, coconut, hazelnut and almond (sugar-free only!)
• Other liquids: coconut water, filtered or mineral water, freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juices
• Allcold-pressedvegetable cooking oils (coconut, olive, sunflower, rapeseed, groundnut, walnut, pumpkin, sesame seed) i.e.not hydrogenated
• Cider vinegar

Remember, the most important thing is how you combine these foods! You can read more about thefood combining rules of the Spring Clean Diethere>>

The basic rules are:

• Eatfresh fruit on its own,preferably before 12 am. If you do eat fruits any other time, you should leave at least 30 minutes before your next meal (fruit is digested more easily than cooked food, starch & protein so it’s best not to combine it with anything else)
• Donot combine concentrated starches and proteins(such as rice and fish)
• Dojuicing twice a day–  preferably on an empty stomach, and at least 20 minutes before meals (to help your liver’s cleansing function) – see super healthy vegetable juice recipe>>
• Drink plenty of liquids – filtered water, herb teas (dandelion, fennel, nettle, Rooibos etc)
• Eatvegetable soups daily
• Have a couple of fasting days in the middle of the plan – i.e. juices, thin soups (consommés) only

Substitutes

I’ve tried out many supposed substitutes for “forbidden” foods over the years – some landed in the bin (like carob powder instead of cocoa) but the following ones do work very well:-

for Milk: almond milk (sugar-free) works the best in tea and coffee, also good for porridge, pancakes and cakes. Oat milk and coconut milk are useful too, particularly for pancakes, fritters and cakes for Black tea: South African rooibos (redbush) tea – after the second cup you won’t notice it’s not the real stuff! It’s nice with lemon or with almond milk. Really! for Coffee:dandelion root coffee. First it tastes a little strange, but after a couple of days you get used to it – I’ve come to relish it! It’s verygood for the liver, so it should be drunk every day. for Refined Sugar:qood quality honey, proper maple syrup, agave syrup (all in moderation), banana (in snack bars)

Note:I know there is an anti-sugar campaign going on right now which, unfortunately, includes healthy fruits and honey too – despite the fact that these have been known for centuries for their healthy and even healing properties. Most fruits are full of beneficial nutrition – I believe, therefore, that they must be good for our bodies and we should eat some every day. As to honey – a little drizzle goes a long way and it’s not only healthy but makes treats, salads taste so much nicer – and dieting more bearable! SoThe Spring clean dietallows honey, maple syrup and agave syrup – in moderation!

Tips

• If your normal diet doesn’t already include lots of fruits and veggies, or if you’re a sugar/caffeine/meat/cheese/bread/junk food addict, it’s best to wean yourself off  gradually and one-by-one if you can. This is much easier than going cold turkey on everything at once.
• Before you start the Spring Clean diet, it’s advisable to prepare for it properly days beforehand and remove all temptation from your house. There’s more advice on this in my Spring Clean Diet Preparationarticle
• Try to plan the timing of the diet for when you don’t have anniversaries, parties and events. Don’t do the diet during the Easter festivities – best afterwards or beforehand, during the traditional Christian Lent period
•  In order to avoid temptation, try not to go out too much to restaurants & shops. Shop at your local vegetable market instead!
• The Spring Clean diet is most effective if you do it for a month – if you can’t fit in 30 days of detoxing then do try to manage a fortnight at least. Read more about theSpring Clean Diet plan>>

• The Spring Clean Diet
• Spring Cleansing
• Spring clean recipes
• The Food combining Diet