Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Is it normal to feel flat/less concentration/some aches and pains?
    Yes, this is normal. Feeling a bit flat is part of the detoxification process. The severity will depend on how much your body needs to detoxify, or how many toxins are built up in your body. So, for example if you are slightly more toxic or genetically do not detoxify as well you will feel more flat, lethargic, achey, etc… Also, remember that caffeine withdrawals are no joke - be very, very gentle with yourself when it comes to caffeine. Take it very slow and decrease consumption slowly.

    But, goodness, after the effects of this ware off and after the 10-days, you will feel amazing and will be so worth it!!

    Another reason why you may be feeling flat is because your blood sugar levels are trying to balance out. If you previously were having sugar, lots of high fructose fruit, starches, etc, and now having less, it is completely normal for your body’s blood glucose and insulin levels to be balancing themselves out. Your blood glucose levels are trying to be “independent” and balanced without the help of external sugar spikes.

    If you feel very, very low or achey and it is getting unbearable – please, listen to your body and have a high fructose fruit, like a banana or a little extra carbs. Or, just a few sips of coffee may even help!

  1. Can we drink Kombucha?
    Kombucha generally is not bad (actually is really good for gut health). Remember that Kombucha is made through a fermentation process, usually using sugar. So, if it is not fully fermented you will get some residual sugar. So read the label and check the sugar content. If you are making it, leave it for a few extra days.

    The benefit is lots of prebiotics for your gut health. So overall: great but check the sugar content.
  1. If we do smoothies, can we add vegan protein powders?
    Absolutely! Vegan protein powder is great as it contains no animal-based proteins.

  2. Should we worry about portion sizes?
    What is really important is to try and listen to your body as much as possible. We are going to send through a rough portion guide soon! But, the most important things to remember is to, firstly, listen to your body and it’s hunger and satiety cues. Secondly, never limit vegetables. Carbohydrate, fat and protein portion requirements differ from person to person, but generally per meal: try to keep your carbohydrate portion to the size of your fist, protein to the size of your palm and fats to the size of the tip of your thumb.

    Please remember that the aim of this plan is to eat right types of foods. We want to crowd out the baddies and add in all the good stuff. So, the main focus is quality and not quantity. You will find that as the program gets tougher, you will be self-regulating your intake (i.e. you will be eating LOAD of veg and healthy fats) to keep you satisfied.
  1. Can we drink decaf coffee?
    Yes, absolutely. Just make sure it is of good quality (no additives).

  2. What should I do if I have a huge headache/feeling horrible?
    It is most likely the caffeine detox. Some of us may not really feel the impact of cutting out coffee but others among us may get quite sick. Remember to cut down on coffee very very slowly! And if you have a headache, please have a sip of coffee! Going cold turkey on coffee is never a good idea.

    Go down by about half a cup per day and when you get down to half a cup then hang on to that for about 5 days.

    Headaches are most likely due to coffee/tea withdrawal, unless you were not really a tea/coffee drinker. If it isn’t too bad, then push through but otherwise have a few sips!

    Also, remember to have lots of water.

  1. Can we have green tea?
    Green tea has a surprisingly high amount of caffeine – similar amounts to coffee. But to answer your question – it depends on what you are trying to achieve in terms of your detox goals. How deeply you want to detox etc. So, lets say you want to be very strict with yourself and have NO caffeine, then I would say rather leave it.

    With that being said, if you are trying to reduce caffeine slowly then green tea isn’t a bad substitute for coffee as it has those anti-inflammatory benefits, high in polyphenols and an antioxidant.

    Remember that it may be necessary to reduce caffeine intake very slowwwly otherwise you may feel a bit sick.
  1. Can we eat dates?
    Dates and dried fruit are very high in fructose, so rather avoid as much as possible. Unless you are really craving something sweet.

    Dates, as well as dried fruit, it packed with a lot of fructose as they are very concentrated. Try to avoid them please.
  1. What is the story around smoked fish?
    Smoked red meat or chicken isn’t great but smoked fish is fine. It has to do with the chemical reaction of the particles.
  1. What about pickled brisket?
    Not ideal.

  2. Is it normal to be feeling irritable?
    Yes this is normal! If you have been eating quite a high amount of carbs or sugar and then abruptly stop it you will feel quite irritable. It is just your blood sugars stabilising. Give it a few days. Just be kind to yourself and expect a few mood swings. This is a sign that you really need this!

  3. Can we have honey?
    It is pretty interesting, but honey actually has more “sugar” in it than actual sugar. So we have tried to exclude it as much as possible in the recipes.

    Please avoid honey throughout the next 10-days.
  1. What about xylitol or other non-nutritive sweeteners?
    Technically, yes it is allowed because it is not a sugar so it does not spike your blood glucose and blood insulin. But it does not provide any nutritional value so try keep it to small amounts.

    On another note, non-nutritive sweeteners (all of them) disrupt your gut microbiome. Because when you put something sweet on your tongue, your gut bacteria wait for something sweet to arrive. However, with non-nutritive sweeteners, nothing arrives and your gut bacteria has no idea what to do with this. This disrupts your good bacteria and often leaves them wanting more sweet things – increasing cravings and often sugar intake.
  1. What about coconut sugar?
    Coconut sugar has a lower glycaemic index than white sugar however, it will still spike you blood glucose and insulin. So, please avoid. It also contains fructose which is quite inflammatory.

