This is Part 2. If you missed it, you can read Part 1 here.
I didn’t miss alcohol as much as I had feared. Normally I enjoy a drink with dinner, so I was a little worried about this dry part-of-January I was embarking on. But I found my cravings for this substance were limited. I did find, however, that after two weeks of this prohibition, life just seemed a little...flat. I guess alcohol gives my mood a little daily hit of dopamine, a bump in an often otherwise flat line. Duly noted.
How was the food? Hit and miss. I got off to a good start with the Chicken Tikka recipe; it’s one that I will probably make again post-detox. But I regretted making the Detox Nut Butter Stew. A small bowl of it felt like an iron ball in my stomach. I bravely tried to keep eating small portions of it, day after day, since I hate wasting food, but in the end I had to feed the remainders to my chickens (even they seemed less than thrilled about it).
One of the problems with this book was that the recipes made portions fit for a large family – you’d make one recipe, then eat it for the next few days. But I doubt there are many families following this detox program; they’re probably mostly individuals or couples like we are. If you ever do it, cut the recipes in half.
Another problem, for me at least, was just following the recipes. I don’t love following recipes at the best of times – making sure you buy the right ingredients, measuring stuff out, trusting someone else’s tastes rather than your own – and having to cook exclusively from these Hot Detox approved recipes was tiring and time-consuming. Everything had to be made from scratch – the simplicity of a grilled cheese sandwich was forbidden. I would have preferred a simple list of forbidden foods, paired with a list of encouraged foods (Hot Detox recommends a lot of warming spices), and a few sample recipes. An online forum where others engaging in this diet could post recipes would have been great. But maybe I’m weird that way.
On the plus side, the Quick Lentil Salad, with black olives, artichoke hearts, and pesto, was a hit, as was the Garlic Cauliflower Mash. I made what I felt was an improvement to this recipe post-detox, by roasting the cauliflower first rather than boiling it, then omitting the water in the food processor and adding more olive oil, plus some fresh dill. Delicious!
We also enjoyed a nightly routine of a cup of Turmeric Spice Latte, made with oat milk, turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. It was a sweet and creamy treat at the end of the day, and oh so anti-inflammatory!
But how did it all this dietary piety make me feel? That’s the real question, right? Was my mind sharper? Did I have more energy? And, most, importantly, was my gut functioning better?
Um, no. Maybe my gut was complaining a little less, but that’s about it. If anything, I had less energy, because feeding myself had become more of a struggle. Detoxing was not as intoxicating as I had hoped.
Abby felt the same. Two weeks in, she looked at me and asked, “Do you want to quit this diet?”
Similar to when she first suggested a cleanse, it hadn’t occurred to me that this was an option. “Really? We can do that?”
“Sure,” she said.
So we quit, and had pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. With coffee. Divine.
The diet wasn’t a complete waste of time. As I said, I accumulated a few new recipes. And my gut perhaps has healed a bit.
Moreover, it showed both Abby and I that our regular diets are probably pretty healthy to begin with, since we didn’t notice much change with this diet. That’s a relief. I can keep enjoying good bread and cheese.
But diets like these could probably help people who are suffering from worse health than an occasional upset stomach. It looks like Julie Daniluk is doing good work in the world – promoting organic food and healthy eating. On her website, she talks about her early struggles with food allergies and bulimia – disorders I’ve been lucky enough to avoid. It’s not my intention with this piece to belittle the powerful effect her diet could have on people suffering from dietary problems much more serious than mine. It’s just that this diet wasn’t of much use to me.
I’m fully aware that two weeks is not much time to notice many effects from a dietary change. Julie is cognizant that even three weeks is a limited window, and writes in her book that she hopes people will extend at least some aspects of this diet into their post-detox life. Her three-week program is really just an attempt to jump-start people into a new way of eating. I don’t agree with her that everyone would be better off cutting all the things from their diet that cause some people problems, but it’s hard to argue with eating more fruits and vegetables.
If we can see diets like Hot Detox – of which there are more than can be counted – as catalysts for permanent change, rather than short, intense resets that are going to magically transform us for the rest of our lives, then I think they can be beneficial. But we need to resist the temptation of the quick fix that limited time frame diets offer, and instead embrace a life lived in harmony with the food we consume every day. For more on my approach to that, if you haven’t already, check out my How to Eat Like a Farmer series.
The Oat spice latte sounds delish. Would you mind sharing the recipe?
Love your honesty!