Fad diets and fast weight loss solutions are sweeping the trending fitness industry. While eliminating certain food groups from your diet can benefit your health, precaution must be taken before starting a fasting meal plan. Consult with your physician before following any fasting plans. The major benefits of fasting are detox, cleanse, purify the blood, restore PH balance in the body, weight loss, stabilize Cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation, etc. Fasting is for a period of 3 days, 6 days, 9 days or 21days. The 21 days fast is commonly known as the Daniel fast. You must not consume any animal products, tea, coffee, alcohol, sugar, flour, and processed food items. In this period, you limit your consumption to complete plant-based foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole food-grains, and water. You can consume plant-based milk like almond or soy milk and nut butter. You must be eating a plant-based, vegan diet during this period.
While you can have any hearty stews, soups, vegetable stir fry, smoothies, and porridges during this period, we are sharing some delicious recipes that you can prepare during this period.
Pumpkin Chickpea Curry:
Start with sautéing some garlic, ginger, and onion in coconut oil. Add some cumin and coriander seeds. Add turmeric, dry ginger, and curry powder. Stir in the pumpkin and cooked chickpeas and cook for 10 mins. Add 200 ml of coconut milk. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste and close the lid. Once the curry forms a gravy, add in some baby spinach and chopped cilantro. Remove from heat and drizzle in half a lime juice. Pour over a ladle of this hearty delicious curry over a bowl of steamed brown rice.
Stir Fried Veggies in Garlic Sauce:
Start with sautéing some garlic and ginger in sesame oil. Add in two-star anise and a cinnamon bark. Add some chopped French beans, julienned carrots, broccoli, red & green bell peppers, and peas. To make the sauce add coconut aminos, dark soy sauce, 2 tsp of maple syrup, olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice. Add the sauce into the pan and coat the veggies well. Serve hot with steamed basmati rice or quinoa.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup:
Slice one medium butternut squash and roast it at 350 degrees for 45 minutes in a baking tray with some cloves of garlic, kosher salt, crushed pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Once roasted, add the mix into a food processor with 200 ml of coconut milk, 1 tsp of sweet paprika and blitz it till it gets a creamy consistency. Pour it in the pan and simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Pour in a soup bowl and top it with a few pieces of roasted squash.
You can also make hummus, falafels, stews and plant-based porridges. It is a nutrient dense and cleansing fast and helps to shed a few extra pounds. You can also prepare these plant-based recipes otherwise apart from this fasting plan.