Kaeng Raeng Goes Soy-Free

A few months ago, I posted a review of the three-day Kaeng Raeng vegan smoothie detox. But that was their non-gmo soy-containing cleanse. Now Kaeng Raeng has released a new soy-free formula for those sensitive to soy. The new Kaeng Raeng smoothies are made with pea protein. The folks over there asked me if I'd try the new formula, and although a 3-day smoothie cleanse to tough for me (as evidenced by my last go-round), I agreed.

In the beginner pack, you get nine packets of vegan protein powders made with real, freeze-dried fruit. That's three smoothies per day— one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can blend the smoothies with plain ole water or un-beef them up with fruit juice, plant milk, and frozen fruit. Each packet has 15 grams of pea protein, vitamins, probiotics, and around 200 calories.

I'm starting my 21-day Crazy Sexy Diet on Monday, so I decided to pre-cleanse with Kaeng Raeng this past weekend. Beginning on Friday, I mixed up a Daybreak Smoothie for breakfast using the powder packet, frozen peaches, half a banana, and almond-coconut milk.

Taste-wise, I couldn't tell a lick of difference between these soy-free smoothies and soy-containing ones that I tried back in April. Daybreak is naturally flavored with mango, peach, and pineapple, and it tastes a bit like a mango creamsicle.

For lunch, I whipped up the Joyful Smoothie (strawberry, raspberry, pineapple) with frozen strawberries, half a banana, and kombucha. This one is probably my favorite. Love the tart berry flavor.

Dinner was an Into the Blue Smoothie (blueberries, banana) mixed with almond-coconut milk, frozen blueberries, and half a banana. I like this one as well, but tastewise, it's probably my least fave, which is weird because blueberry is usually my favorite flavor. It's still delicious, just not as good as the Joyful or Daybreak smoothies.

Each of these smoothies are very filling. I could drink one and be full for at least two hours afterward, which for a smoothie, is really saying something. However, I must chew to be happy. Thankfully, you can have all the raw fruits and veggies you want on the Kaeng Raeng cleanse. I stayed away from fruits since I was drinking fruit in my smoothies. But I did eat lots of raw veggie snacks this weekend. Here's a sampling — jicama, mango, & cucumber fries with chili-lime salt, raw carrots, mini peppers, and cherry tomatoes, homemade kale chips, and salads with olive oil and vinegar dressing.

It's Sunday now, and I have one Into the Blue smoothie left for dinner before Kaeng Raeng ends and Crazy Sexy Diet begins. And I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good. I am ready for hot foods, like brown rice and tofu and beans (allowed on Crazy Sexy Diet), but it was nice to get a little pre-cleansing in with just fruits and veggies for a few days. I'm certainly feeling much cleaner that I did when I started the cleanse Friday morning.

My only complaint with Kaeng Raeng would be the lack of variety. You have the same three smoothie flavors for all three days. By the third day, I'm a little tired of the same thing. I'd love it if there were nine flavors, a new one for each meal on the cleanse.

Anyway, if you want to try the new soy-free formula, the folks at Kaeng Raeng are offering a 15 percent off discount when you purchase a pack using the discount code CRUNK15 between January 5th and 12th!