I revived a complementary copy of Everyday Detox by Megan Gilmore, to review quiiiitee a while ago. In fact, I think it might have been back when it was newly released. So, obviously I’m way behind, yet, now that New Years has come and gone, and it’s time to start working on our health related resolutions, new diets, or vows to simply start eating healthier; I feel a review has once again become quite timely as Everyday Detox happens to be a perfect pick for healthy cooking at home that doesn’t skimp in the flavor department. And you know me, if we don’t have the flavor going on, I’m so not there.
Everyday Detox is divided into two major parts. The first section offers some thoughts on detoxing and some information about the authors eating philosophy. The philosophy is essentially based on the idea that better digestion leads to a healthier body, and that better digestion can be achieved by combining or not combining certain foods when eating. There is also a 7 day meal plan and quick start shopping list you can use if you plan to follow the authors eating method. The second section of the book contains the recipes.
I personally found the first section of the book to be an interesting read, but I’m not sure I necessarily believe the author’s philosophy will work. Tough I will say honestly I have not tried it out for myself, it’s just that it brings up a lot of questions for me.
I’ll try to give you a brief overview: Gilmore begins by pointing out that digestion is the biggest energy sucking process our body preforms. She makes the argument that if we cut down on the energy needed to preform digestion the extra energy can be funneled into other processes like circulation, respiration, etc. If our body is putting more into these processes we should see easy weight loss, clearer skin, etc.
So then how do we cut down on the energy needed for digestion? According to Gilmore you can do this by making digestion as efficient as possible for your body. You do this by combining or not combining certain foods in ways that make them easy for your body to digest. For example, Gilmore would advise that you should ideally not eat fruits, starches, animal proteins, or nuts/seeds/dried fruits together in one meal. Rather you should pick only one category for each meal. However, it is ok to combine any one of these categories with non starchy vegetables.
Now, some of this makes sense to me, but like I mentioned before I have a lot of questions. Digestion being energy intense is a fact. And on the surface it seems logical to me that if you could reroute some of that energy to other processes in your body that you might see some benefits from that. But, who’s to say that energy really gets rerouted to those other activities? Maybe your body just conserves it? Or even if it does reroute that energy exactly that way, can you really accumulate enough spare energy to make noticeable differences in your health? Or lead to real weight loss? Does keeping these food types separate really even aide in digestion?… I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I don’t know enough about the science behind these ideas to answer these questions, but I certainly think they are worth asking.
At this point my personal opinion, if I’m 100% honest, is that I don’t buy the idea that combining or not combing certain foods will lead to, “effortless weight loss, without giving up any of the foods we love (pg.5)” as the author promises. There have been diets in the past based on the ideal combinations of foods, none of which were magical weight loss plans. I doubt this one is either. Nor do I feel there is enough evidence presented to convince me that there are benefits to your circulation, or respiration, or other body functions to be gained from eating this way. Though, I will admit any plan that tells me weight loss will be easy is immediately going to fall under suspicion in my world.
That all being said, I will also mention that I don’t think anything suggested in this book is unhealthy either, so if you want to try the recommendations more power to you. And some of what the author advises is most certainly proven to be healthy, like avoiding sugar, or eating reasonable potion sizes. (Science has linked sugar to nearly every disease under the sun at this point, so you certainly can’t go wrong with that advice.)
Despite my reservations about the Everyday Detox eating philosophy, I will still absolutely 100% recommend this cookbook to you. Why? Part two of the book: the recipes, is absolutely excellent! (Regardless of what eating philosophy you follow.)
The recipes are generally quite healthy by pretty much any standard (more veggies, less sugar!), very tasty, simple to make, and as an added bonus friendly to those with dairy/gluten allergies or intolerance.
I’m a big fan of the salt and vinegar brussel sprouts, the red bell pepper tomato bisque, the skillet fish tacos, and pretty much everything else I’ve tried! I also really appreciated the breakfast section, because I struggle a lot with finding reasonably healthy breakfast options. But I can get next to buckwheat banana bread, and blended apple pie a la mode. Come on, you’ve gotta admit apple pie a la mode for breakfast sounds amazing in any form right?
To sum it up, I think Everyday Detox is a great addition to any kitchen collection whether or not you want to experiment with combining certain types of food, or you simply want some nice recipes to add to your rotation. If you’re looking to eat a little healthier while still serving up some delicious food, you can’t go wrong with Everyday Detox.
P.S. The author of Everyday Detox is a blogger! Check her out at Detoxinista.
I received a free review copy of Everyday Detox from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own. The link included in this article for Everyday Detox is an affiliate link. I will receive a small percentage of the sale should you choose to purchase after following the link. I appreciate your monetary support of Feed Me I’m Hungry.
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