One of the keys to the Beauty Detox program is eating Light to Heavy throughout the day. Eating in this manner allows you to eat foods in their most digestible order so lighter foods like fruits and vegetables don’t get trapped behind heavier foods such as protein and starches. When foods become trapped in your digestive system, they begin to back up like a traffic jam, and efficient and fast digestion is impeded. The net result is an increase in your body’s toxic load – something Beauty Detox seeks to minimize and ultimately eliminate in order to bring about optimal health and beauty.
Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?
Many people believe that eating this way – having a light breakfast and your heaviest meal later in the day – flies in the face of conventional wisdom stating that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Research shows, however, that eating your heaviest meal at breakfast may actually be detrimental to your health.
A study published in the January 2011 Nutrition Journal debunked the commonly held belief that eating a big breakfast kept you satiated and allowed you to eat fewer calories throughout the remainder of the day. In fact, the study showed just the opposite. When subjects ate a larger breakfast they didn’t eat less throughout the day. The calories from the big breakfast combined with the same amount of calories consumed throughout the day in other meals, as well. In other words, those who ate larger breakfasts consumed more calories throughout the day than those who ate smaller breakfasts. The study concluded that those seeking to lose weight could benefit from eating a lighter breakfast.
Another study in the British Journal of Nutrition had a similar result, suggesting that consuming more energy at breakfast inhibited fat oxidation throughout the day. Likewise, the high-energy breakfast group had higher levels of triglycerides, as well as lower levels of the “good” cholesterol, HDL. Simply put, eating a heavier, more energetically dense breakfast actually hampered fat burning and contributed to poor blood lipid profiles.
The Glowing Green Smoothie – A Light Way to Start the Day
While I don’t recommend skipping breakfast altogether as you find in many of the now-popular intermittent fasting diets, I do recommend going light for breakfast. A breakfast full of heavy animal protein, like an egg white omelet, will rest like a brick in your stomach right at the beginning of the day. And then you’ll just eat whatever you usually eat for lunch (whether you had a GGS or an omelet) and so you’re just jamming more heavy foods into your body on a daily basis when you eat that heavy breakfast. Most people eat way too much concentrated protein anyway- which is not a good thing. It’s actually very acidic and aging. So let me say it again: that omelet isn’t doing you any favors.
That’s why the GGS makes the perfect morning meal. Chock full of whole fresh fruits and vegetables, the GGS provides you with essential vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, phytonutrients, and LOTS of fiber. It’s a great way to continue the cleansing your body started the night before with foods that help fight toxicity and provide high-quality nutrition.
Additionally, because the GGS is blended, your digestive system has an easier go of it. This means the GGS will move through your digestive system quickly and efficiently, giving you powerful nutrition without weighing you down. It also paves the way for you to eat heavier foods as the day progresses, with your most concentrated foods (proteins and grains) consumed at your evening meal when your body has the most time to digest them.
This Light to Heavy philosophy helps in a number of ways:
- It allows you to detoxify naturally and extend your nighttime detoxification into the morning hours.
- It prevents foods from improperly digesting when getting stuck behind heavy foods that digest more slowly, which can result in bloating, excess toxicity/waste storage and ultimately weight gain.
- It supports your body’s natural circadian rhythms.
- It allows your body to use less energy for digestion, giving you more energy for health, vitality, and beauty.
If you’ve never tried it before, spend a few days eating Light to Heavy to see a difference in how you feel. You may be used to the habit of a heavy breakfast, but have 16-24+ ounces of GGS and let your body acclimate. You may be surprised to find that, contrary to the belief that a big breakfast is “king”, you feel light, super energized, focused and vibrant, and can think more clearly.
Kim – I have read your book and everything. I was wondering though, does the GGS go against the food combining principle in that there are both veggies and fruit together? Thanks!
I wondered the same thing, especially since fruit should be eaten on its own.
I think since they’re blended they’re so much easier to digest that it doesn’t really matter.
Fruit does mix with raw veggies, except for melons.
Since veggies are “neutral” they can be eaten with anything
Leafy greens go with all fruit but melons 😉 So the glowing smoothy is awesome! Just don’t go adding the oils and seeds etc, that would make it incorrect combining…
Hey! I don’t have the book…waiting for a french version so I don’t know about the correct combinations…any idea for a GGS in a summer version? Maybe with berries or mango perhaps? Thanks!
