This topic is of primary importance to not only vegans and raw foodists, but to everyone who wants to improve digestion of foods they are consuming. It is unfortunate that we are not taught this from our birth. God had innately put it into us and the animal world. The animals keep following His laws (their instinct), we, however, have made food our idol, rather than just a source of nutrition. We approach foods based on taste, smell and visual appeal, rather than its nutritious content and benefit to our health. We are taught by our parents what is “good” food and what is not, be it truly good or bad, based on their taste preferences. Thus, we are trained to forsake our God-given desire for healthy nutritious foods and become slaves to our taste buds.
However, it does not have to be a hopeless situation. I was amazed how with time, the more greens I consumed the more I craved their taste and visually started to gravitate to all things green more than anything. If there is a time when I go a few days without crunching on greens, I start to miss the taste and texture (I do daily, however, use greens in my smoothies). Last week, for example, my husband did our farm-share pick up. He brought home dark leaf lettuce, arugula, lambsquarters, broccoli and beat greens, green onions and mustard greens (not the spicy kind). I indulged my taste buds in lettuce wraps. Made juices from wheatgrass and mustard greens, and still don’t feel like I have satisfied the craving. I can almost feel chlorophyll surging through my veins, bringing health and healing to my body.
I hope I have not lost those of you who are not into raw/green living… Stick around just a bit longer, and your patience will be rewarded with a long kept secret.
FOOD COMBINING
You might have heard about food combining before. I, on the other hand, had no clue what it was about. I ate my foods in combinations that yielded the best taste and texture.
Foods can generally be placed into 6 different categories:
1. Starches
2. Fleshes: all animal flesh, eggs, and cheese
3. Nuts and seeds
4. Dried fruits
5. Fresh fruits
6. Vegetables
7. Greens
What is most important for everyone to remember is that not all categories should or can be mixed together.
It takes fruit only about 20-30 minutes to pass through your stomach, vegetables about 40-45, a bit longer for cooked vegetables, nuts, and legumes. Animal (flesh) foods takes the longest to pass through us.
As if this is not enough, but we required different digestive fluids to properly digest carbs, proteins and fats.
So what happens when you improperly combine foods? Disaster! For example, if you combine Animal foods that take hours to pass through your stomach with fruits, you are holding up fruit digestion. If fruit sits in your stomach longer than it should, it starts to ferment. The longer it sits there, the worse you start feeling.
If you combine proteins and starches, that required two completely different digestive fluids, you end up confusing your body, so your foods end up sitting in your stomach, waiting for your body to decided what it wants to do with it. That is how people end up being very sleepy or tired after certain foods. Fast foods or a traditional American Thanksgiving are prime examples. It is no wonder that people go into “turkey” coma on this family holiday.
I could go into a deeper explanation of this issue, but that would take several posts to do an in-depth exploration, and, perhaps, one day I will be able to do just that. As for now, I am sure it will suffice for most of you to know how to properly combine foods, to achieve the best digestion. If you learn how to combine your foods and stick to it, at least most of the time, you will be able to shed unwanted pounds very quickly AND start feeling less tired after eating.
So, here are a few general rules to follow.
1. Starches should be combined only with other starches and all raw and cooked vegetables (although remember that cooked foods is harder to digest, since it is missing living enzymes).
2. Fleshes should be combined only with other fleshes, all raw vegetables, and all cooked non-starch vegetables (this is for all of my carnivorous friends and family).
3. Nuts should be combined only with other nuts, seeds, dried fruits, bananas, and all raw vegetables.
4. Dried fruits should be combined only with other dried fruits, avocados, bananas, nuts, and all raw vegetables.
5. Fresh fruit should only be eaten alone and on an empty stomach (at least 30-40 minutes before any other foods, or at least 2.5-3 hrs after eating other foods, except for fresh green vegetables, which would pass through your stomach in about 40-45 minutes).
6. Eat melons alone—since they are mostly water, they digest VERY quickly. Mixing melons with other foods can cause gas and bloating, for most people.
7. Greens and Green Vegetables can be mixed with any food category (although, eat fruit separately as much as possible).
Here are a few food groups that can be qualified as starches: breads, pastas, whole grains, potatoes, legumes, cooked corn, avocados [Avocado is technically a fruit. If eaten without other starches (just with raw vegetables), it will combine perfectly with all fruits, including dried fruits.]
I found a little amazing chart to lay this out in a simple and visual way on The Raw Divas web-site (www.therawdivas.com), when I signed up for their 7-day detox program (free of charge, by the way, for those of you who are interested).
To help you a little bit more, here is another way of looking at this. Never mix any of these four categories with one another (with a few exceptions.
1. Starches: Whole grain breads Brown rice, Sweet potatoes, Avocados (see reference above); Legumes; Cooked corn; Pasta
2. Flesh (protein) [all flesh foods, including all dairy and cheeses]
3. Nuts/seeds: Raw nuts; Raw seeds; Raw, unsulfured dried fruits (dried fruits combine well with raw nuts/seeds also); Mature coconut
4. Fresh Fruit: Citrus, Bananas; Plums; Nectarines; Grapes; Berries; Other fruits
Again, Greens and Green Vegetables can be mixed with any food category (although, eat fruit separately as much as possible).
Oh, and one more thing, folks, that I know will benefit not only you, but those around you—don’t ever combine sweets (of any kind) with high fiber foods, especially legumes (beans). Doing so will ensure that you will have a “moving” experience. Most of the times people don’t get gas because they had beans, but because they had mixed them with something sweet.
