I have covered the foods that you can have on a liquid diet in my other article. What I did not cover is the separate ingredients that are used to make these foods, which ones are the best to choose and which ones are to be avoided.
The goal of this article is to share my experience of becoming a liquidarian, to share my knowledge so you could save your precious time researching. Through trial and error I have found the best foods that support a great wellbeing and a simple lifestyle. If you want to see some meal options to prepare right away be sure to check liquid diet menu.
I am not attempting to know the ultimate truth about what the perfect diet is, and neither am I pushing anyone to blindly follow what I say. Each person is in charge of their own decisions, including health related ones. On top of that, even If I had a medical degree to give people any health-related advice, my conscience would not allow me to. I hope you understand me.
What I really want to do is to simply share with as many people as possible the information about the wonderful effects of specific eating habits which make you feel great both physically and spiritually.
Which food items I eat and which I do not
If by now you have already read my other articles about liquid diet foods, you probably noticed that the main meals of the liquid diet are juices, smoothies and soups. Obviously, you can make smoothies and soups from a vast number of ingredients, including animal based products such as milk, yogurt, meat, etc. In the version of a liquid diet that I practice I use only plant-based ingredients – fruits and vegetables, so I will focus only on them.
Specifically, I will go through different fruits & vegetables that I consume to make my liquid meals. I will try to explain why I think some ingredients are better than others and why some should be avoided altogether even if they are widespread and are considered healthy.
I will start the fruit and vegetable section with general information regarding what to buy and when. Then I will move on to explaining the pros and the cons of some specific fruits and vegetables.
Try to avoid the ‘dirty dozen’ fruits and vegetables
Not all fruits and veggies can grow as easily as others without the extensive use of pesticides and herbicides. The famous ‘dirty dozen’ list contains fruits and veggies which need higher or much higher amounts of chemicals to ensure a good harvest and to protect it from fruit diseases and insects on a massive industrial scale.
The ‘dirty dozen’ list consists of:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale (including collard and mustard greens)
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Bell and hot peppers
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Pears
- Celery
- Tomatoes
If you have an opportunity to buy only organic fruits and vegetables, you do not need to be concerned about this list at all. However most of the people either do not have enough money or simply cannot even find organic versions of some or most of these items. If the latter is the case, then my only suggestion would be to either avoid them altogether or limit their consumption to the minimum.
Seasonal fruits and vegetables are the best
I would like to start by saying that it is best to eat fruits and vegetables that are in season. Seasonal produce means food that was harvested in the approximate geographical location where you live, at the appropriate time of the year. If you live in Europe for example, then it is best to eat local blueberries, cherries, peaches and watermelons in the summer season when these fruits are ripe instead of eating them in the winter when they are shipped from far away.
Additionally try to avoid fruits from exotic places
If you are a white European or American, then the best suited fruits and veggies for you are the ones which grow in Europe. The same goes for people from other regions of the world. The best food for any person is the one which grows and has been growing in his/her native continent. Why is that ? Let me explain. On a genetic level one’s body has a good adaptation to the produce grown in his/her native area. Apples, grapes, pears, peaches, oranges, lemons, cherries, strawberries are all great to consume for native Europeans, because their ancestors ate this food also. On the other hand, fruits such as mangos, bananas, papayas are not as great because they are mostly either too sweet or too starchy or both for this particular population. Europeans did not eat them prior to the discovery of other continents.
Therefore Europeans are not adapted well to eating them. Native people who live in places where such exotic fruits grow are perfectly capable of eating mangoes, bananas, papayas, etc. on a daily basis and in practically any amount without any harm. That is because these fruits are native to them, but not to native Europeans!
Apples feel too sour for many native South-East Asian people, but perfectly normal for native Europeans. Conversely, mangoes are often too sweet and damaging to the teeth of native Europeans if consumed in large quantities. The best food is therefore the one that we are used to genetically, the one that our ancestors consumed in their native habitat.
There are however some exceptions to what is considered ‘exotic’, at least for Europeans. Pineapple is one of them, because at some point in history this fruit was even said to be grown in Russia, which has a predominantly cold climate.
Nightshade family plants are best to be avoided altogether
First of all, what are nightshades? They include tomatoes, tomatillos, regular potatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, tobacco, paprika and others. These are probably one of the most used vegetables in the world. In some countries such as Italy people cannot imagine their daily meals without tomatoes. In Eastern Europe people cannot imagine their lives without regular white potatoes.
Similarly to exotic fruits such as mangos, nightshades were brought to Europe from America only a few hundred years ago. Digestive systems of native Europeans did not have enough time to adapt.
The main problem with nightshades is that they are considered to be very inflammatory, especially in their raw form. Italians learned how to properly solve this issue by peeling off the skin and removing seeds from tomatoes, which vastly reduces their harmful effects on health.
I would not suggest for people to eat any plants from the nightshade family, particularly for anyone with a “leaky gut” syndrome. These vegetables are also thought to be the main culprits in worsening auto-immune conditions such as arthritis.