I add ground flax seed to smoothie. Not sure if that is ok. From your comment I don’t think so?
I’m pretty sure her cheat sheet said veggies and fruits can be paired with the exception of melons…. 🙂
Kimberly, I thought I was eating very healthy but my blood sugar went up to 102 last May. Bought a Vitamix and started every day with Glowing green smoothie -4 months later, my sugar level dropped to 75. I have to add that starting my day with a GGS has changed the way I feel all day. I also try to have my last big meal no later than 5.30pm when I am home. What a change and….I dropped 7 pounds in no time ……Thanks ! love your newsletter !
I do drink my green stuff every morning but that doesn’t fill me up so I usually have a bowl of oats or yoghurt that helps me through until my next meal around noon.If I get hungry in between I snack on friuts or nuts
You rock, great post! I have shared it with my network, I truly believe in this too. I love feeling light and energized during the day and not heavy and slow. Also, side note, I have been obsessed with amino acids, thanks for turning me onto it 🙂 Can’t wait for your next post, you’re so full of facts! Sending you glowing green vibes!
I agree Claudine, feeling light and energized is pretty awesome! Makes me feel like a kid again. In fact I beleive that’s the only way we adults can feel like a kid again. GGS ROCKS!
Hi Kim,
I understand the concept behind eating light to heavy and I am trying to incorporate this into my daily routine. I enjoy a GGS every morning. Lunch will be an avo sandwich or something similar. I eat my dinner (around 6 pm) which consists of my only cooked meal of the day with small portion of meat and lots of veg. The problem I am having though is that I work until 10 or 11 pm each night and I get hungry again around that time. I have a fairly physical job so a cup of tea is not going to get me through til the next morning. What can I eat then?
Hi Eva,
Have you tried the Pure Protein Smoothie, Acai smoothie or Chia pudding? There are something you can prepare ahead of time and the chia seeds in any of these will help fill you up and suggest you have a little earlier say 8:30/9:00, so you aren’t having too soon before you go to bed.
Thank you Jade,
I will def give that a try! Just wondering though if that goes against the “no eating after a “heavy” meal”?
PS Jade,
I’m also trying to lose a little weight : )
Will those add much to my daily intake of calories?
This is great for people like me that have to watch what we eat. I hope the calorie’s is not going to go straight to my tuchas, though!
Excellent philosophy! I also instruct my clients to eat this way (learned it from your amazing book which I also recommend to my clients 😉 )
It makes perfect sense even though it does go against everything we’ve learned. It takes time, work, and dedication to make the change but as you suggest just give it a go for a few days and you will FEEL the difference!
Peace, Love & Health xoxo
I have a few questions….first, do you have any tips for people that have jobs where they sit for the majority of the day? I find that on days that I have off I have lots of energy, but sitting all day really drains me. I always use my lunch break to take a 30 min walk, but thats all I’m really able to do. The beauty detox diet has helped but I still feel quiet tired from sitting and staring at a computer screen. My job does not allow me to be able to get up every 30-mins to an hour because it requires me to be on the phone for 7+ hours.
Also – I ALWAYS pack my lunch & dinner but I get out at 8pm and when I leave work I am STARVING! I feel like I’m doing something wrong. I normally pack two salads, some vegetable soup, and some quinoa with tomato sauce & nutritional yeast mixed in. I do switch it up, but its mostly a variation of that. Once I get home though I feel like I want to eat everything in sight! Any tips?
Pack more food! A lettuce or collard wrap or bananas or something else that’s portable that you can eat while driving if you need to would help.
Kim,
Thank you for all the inspiration your book & blog have given me, in the kitchen & in my life! When I picked up your book, I didn’t set it down for 2 days…which was when I finished reading it in its entirety! I can’t remember the last time I read something that fast. You speak my language! I’m a practicing colon hydrotherapist & a living foods lifestyle instructor so a) I love being able to recommend your book as a resource for clients who are just beginning to make lifestyle changes! b) greatly appreciate your mention of colon health in your book/articles.
