Digestion: Fruit Vs. Vegetables

Everywhere we go you hear eat your fruits and vegetables. Do they really mean that we should sit down with an orange and a carrot or what? Some people believe that mixing fruits and vegetables is fine but my recent studies have proven otherwise.

Digestion is a major factor in anything we eat. If you're feeling bloated, constipated, have gas or diarrhea, or feel nauseated after eating you probably ate a bad mix of food. Those are all signs of your body being upset at the mix you're giving them. Eating fruit and vegetables together causes the body to choose one over the other. Your body will almost always choose the vegetable over the fruit. This causes the fruit you ate to sit in your stomach and become fermented.

There is one exception to eating vegetables with fruit. If you eat fruit combine it with lettuce and celery. Lettuce and Celery are easily and quickly processed by our bodies which doesn't disrupt the fruits digestion. When you're eating vegetables on the other hand the only fruit that mixes with them are apples. (This is usually found only with vegetable juice not raw vegetables.)

It is best for your digestion to eat fresh fruit for breakfast. This helps because while your sleeping your body is producing alkaline, which digests fruits/ carbohydrates. When you're digesting off of alkaline your body produces slower. If you eat a salad once a day you will get a boost of regularity from the fiber and energy especially if eaten for lunch. When you eat your salad around lunch time your body has already started to decline from the alkaline stage and switching to the acid stage which gives you more long lasting energy and digests fiber. Around dinner you should eat vegetables if you are eating meat. Meat contains a lot of protein. If you mix protein and to many carbohydrates your body it usually choose to digest the carbs over the protein. The carbs are easier to digest and use alkaline which is a natural gastric juice, whereas protein is harder to process and uses acid.

Fruits and vegetables are necessary in all diets. People think that meat is satisfying and more important but it's not. When a protein and carb are both present the body chooses the path of least resistance. It chooses the carb over protein because your body goes into safety mode thinking "I need the carbs now to survive so I can get the protein later no biggy." Don't put your body through more stress than you need to. Help your body digest quickly and happily. Remember don't mix your fruits and veggies; and don't mix fruit and meat. Feel better and have more energy. If you are planning a major diet change you should still consult your doctor.

Sources: Times News Mini-Cassia Edition 9/14/11

Tuberose.com/Food_Combining.html

Rawfoodswitch.com