Healing requires the good digestive system. The way you eat food is as important as what you are eating because we want to support our body to digest food. And not to mention, nutrition that our body absorbs is what’s important.
Our body isn’t like a garburator. It’s not like your job is to eat something and our body will do the rest. If you don’t take care of it, it will eventually break and stop functioning.
A lot of people aren’t really aware this fact that metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess fat) starts from maldigestion and malabsorption besides too many carbohydrates (“sugar”). Our body needs to absorb minerals and vitamins from food that we eat. In order to do this efficiently, it needs to digest food properly.
How?
When I talk about improving digestion, my first option to suggest is “Food Combining”. It is also easier for people to follow. When we search food combining online, there are so many types of it will show up. For example, some are based on “acid” and “alkaline” and some follow a much complicated version of it.
What exactly am I suggesting?
Very simple.
Carbohydrates + Green leafy vegetables
Proteins + Green leafy vegetables
Fruits by themselves
The chart above is a bit more detailed. Carbohydrates are meaning of starchy vegetables (potatoes, etc), rice, bread, pasta, and any products made out of those. Proteins are meaning of any nuts, beans, eggs and meats. I generally suggest to eliminate all the processed food, even though they are “organic”, “gluten-free” or any other supposedly “Natural” and “Healthy” processed foods.
This may sound still super difficult to follow if you are a “beginner” of healthy eating for the better digestion or so used to eat rice and fish/meats or beans and/or bread and eggs, ham or sausages. Sometimes, you may get sandwiches or lunch boxes come with those combinations. And that’s the only choice you have at the time while it could be just for your convenience.
Well, then. Maybe start with one meal? Three meals could be hard to start. I would rather you to stick to one change that you make for a long time. Try one meal of food combining for a month?
Why not carbs and proteins?
Carbohydrates (except for fruits) take only 20-30 mins to get digested. They don’t require stomach acid, therefore they won’t stay in the stomach as long as the protein foods do. Protein foods require stomach acid for digestion and they take 2-6 hours (or more. Depends.) to be digested.
When we eat those carbs and proteins at the same time, carbs which supposed to pass the stomach quickly stay in the stomach with proteins for a long time. And they start being fermented and then eventually feed bad bacteria. They cause gas and bloating. Moreover, when this happens in the stomach, the rest of the organs that secrete digestive enzymes and juices won’t do their job. As a result, undigested foods will enter the small intestine causes problems such as the excessive immune response (allergies and other inflammation), IBS, leaky gut, etc.
Also, when our digestive system struggles, the organs (especially liver) have to work so hard to digest food for hours rather spending some time to clean the body from toxins and by products of the natural body metabolism. This will cause organ damages, hormonal imbalances, and so forth.
In my opinion, it is much easier to follow the food combining when you avoid the pre-made food and processed foods altogether as they often have carbs and proteins.
Still not convinced?
Someone told me a while ago that she still thought to do the food combining for one meal a day was difficult for her to do after I explained why it was so important to help digestion.
Well.
How bad you want to get better? How bad you want to reverse your conditions?
You don’t need to stick to this forever! The purpose of the food combining is to improve your digestive system. Once it gets better, you feel much better eating rice and beans without gas or bloating!
Allergies too. I tell people that they don’t need to avoid certain foods once their gut has healed. Because the gut is the root cause of allergies! In order to heal the gut, we need good digestion and nutrients from it.
You have all sort of symptoms and are struggling with digestion. And still don’t think you could make a little change, then you are not ready. It means that it’s not the time. When the timing is right, and you are ready for it, they will happen.
I was the same back then.
The Principles of Proper Food Combining Here.