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Food Combining for Better Digestion

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If you have digestive issues consider a few things:

  • Intermittent Fasting or Detoxing – basically digestive rest!
  • Food combing
  • Mula Bandha
  • Stomach Vacuums
  • Engaging the TVA throughout your day (check out my postpartum FIND YOUR CORE Series)
  • My Twistie Vinyasa flows
  • My plank focused classes
  • A LOT OF WATER on empty stomach
  • Deep Breathing
  • Proper Posture (the upcoming new class series)

 

I have covered most of these subjects in my classes so let’s talk about Food Combining for now.

I am not crazy about strict food combining but I certainly follow a few rules that simply make me feel good.

First of all if you are having a tiny meal or a few bites then food combining is not very important at all.

If you are having a large meal please consider the following Food Combining Rules which have done a world of a difference to me.

 

  • Eat simple meals with few ingredients. The less complex the better.
  • Eat as much raw and vegan as possible
  • Do not combine sweet or dry fruit with nuts. ( a small 150 calorie snack such as Lara Bar is OK, just try to avoid this combination as a meal)
  • Do not combine Acid with Starch – this one is the worst for me. It tends to not cause acid but rather hault digestion. Example potatoes with tomatoes, pasta with a lot of lemon, bread with yogurt (vegan in my case), bananas with oranges, carrots with tomato sauce and so forth. You get the idea.
  • Do not combine Fruit with any other food or fruit after a meal. Fruit as desert leads to fermentation in the gut. It throws off your bacterial flora and it leads to indigestion and acid which over time damages the stomach.

What to do:

  • Water before each meal.
  • Let your stomach rest between meals. Do not eat on a stomach with half digested previous meal still sitting in it. That for me is also the worst.
  • Loads of leafy greens and veggies which can neutralize some bad combos. For example a dressing with dates and lemons and spinach is ok served over lettuce. The greens have “magic” locked in them and they tend to rebalance your gut flora. They act as a buffer. That is what I used when I had candida imbalance due to mold expose. Fruit and greens rebalanced my gut relatively quickly.
  • A good probiotic tends to be good as well. I like this one 
  • Consider adding spices or herbs that aid digestion.
  • Avoid fermented products for a while and instead go for the fresh alternatives. Example cabbage instead of sauerkraut, grapes instead of kombucha (not the same source but both have acidophilus on them. The white powder stuff on grapes is probiotic bacteria) , coconut water instead of kefir. I know that last one might be shocking to many of you but in ayurveda fermented foods are considered rotting and toxin producing (AMA) because they are in fact not fresh. They are safe for you and great for humans pre refrigeration but nowadays we can get fresh cabbage year round. That doesn’t mean do not enjoy sauerkrout at all. I am simply saying do not go out of your way to get it if you are not wild about it and go for the fresh veg instead.

Last but not least. Once healthy all rules are there to be broken every so often so live life and enjoy good food. Eat simple meals as often as possible and indulge on occasion.

I hope this was helpful to you.

Good Digestion is Worth the Extra Effort!

Of course there are other food combining rules but I wanted to boil it down to the most impactful ones.

Love,

Ali

 

 

 

 

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2 Comments

  1. rachaelforeveryoung's Gravatar
    rachaelforeveryoung 29th November 2017, 12:03 pm

    omg reading minds lol Thank You perfect timing xoxo writing this down lots of love xo xo

  2. rachaelforeveryoung's Gravatar
    rachaelforeveryoung 29th November 2017, 12:05 pm

    Thank You perfect timing again i think you hear me haha xoxo writing this down lots of love xo xo i just thought i am going to check alis blog and boom questions answered without asking WOW xox

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