Anyway, since I have been reading a lot about nutrition and raw food and how our bodies work, I thought I might as well share this – for me to remember and for you to learn. Obviously not all I’ve been reading is so called “scientifically proven” but it’s not made-up facts either so there must be at least a grain of truth.
What I want to share is what I’ve learned about how our bodies work and what is the best way to nourish and nurture them and what is not good. Many of the tips are also useful for weight loss, so if that’s your main reason you might consider raw food diet, then you might find it worth of reading.
Waste = Weight
According to Natalia Rose waste matter in your body is the fundamental cause for excess weight and for many physical and mental illnesses. Get rid of the waste and you get rid of the pounds and feel well. So what is the waste? It’s anything that your digestive system cannot fully utilise or eliminate and gets stored in your body, some of it stays there for years. Here is the list of foods that our bodies have difficult to break down and should be avoided:
- All fat-free yoghurts
- Sugar-free flavoured yoghurts
- Packaged processed cold meat (ham, salami etc)
- All manufactured low-carb weightloss items
- All diet sodas
- Milk – including skimmed
- Frozen and/or processed microwave foods
- Sugar-free desserts and cacao
- White bread, pasta and rice
- Red meat
To get rid of the waste, you need to (as you might have guessed) adopt high raw food life style. Eating at least 70-90 % raw food will help your body to get rid of the waste and renew your cells, speed up metabolism and if that’s what you want – loose weight. Or gain weight for that matter, raw food helps your body to find the best weight it needs for optimal function.
So what more can you do to get rid of the waste? Waste is directed to your five major eliminative organs for discarding: skin, kidneys, colon, spleen and liver. Once you start to eat more raw foods, these organs start to release the waste and toxins, so it’s important to transform to raw food diet gradually not to give your body a toxic shock. Other ways to help your body to get rid of waste and toxins are colonic, enema, dry brushing and massage, exercise (increase of blood flow for organs and sweating for skin) and deep breathing (for lungs). Did you know that emptying your bowels in squatting position is more effective than sitting? Use something to lift your feet up the floor, so your knees are higher than your hips! =)
Food combination
For maximum health (and for weight loss) it's best to practice food combination. In simple terms food combination means that you should not eat carbohydrates and proteins at the same time. In more detailed terms, there are 4 basic categories of foods: 1 - starches (carbohydrates), 2 - fleshes (proteins), 3 - nuts, seeds and dried fruit and 4 - fresh fruit. Starches should not mix with fleshes, fleshes should not mix with nuts/seeds/dried fruit, and nuts/seeds/dried fruit should not mix with starches. The first 3 categories can be mixed with unlimited amount of vegetables, fruits should always be eaten by itself. Never eat fruit after a meal!
Ideally, these 4 groups should never be in stomach at the same time. Why? When you eat fleshes (meat, fish, egg, shellfish, cheese), then stomach releases acidic digesting enzyme pepsin for easier protein digestion. When you eat concentrated carbohydrate such as starches (pasta, rice, white and sweet potato, legumes, breads) the stomach releases alkaline enzyme to digest it. The acidic and alkaline enzymes neutralise each other, so when eating carbs and meat protein together, digestion is hindered, causing fermentation. Besides bloating, gases, cramps and burping, it might cause diarrhoea and/or constipation. To simplify: eat carbs with vegetables; eat fish and meat with vegetables; eat fruit 20 minutes before or 3 hours after main meal (best as first thing in morning); if you are hungry, eat more of the same type of food; nuts/seeds/dried food mixed better with raw vegetables than cooked; if you "mis-combine" your food, do it at dinner so your body has plenty of time to move it through your body before next meal.
Hydration
If you eat high raw fruit/vegetable diet and juice, there is no need to drink masses of water as you'll get plenty and more nutritious hydration through your diet. Of course it's good to drink as much as you can, but only between your meals. Don't drink any fluids 20 minutes before your meal and 1 hour after. Why? To help effective digestion of the food. If you drink too much during your meal, you'll dilute the stomach acid and the enzymes will not do effective job in digesting your food. Poorly digested food stays longer in your digestive system and starts to ferment and putrify, leaving waste matter in your body (remember: waste=weight). That's a hard habit to beat, I'm so used to drink something after a meal, so I have to consciously think not to drink with and directly after meal.
Chew, chew and chew
Chew your food! It might sound silly, we all chew our food when we eat. What I mean is to chew it until it's like purée. The more you work your food in your mouth, the quicker it's digested in your stomach, and the quicker it comes out! Most people chew their food only few times, so it's small enough to swallow it, but still in big pieces. Next time you eat your meal, concentrate only on your food (no TV or other stimulants) and chew your food consciously at least 25 times. Put you cutlery down and think of the flavours, the texture and how chewing makes it easier to swallow. Not only it aids digestion, it helps against overeating. It takes some time before your brain can registry that you're full, so if you eat slowly, you feel full much earlier than when you'd scuffle down your food in hurry. Give it a try!
Oh dear, it seems to turn into one of those mega-long posts again, so I better stop now. I'll add more info as I go along, otherwise you'll lose the will to read! =)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment