Kris Carr studies food. She entered into the endeavor in response to a stage four cancer diagnosis, and worked her way through extensive research, and many doctors and experts. She attributes her ability to be a “cancer thriver” (going on 10 years, now) to a complete change in diet. She “change[d] her fate by chang[eing] her plate.” In a lecture she gave last night at the Mountain Pose Yoga Festival, Carr spoke for an hour about the foods around us that are bad for our health. But what interested me most was when one member of the audience asked Carr to walk us through her daily diet. I’m including her daily regimen here for you to adopt or reject in horror, whichever you please.

Breakfast:

1. A glass of water, perhaps with some lemon. It’s good for digestion, as in, “it’s not what we eat, it’s what we don’t poop .” (Karr says no coffee – among other things, it strips the body of important minerals such as calcium. If morning caffeine is non-negotiable, she recommends green tea. )
2. Oatmeal
3. Green juice or a green smoothie is next on the breakfast menu. Suggested ingredients are as follows:

• – cucumber
• – leafy greens (such as chard and kale – the darker the better)
• – avocado
• – almond butter
• – to make it creamy:  hemp milk, or plain old H2O.
• – and, if you need to gradually wean yourself off  the sweet, fruits and Stevia were suggested.

Lunch and Dinner:

Your plate should be half-green (don’t cook your veggies to death, though! Lightly steam if anything). The other half should be tempeh, beans, and/or grains. She added here that sauces will make all the difference.

Carr is a reformed SlimFast-er, OTC drug overuser, and gerneral health neglecter. A late-twenties cancer diagnosis was her wake-up call and she has spent the years since seeking the healthiest and eco-est diet out there. For following the above diet it helps to add that cold turkey almost never works. Wean yourself off of the SAD slowly, or quinoa and lemon-water will make your tastebuds unhappy and you’ll return to your old ways out of  sheer desperation. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sasha Aronson has a degree in Literature from Colby College. She has worked for publishers in the Big Apple, but prefers living mindfully and adventurously in Boulder, Colorado.