In our house, we LOVE & LIVE by the GGS! ?? though…I like to add spirulina or Health Force Nutritionals-Vitamineral Green/Earth to mine sometimes. Curious on your thoughts for this combo b/c of the flax/chia in the VE mixed w/ the fruit in the GGS? & what are your thoughts for combining the VG/spirulina w/ the GGS?
I appreciate your insight. Keep up the amazing work & spreading the word on true beauty, healthy foods, healthy living & a whole-some life!
Much love,
Jen
I am Ali am also interested in this question. I grind flax seed and add to my smoothie. Was wondering if that is ok
I’m starting out with GGS tm! I’ve already incorporated some of your tips this week and already feel lighter. ;))
Hi Kim! love your posts! starting everyday with a GGS starting tomorrow! (i am incorporating it into a cleanse i am doing) can’t wait! keep the posts coming!
hi kim let me say i am super happy to read ur book its a amazing how this info really helps me every single day,my questionis. i was suffering from bulimia for 3 yrs,now its been 2 yrs i am good but i start gaining weight and now its really really bothers me. i see that nothing really works and i think its beacuse slow metabolism.now can i just drink ggs and ur signature smoothies.to loose weight fast .to have relief lit faster,.and how much caloris in one cup of ggs smoothies.thank you very much kim cant wait to read ur reply
hi kim is it ok to just drink signature smoothies as meal replacements.for just 2 weeks,i love ur book u are amazing thank you for everything
Hi Kimberly!
I’m just wondering where in the day I would fit in a serving of Chia seeds ? I usually just put them in a glass of water and drink it. Is there a special time of the day or so? Considering eating light to heavy and food pairing. Thank you! And also nuts and seeds, where do they fit in?
Hi everyone,
don’t really know where i can ask following question.
I’m from Belgium, so my question is: Does the book exists in Dutch?
I can read English but i think, i will understand it better in my own language.
Thanks,
Terry
Ik ben ook Belg en heb het boek op bol.com gekocht maar wel in het engels. Ik denk niet dat het in het ned bestaat.
Hi Kimberly,
Are there any healthy alternatives to the GGS in the morning? I have it almost every morning, but sometimes I crave some variation. Any suggestions?
Hi Kimberly. I have your book, I am following it, and have lost 10 lbs so far. I wanted to be clear on something. When I sit down to eat a meal containing veggies and chicken, am I supposed to eat all the veggies before eating the chicken? Does your food combination rule apply to how we eat food groups per meal, or the order combo of meals for the day?
Quick question…when I don’t have a GGS handy in the morning (I like to make a big batch on the weekends and portion into containers to last the week) I will make a smoothie of frozen berries and water. I often add organic brown rice protein powder to the smoothie. Is that something you think is okay? What about adding a little of the organic brown rice protein powder to the GGS when I have it in the afternoons? Thanks so much for your time.
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as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to learn,
however I actually thought youd have one thing attention-grabbing to say.
All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix
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Hi Kimberly!
Someone already posted what I need to know to:
I’m just wondering where in the day I would fit in a serving of Chia seeds ? I usually just put them in a glass of water and drink it. Is there a special time of the day or so? Considering eating light to heavy and food pairing. Thank you!
And also nuts and seeds, where do they fit in? I have been eating an ounce of nuts around noon time, is that too early in the day? What about hemp seeds? When is best?
Reply ↓
Awesome!Great Talk very much interesting.Thank’s.
I want to share what occurred when I began making the Glowing Green Smoothie (and variations of it, according to what I had on hand…) for breakfast, in place of my usual GF cereals or egg breakfast.
I did not feel hungry for several hours! I have even gone til lunchtime, without feeling as though I needed to eat. Seeing as how I am not trying to lose weight, rather I need to gain it, I have started eating a mid-morning snack of nuts and whole fruit. This GGS stabilizes my blood sugar levels so well, that I do not find myself reaching for my dark chocolate or treats like caramel popcorn or other homemade sweets, later in the day.
In fact, my kids have also drastically reduced the amount of snacking throughout the day, by starting their morning with a smoothie. They actually CRAVE the smoothie and will have a second one later in the day!
Hi Kim, it was amazing article..Thank you for sharing this to us. Great Post!
This is article is a revelation! I had no idea on how the digestive system really worked and broke down food. Thank you for sharing