"So, wait…what is it again? I can't eat meats and breads together?? Or is it bread and cheese?? No, I'm not supposed to have cheese at all, right? Stop looking at me like that…just explain it again. You're going to write about this on the blog, aren't you?"
-Sophie asking me about food combining…again.
Your food is supposed to go in one end and out the other. End of story. Anyone whose ever spent time around a newborn knows that almost as soon as their little bodies ingest food it's shooting out the other end. However, for most people, somewhere between diapers and drivers license this stops being the norm.
So, what changes? What turns our bodies from a high speed rail to the painfully sluggish 6 train on a friday afternoon?
What I am about to tell you is one of the easiest and most effective changes that you can make to your diet. Easiest because, to do it, you don't need to change any of the actual foods that you are eating...just the order in which you are eating them. It is also the change that people most resist making. But why you ask? Why would people resist something so easy? Why wouldn't anyone leap at the chance to make such a seemingly imperceptible change that could yield such amazing results???
Because of sandwiches.
Friggin' sandwiches.
The entire reason Sophie and many others I have talked to (Sid, I'm looking at you…) pretend to not understand what I am talking about is because if they understood it then they would have to give up their sandwiches and they don't want to do that. Sophie still fights me on this point even though when she did do what I am about to tell you her ulcer disappeared, she was no longer bloated and she lost 7 pounds. Don't let sandwiches be your downfall.
The easiest change that you can make to your diet is....Food Combining.
In order for your body to digest certain foods, it needs to secrete corresponding enzymes for those foods.
Proteins need an acid base to digest.
Starches need an alkaline base.
If protein and starches are eaten together, the acid and alkaline enzymes secreted will neutralize each other.
Protein should only be eaten with vegetables.
Starches should only be eaten with vegetables.
When a meal consists of protein and starches eaten together (i.e. sandwiches)…
It does not digest. The food will sit in your stomach and rot.
Which brings me to another point….
When I talk about "protein" I am talking about animal proteins. Since vegan protein is plant based, it digests well with nearly everything. If you want to become a vegan this entire problem disappears. Animal proteins are at the root of most intestinal rotting. Picture what would happen to meat if you left it out in the sun on a 98.6 degree day...
Not pretty. So, (**pushy-Jen-rant alert.**) just become a vegan and you can stop reading this post and eat your vegan sandwiches and go on your merry way enjoying your life of good health and peace.
Or...you know...eat your meat with vegetables.
But, Jen, what about fruit???
As for fruit...
In a healthy digestive track, fruit is the fastest digesting food. Eaten alone, it passes quickly through the body. When paired with a slower digesting food, fruit can reek havoc on your belly. Your body will ignore the faster digesting food in favor of getting to work on the more laborious task of digesting the denser food.
And then what happens to the fruit???
It does not digest. It will sit in your stomach and rot.
As a rule of thumb try to eat your fruits on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning and only with other fruits.
The goal of eating is to digest all of your food.
When your body can't use and then eliminate your food it stores it on your butt.
Or your thighs.
Or stomach.
Or any other place you would not want to store your food.
If you want to get technical, first it passes through the intestinal wall and then into the blood stream and onto your cells....
Oh, you don't care about all that!
It's going to go on your butt.
If you eat your food in the correct order, it will go out of your butt instead of onto it.
-♥ J :)
**Click here for Marilu Henner's printable Food Combination Chart. She goes into more detail about food combining and has some fantastic tips.
