My name is: Sarah Villafranco.

I’m known for being: I’m the founder and CEO of Osmia, a natural beauty and skincare brand that focuses on the incredible healing power of plants. We use certified organic ingredients whenever possible and make every decision with humans, animals and the earth in mind. I’m a DC native, a former ER doctor and the proud mama of two active girls and two active dogs. 

I'm helping to launch: The Osmia 7-Day Cellular Cleanse.

When my body feels sluggish, I know I need a cleanse to reboot. But I need enough calories to be a parent, run my company and exercise daily in order to stay sane. When I heard about a brown rice cleanse from a friend, I created my own version. With roots in both ayurvedic and macrobiotic traditions, the brown rice cleanse is intended to cleanse the body at a cellular level, with brown rice at the center of the diet for seven days. Brown rice is a nutrient-rich, whole grain food full of B-vitamins, iron, and magnesium—all of which are energy-restoring to the body. The cleanse is a bit restrictive, but it allows lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. The idea is that while you abstain from certain things like sugar and alcohol, you can still feel nourished and create meals that taste amazing!

You can find it at: Recipes and ideas for the Osmia 7-Day Cellular Cleanse can be found on our blog. In order to prepare, you’ll want to shop ahead of time and plan out the first couple of days, so you aren’t scrambling to figure out what to cook.

The day before the cleanse, soak two cups of brown, California basmati rice in plenty of water. When it comes time to cook the rice the next day, use the instructions on the blog to eliminate concerns about rice contaminants. The brown rice you cook will be the base for most of your meals throughout the week. 

The night before your cleanse begins, eat only a giant salad for dinner. You want to jump-start your system and get your GI tract cleared out, so it can absorb all the amazing food you’re going to eat over the next week.

All the details about the cleanse can be found on the Osmia blog. 

What makes it special is: It’s a real food cleanse that will reboot your system without fasting.

Your body will thank you because: You’ll get a much-needed break from sugar. It’s sneaky, hidden in things like protein powders or protein bars, smoothies, granola and almond milk. And, even when it’s a healthy sugar like honey or maple syrup, there’s too much of it, effectively training your taste buds to crave and expect it in everything you eat. Sugar is dangerous stuff for our bodies, and we’d all be wise to train our tongues to appreciate flavors like ginger, cayenne, cilantro and lime just as much as (if not more than) the sweet things.

Your body will also thank you because you’ve given it more time for sleep during the cleanse week and you’re consciously chewing your food for once, forcing you to slow down. Who doesn’t need a little reminder to do that every now and then?

It’s a great reset of mind and body, and you may even develop a few new habits that will last much longer then seven days.