How to Go Plant-Based for 3 Days: Clean Recipes & Daily Menu

Want to try to eat plant-based or vegan but not sure whether it's for you? Rather than tell yourself you have to do it forever try it for just three days. Getting off of the processed junk food, as well as giving up meat and dairy, will help clean up your diet, and can shift your gut microbiome to be healthier, in that short amount of time. You will feel energized and less bloated in just three days, research shows.

This is the perfect time of year to eat plant-based and take advantage of nature's bounty. The local vegetables, fruit, and array of choices make it easier than ever to eat healthy and clean.

Shop for vegetables and fruit in season. Make meals from food you could grow

When you go to the market, try to eschew the boxed, bagged, or packaged foods that are highly processed and instead eat whole foods from the produce section that are in the same form that you could eat it you'd picked it yourself: Broccoli and tomatoes, squash and peppers, Brussel sprouts and avocados.... plus apples, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, and citrus fruit.

They all await you at your farm stand or nearby supermarket, and they are full of nutrients, fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins and minerals that fuel your healthy body, giving you energy and arming your immune system, with none of the chemicals or additives like added sugar that packaged food deliver into your body.

Eating plant-based lowers your risk of heart disease and other conditions

Eating clean means getting rid of the inflammatory foods that make us sick in the long run, including processed food and red meat, full-fat dairy, and antibiotic laced poultry, each of which carries with it health risks that range from heart disease to cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes, afflictions that are plaguing the American population hooked on a diet full of fast food and empty calories.

A new study found that 2/3 of the calories kids and teens eat are ultra-processed foods, and it's no coincidence that the same ratio of 2/3 of our population is also overweight or obese. Nearly half of all Americans have heart disease and prediabetes affects 80 million of us or about 1 in 3. If you want to eat clean, ditch dairy, skip meat, and go plant-based here is your plan.

It's easy, takes just three days away from your "normal" diet, and is so delicious you may never want to go back to your old way of eating. Plus there is plenty of protein and calcium, iron, and nutrients, so you have no worries about eating the macro-nutrients your body needs to be fit, energized, and healthy.

In just three days of plant-based, your gut health shifts

“By adding fruits, veggies, and whole grains, you’re altering the bacteria in your gut, giving them the food they love which will decrease constipation and keep you regular,” says Jennifer Mimkha, M.P.H., R.D., plant-based dietitian and owner of Prana Nutrition in Tampa, Fla.

If you want to keep going, you could also see a big drop in your cholesterol, in as short an interval as a week, according to experts. “Plant foods have zero cholesterol and generally have a much lower saturated fat content, except for palm and coconut oils, which should be avoided if your goal is to lower cholesterol,” says Joel Kahn, M.D., founder of the Kahn Center for Cardiac Longevity in Bingham Farms, Mich., and author of The Plant-Based Solution.

A total immersion into a whole-food plant diet can result in a rapid drop in your total cholesterol by as much as 100 mg/dl, which Kahn calls a "massive" shift. For inspiration, check out: This is What Happens to Your Body When You Go Plant-Based.

Here's your 3-day plant-based plan with daily menus and easy recipes

Don't fret If you have to go out one of the evenings for dinner don't sweat it, just order the salad and a pasta with all the veggies the chef has to offer, as well as some tomato sauce, hold the cheese. You'll be amazed at how delicious fresh vegetables in season can be!