  2. What happens if you cheat?
    So, we are putting you into a detox phase. Your body may be more fragile than usual. So keep that in mind. In other words, you might feel more of a rush from sugar or get a stomach ache etc. you might be highly sensitised, this is a good thing – more natural. So, just make sure you cheat in a safe way if you need to – have a bit more fruit or make a cacao smoothie.

    Treat recipe: Alex’s homemade choc- melt 2 Tbsp coconut oil, stir in about 1 Tbsp coconut and 1 Tbsp cacao. Once all is melted, pop into a tray and freeze for 1 hour.  You could also stir in some nuts for the light detox days.

    Cacao smoothie – you can make this by adding any superfood you have (macca, etc) + berries, coconut, chia seeds, min or cinnamon/vanilla + some cacao powder and coconut milk. I also just choc protein powder.
  1. The sugar cravings are real.
    Make some of that tahini fudge is on our recipe site! Or Alex’s home-made choc 😊.

  2. Why not peanut butter?
    Peanut butter is quite high in omega-6 which tends to be inflammatory. They also often carry mold, which is not good for health. Rather go for nut butters if you can.
  1. Is fresh tuna ok?
    We just don’t like to recommend tinned or fresh tuna because we cannot account for how much mercury it contains. It is a large fish so mercury accumulates. Please try to limit this to 3 times per month.
  1. Can you recommend a vit D?
    Metagenics Vit D Drops are great, or the Panacea Vit D and K mix. It is quite important to take Vid D and K together so make sure you either have it in a multivit or as a vit D/K mix.

    However, with that being said, we do not like to recommend supplements without first doing blood tests. Supplements should be tailored to serum levels. So, first test your vitamin D levels and supplement accordingly to bring these levels up to around 50ng/dl.
  1. Are jungle oats gluten free?
    All oats are naturally gluten free, so if there is gluten in oats it is just a small amount from contamination. If you don’t have IBS of coeliacs or similar, then don’t worry about it, having jungle oats or similar shouldn’t throw off your progress.
  1. Is future life zero appropriate?
    It is gluten free but has milk solids so quite inflammatory, therefore not ideal.
  1. Can we add collagen
    Yes, no problem.
  1. Thoughts on vitamin B12 injections?
    We like to test blood levels first. But if you feel your immune system is low speak to your gp – remember you need a script.

  2. What is the story with caffeine?
    Some of us metabolise caffeine well (so when we drink it, it shoots through our body quite quickly, therefor not really building up in our bodies and not too difficult to wean off), but some of us don’t metabolise caffeine well (we break it own very slowly, and it can build up as a toxin). It is super important to try to wean off caffeine slowly (very slowly) because stopping suddenly can lead to headaches or other aches/pains.
  1. Why no soya?

    Soya is quite a controversial topic, so we have limited it on power detox days.

    ToFu: this is a derivative of soya that you can introduce in light detox days and after the reset. The passed research pointed towards it being risky with oestrogen relate cancers. Now it seems that it actually binds to receptors reducing overall risk.

  1. Can I do this reset while breastfeeding?
    Yes, but only if your milk supply is consistent and your baby is over 6 months.
  1. Can you detox during your cycle?
    Yes you can but allow yourself to have red meats and starchy veg during the powder days.
  1. Is my weight loss true fat loss or just water?

    It’s difficult to say if it’s true fat loss because you can only really know if it is fat/water/muscle etc loss if you did a before and after measurement on the in-body scale (which measures all the various components of your body, not only weight alone).

    Remember what Alex chatted about in the masterclass - that weight loss can be seen as layers of an onion. So, your body has a priority list of first getting rid of toxins, inflammation, stress etc before getting to the weight loss. So, it is possible that initial weight loss is fluid (this is normal on most weight loss journeys because your body will always first go for your glycogen stores which hold a lot of water). With that being said, this is a good thing because you actually are decreasing inflammation by decreasing fluid load.

    This weight loss is sustainable if you continue to follow an anti-inflammatory diet and keep your system relatively toxin-free and stress free and follow a holistic approach.

    Some of the weight might come back when you increase starches again due to glycogen stores increasing again.. because for every gram of glycogen holds around 4g of water.

    If any of you are interested in popping onto our in-body scale, which measures body fat, water, minerals, protein, skeletal muscle, body fat percentage and the distributions throughout the body, let me know.

  1. Why no nuts/seeds on power days?
    It is actually to see how your body responds. Some (quite a few) people are slightly intolerant and slight inflammation can build up.

    It also gives your gut a good reset. If you feel wonderful off nuts and seeds then I would recommend you to avoid going further or just play around with including different types and see how you go.
    1. When to not do intermittent fasting?
      • When you are quite stressed already because fasting diet could put someone in even more stress, as IF puts small amounts of stress on the body and pushes up your cortisol levels
      • Over-exercising, not sleeping well, stressful job
      • Women whose hormone levels are not well balanced should not do IF
      • Pregnant or breastfeeding
      • Adrenal fatigue