Kaeng Raeng Cleanse Review

Oh boy, here we go. Another cleanse review.

I’m going to do my very best to write a balanced review of this cleanse, including the pros and cons (totally based on my opinions). I’m no doctor and I’m not here to tell you whether it’s a good cleanse or bad cleanse for you, nor am I arguing for or against the nutritional value of it…I’m just giving my experience and personal thoughts. (Just thought I’d throw in that little disclaimer for ya).

So I should start this off by saying that when I first heard about Kaeng Raeng I immediately didn’t think I’d be into it. I heard it was a powder cleanse, and I just wasn’t interested at the time. I have done a lot of fresh juice, smoothie and raw food cleanses, so I just really had no attraction to a powder cleanse (meaning: packets of freeze-dried fruit powder that you mix with water). So when Kaeng Raeng first reached out to me to ask me to review it, I decided against it, because I already had my opinion in my head. But then I heard more and more people mention this cleanse to me and ask me about it. Then Kaeng Raeng sent me a free cleanse to try. Hmm. I felt like I should be able to give people better answers. Was I just judging a book by it’s cover without actually experiencing it?

I started to feel like I needed to try it in the name of good investigatory journalism. Derek Zoolander’s words swirled through my head.

“so long as you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist…no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied along the way…just as long as you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way?”

HA.

Still with me? Ok cool. At the end of the day I decided to just bite the bullet and try it. I mean, I’ll do whatever it takes.

What is the Kaeng Raeng cleanse, anyway? According to their site, Kaeng Raeng is an all natural detox meal replacement designed to help you lose weight, remove toxins, bolster your immune system, and improve digestive health.

When my 3-day cleanse arrived in the mail, I inspected it carefully. My first thoughts:

• Why is this cleanse jam packed with soy? (I’m not one of those people who thinks soy is the devil, but I wouldn’t consider it to be necessarily cleansing for most. Here are some thoughts on soy from Dr. Frank Lipman, and some more thoughts on soy from Dr. Annemarie Colbin).
• Where are the greens? (I almost had a heart attack thinking about not getting any greens into my system for 3 days. How would I survive?)

I emailed the owner of Kaeng Raeng to ask her what the deal was with the choice of using soy. Here was her answer.

“We use non-gmo soy.  The only ingredient is soybeans so there’s no preservatives, no isolate, no chemicals.  When we were conducting the beta test we knew we wanted to stay vegan so whey was not an option.  We tried hemp, pea, and brown rice proteins, as well as soy.  The overwhelming favorite amongst the consumers was soy.  Hemp was largely confused with marijuana, and I didn’t want to spend the entirety of my business educating the public about the differences within the cannabis family.  Pea protein and brown rice had overwhelming tastes that the customers didn’t like and we didn’t want to start adding Stevia and other sweeteners to make up for it.  Taste just matters.  If you hate the way your cleanse tastes you won’t finish.  Period.  But most of all the soy was the least expensive.  We’re dedicated to providing a healthy and safe product to customers in a convenient and affordable way.  I just wasn’t willing to increase the price substantially to accommodate a very small percentage of the population who have a soy allergy. Plus, soy has been used as a vital source of protein in asian countries for hundreds of years in its true, natural state.”

Ok. So whether or not you consider that justification for using soy in a cleanse is up to you. I’m here to give you the info and let you guys formulate your own opinion.

NOTE: They have now come out with a soy free version, YAY! Check it out here!!

Anyway, I’ll get to the actual cleanse already. It came with 3 packets per day, which I was instructed to mix with water, or blend with ice/milk to make a smoothie. It came with a plastic water bottle to put the powder and water in and shake it up. The thought of dumping one of those powder packets into water and drinking it actually made me nauseous, so I opted to make smoothies.

The first one I tried was the blueberry flavor. I blended it with water and ice and made a smoothie. I liked the taste of it. Great! Onward.

I got pretty hungry about an hour later…and I’m not gonna lie, my undying love for greens could not be tamed. So I rebelled and made a green smoothie w/ kale, almond milk and a banana (I should mention that you’re allowed to eat any raw fruits and vegetables on this cleanse if you want to, so I wasn’t really “cheating” with a green smoothie).

The other 2 flavors, raspberry and mango, to be honest, were barely drinkable to me. I got bored halfway through. I’m accustomed to making smoothies that taste insanely good, so I wasn’t impressed by these. I had to add some almond milk, a banana and at one point I think I even added raw honey and almond butter to entice myself to drink them.

The next 2 days were more of the same. Drank all 3 packets each day, and supplemented with 2 green smoothies each day. I was way more excited about my green smoothies than I was about the packets. I lost about 2 pounds at the end of the cleanse.

Pros:

• I had pretty level energy throughout the whole cleanse
• The cleanse contains probiotics and fiber, which is helpful for digestion and elimination when you’re on a cleanse
• The blueberry flavor was kinda good tasting
• I can see how the packets + water bottle would be really convenient for people on the go who don’t have time to make smoothies at home
• If your diet is leaning heavily towards the Standard American Diet, this would be cleansing for you
• Vegan, gluten-free, caffeine free
• Cheaper than some other popular cleanses ($69.99 for 3 days)

Cons:

• Powder packets vs. juices/smoothies made with fresh fruits & veggies (although you could always add your own fresh stuff to the smoothies)
• Soy protein (I think it’s unnecessary and personally don’t consider soy to be detoxing for most people, but again it depends on your current diet, body, allergies, etc). *Soy free version now available!!
• No greens involved at all, which makes me sad – I felt the need to supplement with greens
• I didn’t like the taste of the mango and berry flavors

Overall, I wouldn’t do this cleanse again, but I am glad I tried it so I could give you guys an opinion based on genuine experience. In the name of investigatory journalism, Matil would be proud. Does anyone else have an urge to watch Zoolander now? Here’s a funny clip to tide you over.

Anyway, if you’ve tried the Kaeng Raeng cleanse I’d love to hear your thoughts! :)