Texans rave about "The Taco Cleanse" diet book
Maybe once in your life you've tried a cleanse diet to lose weight and get healthier. Now, there's a new "cleanse" diet that revolves around -- believe it or not -- tacos.
Self-proclaimed "taco scientists" out of Austin, Texas, came up with the plan, CBS San Antonio affiliate KENS reports. They call it the 30-day taco cleanse, and in a new book, "The Taco Cleanse," they provide more than 75 vegan recipes that put a healthy twist on the favorite dish. Yes, it's tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"A juice cleanse? Who wants to drink juice all day? Unless it's a taco," taco lover Aaron Tarpley said.
On their tongue-in-cheek website, the authors of the book say the diet will help you "wake up in the morning with new enthusiasm when you know your day is going to start with a breakfast taco."
Their book is currently the #1 best seller in Amazon's "Cooking Humor" category.
Of course, the vegan recipes in the book don't include such popular taco ingredients as meat or sour cream.
"Taco cleanse" may sound like an oxymoron, but culinary students say tacos are versatile, meaning they can be made many different ways to cater to various diets.
"Its very easy to convert into vegetarian or non-meat for those that are on their special diets," taco lover John Mione said.
"It's authentic. It's real. It's love. That's tacos," said Kala Singleton.
Health professionals say there are many ways to make your favorite taco healthier.
"If you can wrap wonderful vegetables and beans -- beans are so good for us -- if you can wrap those inside of a lettuce leaf or maybe a corn tortilla, I think that is a great option," said Jennifer Herriott, assistant director of the Community Health Division at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. "Cilantro, beans, chopped up onions, tomatoes. Those can all be wonderful things you can put inside of a taco."
To actually lose weight on this plan, you still have to count your calories. But taco lovers say it's at least much easier to keep up with compared to other cleanse diets.
On the website TacoCleanse.com, the authors say the benefits of the cleanse are "too numerous to name," but they suggest: "Your life will become more fun and you will make more friends while consuming the required margarita supplements on the plan." And they pledge that "your sleep will improve as you begin to detox from the negative self images associated with other diets."