Plant Based Magic
I have been following the Sakara ladies, Whitney and Danielle, since the very beginning of their plant based crusade. Who wouldn’t be obsessed with those gorgeous ladies, their glowing skin and total zen vibes. As per Vogue “For super nutrition, the chic and health conscious flock to Sakara.” If eating the Sakara way can bring me just a bit of their radiant skin and effervescent vitality consider me flocking that way.
Sakara is an organic meal delivery program based on a whole-food, plant-rich diet made from organic superfood ingredients chosen for their nourishing, energizing and hydrating properties. The diet, through either of their tiered programs, purports to help with gut healing, reduce inflammation, balance blood sugar and regulate digestion.
The Sakara Signature Program consists of fresh meals, teas, and supplements that in addition to being organic and plant-based are also gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, and have no refined sugar. This signature plan is considered the more relaxed, yummy gateway entry into plant-based eating. You can regularly see supermodels and celebs like Chrissy Tiegen and Lily Aldridge toting their signature Sakara goodies on social media. Getting all those greens in must definitely increase your level of gorgeousness.
The Sakara Level II Detox is a five-day elimination diet that is free of meat, dairy, gluten, all sugars (including fruit), nuts, soy, nightshades (white potatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, chili peppers), pesticides, harmful chemicals and GMOs. Created with functional medicine doctor Aviva Romm, MD, and building on Sakara’s signature philosophy of plants as medicine, this powerful whole-food cleanse temporarily eliminates common inflammation triggers and floods your body with potent plant nutrition. Level II will help heal the gut, restore the metabolism, release years of toxic build-up, and hit reset on the body’s systems.
I opted to try the Sakara Detox Level II after hearing from several friends that it was “life-changing" and “transformative”. I can honestly say that I’d fallen into a bit of a food slump during the last several months especially with the panic of quarantine being lifted. I was not one of those people that relished creatively cooking at home all day every day. Omelettes became a food group and I found myself turning back to the same foods day in and day out. I wasn’t really enjoying my meals but rather felt I was eating whatever was quick and easy. I was not feeling satisfied physically nor psychologically.
Additionally, anyone that knows me knows I have a straight up addiction to monkfruit and stevia. I've always had a raging sweet tooth and natural sweeteners such as those can deceive you into thinking that you are still being healthy no matter how much you pour into your matcha or yogurt. I’m an intense pourer. While they may not have the "calories" of sugar your body technically doesn't know the difference and it reacts in the same way. Insulin still gets spiked. Your body thinks you’re eating sugar no matter what Halloween costume it’s looking cute in.
I know...there are worse things to be addicted to but I'm fairly certain this one causes more havoc than I may have previously been aware of. Also, I was kinda excited to drop the nightshades, nuts and eat plant-based for a week. I've never broken up with eggs, eggplants and almonds before even if it was just a short break. I promise its me and nut you guys. Pun completely intended.
There was a bit of a snafu with my delivery in that I ended up receiving the signature program instead of the detox. All this mental preparation to go cold turkey into no sugar land and I’m staring at all this pretty, albeit still uber healthy, plant based deliciousness like dark chocolate granola and sexy cinnamon rolls. A few emails later to my Sakara assigned health coach and we were able to work out a next day shipment and a new detox start for midweek. It was a bit nerve racking not to start when I had expected to but on the positive side I had a couple of now included days to try out their signature plan as well. It ended up being a winning situation.
The signature program was super delicious. The breakfasts were all sweet (yayyy) and all incredibly yummy and healthy. The lunches were mostly salads that incorporated fruits, greens, grains, legumes and seeds. I will say the one downside I experienced is that the salads I received were a bit soggy. Sakara does have creative packaging that is intended to protect against leakage but the fruit juices did seep through. You get all your meals for 2-3 day increments so I wasn’t super into eating greens that had been sitting in water and juice for a couple of days. A few of the meals had avocado as well which I don’t always think holds up well after a day. Those two little snags did not outweigh how tasty and filling the rest of the meals were. I’ve never been vegan but I truly enjoyed the creativity and taste. The dressings that were included with nearly each meal were always different and gave each one a little something extra.
Just two days on the signature plan and I already felt all sorts of plant based benefits. I had less brain fog and stomach bloating with increased energy and clarity. I didn’t feel the usual energy drain following meals that I do on my typical paleoish diet. If this is what eating more plants feels like then I was in. However, I fell down from my kale covered cloud when my detox box arrived and it wasn’t quite as yummy looking as my meals on the signature plan.
The first three days of the detox consisted of savory whole food breakfasts and lunches, medicinal broths for dinner and coconut kefir for the snack. Also included were water drops, detox teas, probiotics, supplements and a very lovely looking dry brush. I have to say, after being in sweet thing heaven with the incredible signature breakfasts switching to “Root Veggie Detox” or “Magic Mushroom Detox” was not my idea of a good time. In my opinion, no one should have to eat bok choy for breakfast. Ever.
The lunches were definitely more appetizing although, again, not as flavorful as the signature plan. My favorite lunch was a rainbow kitchari with gut-healing sauerkraut and crunchy chia seed crackers. The afternoon coconut kefir was AMAZING and my favorite part of the entire detox. I’m not going lie…there may have been a couple of days that I drank it before the afternoon. Lastly, each dinner was a medicinal broth which had over twenty medicinal mushrooms spices, omegas, and ancient herbs. It was OK but I wish they had different flavors of the broth because no one wants to drink the same exact broth for dinner four days in a row.
Days four is when things got real. The one completely “liquid” day consisted of two green detox juices, a carrot based soup, my beloved coconut kefir, and some more, you guessed it, medicinal broth. The green juices were like drinking thick, pureed salads. It was not my idea of a fun time and I had to mentally teleport back to my college days to call on those liquid chugging skills. C’mon you know what I mean. It took me about 30 minutes to get each green juice down. The carrot soup tasted like, well, carrot soup. I purposely kept myself busy with appointments that day as to not think about chewable food. I still thought about food all day.
Day 5 brought me back to whole foods again. I don’t think I’ll ever be as happy to see sesame spinach and squash frittata for breakfast again. Lunch was a white bean burger and dinner was a detox macro bowl. Although I truly believe Sakara has uncovered the holy grail to creating delectable vegan sauces and dips the beet and avocado ones accompanying these last meals were not my favorite. I finished the day lovingly thinking about the scrumptious blueberry granola I was planning on eating first thing in the morning.
Was the detox tough? Absolutely. I don’t think anyone would say it was easy. Especially if you do have have a sweeter tooth and enjoy feeding it in a healthy and balanced way. I do think it’s meant to be challenging in order to show yourself you can break free from habits if even for just a few days. I certainly learned that I would survive without any sweeteners for days. The detox was also great for building awareness of the foods that do bring you issues. I had some sautéed bell peppers a day after completing the detox and felt significant inflammation in my body. I haven’t paused on nightshades ever so that was surprising and alerted me to cutting back on the amount of nightshades I typically eat each day. This girls loves her tomatoes.
Would I do this detox again? Probably not. I am so happy I did it but its more of a one and done deal for me. I do believe it’s something to try out occasionally as a way to detox and reset your body. I will 100% order the signature plan again. It was delicious, easy, healthy and creative. I totally felt the plant based magic ensue after only two days of being on the plan. I felt a clear headedness I haven’t felt in some time. My skin felt dewy and my stomach less bloated. I had more energy and best of all I felt satiated. Additionally, I was powering through my work days without caffeine which was in itself a miracle. Now I’m just wondering if my body will start to look like those of all the supermodels that swear by Sakara. Probably not but I’m still holding onto the possibility.