I can get more technical and tell you about acid and non-acid fruits, starch and non-starchy vegetables, but not to overload you, I believe that if you start with even small steps or proper food combinations you will tremendously benefit and your health (and weight) will improve.
Eat Right—Feel Great!
However, it does not have to be a hopeless situation. I was amazed how with time, the more greens I consumed the more I craved their taste and visually started to gravitate to all things green more than anything. If there is a time when I go a few days without crunching on greens, I start to miss the taste and texture (I do daily, however, use greens in my smoothies). Last week, for example, my husband did our farm-share pick up. He brought home dark leaf lettuce, arugula, lambsquarters, broccoli and beat greens, green onions and mustard greens (not the spicy kind). I indulged my taste buds in lettuce wraps. Made juices from wheatgrass and mustard greens, and still don’t feel like I have satisfied the craving. I can almost feel chlorophyll surging through my veins, bringing health and healing to my body.
I hope I have not lost those of you who are not into raw/green living… Stick around just a bit longer, and your patience will be rewarded with a long kept secret.
FOOD COMBINING
You might have heard about food combining before. I, on the other hand, had no clue what it was about. I ate my foods in combinations that yielded the best taste and texture.
Foods can generally be placed into 6 different categories:
1. Starches
2. Fleshes: all animal flesh, eggs, and cheese
3. Nuts and seeds
4. Dried fruits
5. Fresh fruits
6. Vegetables
7. Greens
What is most important for everyone to remember is that not all categories should or can be mixed together.
It takes fruit only about 20-30 minutes to pass through your stomach, vegetables about 40-45, a bit longer for cooked vegetables, nuts, and legumes. Animal (flesh) foods takes the longest to pass through us.
As if this is not enough, but we required different digestive fluids to properly digest carbs, proteins and fats.
So what happens when you improperly combine foods? Disaster! For example, if you combine Animal foods that take hours to pass through your stomach with fruits, you are holding up fruit digestion. If fruit sits in your stomach longer than it should, it starts to ferment. The longer it sits there, the worse you start feeling.
If you combine proteins and starches, that required two completely different digestive fluids, you end up confusing your body, so your foods end up sitting in your stomach, waiting for your body to decided what it wants to do with it. That is how people end up being very sleepy or tired after certain foods. Fast foods or a traditional American Thanksgiving are prime examples. It is no wonder that people go into “turkey” coma on this family holiday.
I could go into a deeper explanation of this issue, but that would take several posts to do an in-depth exploration, and, perhaps, one day I will be able to do just that. As for now, I am sure it will suffice for most of you to know how to properly combine foods, to achieve the best digestion. If you learn how to combine your foods and stick to it, at least most of the time, you will be able to shed unwanted pounds very quickly AND start feeling less tired after eating.
So, here are a few general rules to follow.
1. Starches should be combined only with other starches and all raw and cooked vegetables (although remember that cooked foods is harder to digest, since it is missing living enzymes).
2. Fleshes should be combined only with other fleshes, all raw vegetables, and all cooked non-starch vegetables (this is for all of my carnivorous friends and family).
3. Nuts should be combined only with other nuts, seeds, dried fruits, bananas, and all raw vegetables.
4. Dried fruits should be combined only with other dried fruits, avocados, bananas, nuts, and all raw vegetables.
5. Fresh fruit should only be eaten alone and on an empty stomach (at least 30-40 minutes before any other foods, or at least 2.5-3 hrs after eating other foods, except for fresh green vegetables, which would pass through your stomach in about 40-45 minutes).
6. Eat melons alone—since they are mostly water, they digest VERY quickly. Mixing melons with other foods can cause gas and bloating, for most people.
7. Greens and Green Vegetables can be mixed with any food category (although, eat fruit separately as much as possible).
Here are a few food groups that can be qualified as starches: breads, pastas, whole grains, potatoes, legumes, cooked corn, avocados [Avocado is technically a fruit. If eaten without other starches (just with raw vegetables), it will combine perfectly with all fruits, including dried fruits.]
I found a little amazing chart to lay this out in a simple and visual way on The Raw Divas web-site (www.therawdivas.com), when I signed up for their 7-day detox program (free of charge, by the way, for those of you who are interested).
To help you a little bit more, here is another way of looking at this. Never mix any of these four categories with one another (with a few exceptions.
1. Starches: Whole grain breads Brown rice, Sweet potatoes, Avocados (see reference above); Legumes; Cooked corn; Pasta
2. Flesh (protein) [all flesh foods, including all dairy and cheeses]
3. Nuts/seeds: Raw nuts; Raw seeds; Raw, unsulfured dried fruits (dried fruits combine well with raw nuts/seeds also); Mature coconut
4. Fresh Fruit: Citrus, Bananas; Plums; Nectarines; Grapes; Berries; Other fruits
Again, Greens and Green Vegetables can be mixed with any food category (although, eat fruit separately as much as possible).
Oh, and one more thing, folks, that I know will benefit not only you, but those around you—don’t ever combine sweets (of any kind) with high fiber foods, especially legumes (beans). Doing so will ensure that you will have a “moving” experience. Most of the times people don’t get gas because they had beans, but because they had mixed them with something sweet.
I can get more technical and tell you about acid and non-acid fruits, starch and non-starchy vegetables, but not to overload you, I believe that if you start with even small steps or proper food combinations you will tremendously benefit and your health (and weight) will improve.
Eat Right—Feel Great!
