I Tried The Sakara 30-Day Reset—Here Are My Honest Thoughts
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."
Sakara is a meal-delivery service that offers plant-based nutrition programs and other wellness foods and supplements. The stylish, celebrity-loved brand is also known for its 30-Day Reset program, which it launches three times per year.
Sakara founders and co-CEOs Danielle DuBoise and Whitney Tingle said this about the 30-Day Reset: "It’s an opportunity to choose ourselves, to prioritize our bodies and minds by nourishing with four weeks of plant-rich nutrition, focusing on daily movement, and building new and sustainable rituals, all with the support of your Sakara community."
I managed to get a sneak peak at the January 2023 30-Day Reset, just in time for those New Year's resolutions. I received food from Sakara for four weeks, not counting weekends. Wait, I thought, they're asking a meat-loving food writer to do a vegan wellness cleanse for a month? I guess I've always liked a challenge.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m pretty "healthy" as it is, but "health" isn't one-size-fits-all. I'm an avid exerciser and eat mostly fish and organic meat with roasted veggies at home, and the occasional meal out. You'll also regularly find me at my neighborhood pizza spot, but it's not like I'm eating a whole pizza (all the time). But when it comes to a food routine, I have none. I never eat breakfast and sometimes my first meal is lunch at around 1 p.m., which means the first six hours of my day are fueled by espresso and cold brew, and not much water.
So, fueled by Instagram ads, tired skin, low energy, and an opportunity to try out the program for free, I figured why not.
What You'll Get
The dishes in the 30-Day Reset are organic, non-GMO, and free of dairy, gluten, and refined sugar. Throughout the program, you'll get two shipments of meals per week to cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner Monday through Friday. This particular 30-Day Reset also includes the Complete Probiotic Formula, Protein + Greens Super Powder, a wool beanie, Detox Tea, a stick of palo santo (which could be controversial), and other samples. You'll also get a 30-Day Reset Guide and access to a Slack channel and The Class, which offers workouts.
"Each meal is expertly designed with our in-house team of chefs and nutritionists to ensure that your body (deliciously) gets exactly what it needs to thrive," the founders said. "From enough plant protein, to the correct carb-fiber ratio to help keep blood sugar balanced, to a diverse variety of colorful plants to ensure that you get a full spectrum of phytonutrients and prebiotics to feed and encourage a healthy gut microbiome, the epicenter of our health."
Marketed as a lifestyle and not a diet, the guide doesn't say you need to cut out dairy, meat, alcohol, and caffeine entirely, but it does recommend taking a break from them.
Here's How It Went
While I was hesitant to start the program, I was also excited for my first shipment to arrive. All the meals are individually packaged and ready to eat right out of the fridge, and some can be heated up. As the guide instructed, I tried to drink a glass of water each morning, followed by a probiotic with breakfast.
I brewed a cup of Detox Tea before lunch, which usually consisted of vibrant salads. Each lunch included a total of six cups of greens, which DuBoise and Tingle said are essential for cultivating a diverse gut microbiome. This allegedly improves skin clarity, immunity, and so much more. As someone who is not a big fan of raw greens, lunch was tough. Over time, I got used to the taste, but mostly the idea of radiant skin kept me going.
With fewer greens, dinners were more my speed. From Sakara-Style Pasta Bolognese to French Lentil Soup and Roasted Peach Chana Masala, these were all pretty good and surprisingly full of complex flavors and textures (and another probiotic).
Overall, for a meat-and-potatoes person, I was surprised at how good and filling some of the meals were. I didn't always finish every piece of spinach in the bowl and, yes, there were some earthy flavors that just missed the mark for me, but knowing that all of these ingredients had a purpose made me appreciate them more. While I won't be eating spirulina and rhodiola every day, I now know what their benefits are.
My Takeaways
The 30-Day Reset wouldn't be easy for someone who winces at the sight of Sweetgreen.
It definitely made me more aware of the variety of nutrients I can and should be incorporating into my diet. It also made me more tuned into my body because of the established routine it gave me.
While these convenient meals come at a cost and aren't accessible for everyone's budget, eating well and with intention for a limited time was easy. Will I enact these tools once I go back to cooking? We'll see.
As I took a bite of golden turmeric flatbread, I wondered, "Would it hurt to just eat a regular piece of bread with my salad?" The answer is: it wouldn't. While I still indulged in the occasional cocktail, piece of salmon, and slice of pizza on the weekend, throughout the program I felt energized. The hormonal acne I'd been dealing with started to calm down.
I've always operated with the philosophy: if you want the cake, eat the cake, but don't eat the whole cake, at least not every day. And perhaps this is part of Sakara's core mentality of lifestyle over diet.
The 30-Day Reset cuts out all the gluten, dairy, and refined sugar to get your body back to a baseline and build sustainable rituals. Post-Reset, if you want to eat the bread, just eat the bread.
You Might Also Like
