Improve Your Digestion without Spending a Cent

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A very nicely explained article on digestion and why foods should be eaten in a certain order to keep the digestive system in good shape. Simple rule: Easily (faster) digestible foods first and the slowly digestible foods last. This is one of the reasons why juices/fruits should be eaten first and not towards the end of the meal.

---------------------------http://www.naturalnews.com/026292.htmlFeel like a thunderstorm is going on in your intestinal tract? Or maybe

you are among the people who rely on Tums or Rolaids after each meal.

The bottom line is that more than half of Americans are not properly

digesting their food. One simple solution that has worked for millions

is sequential eating.Sequential eating is one of the basic

tenets of Dr. Stanley Bass, who began his medical practice in the

1950's specializing in orthopathic and natural hygiene medicine, and

physiology. He believed in treating illness and disease through the use

of fasting and food,

and was strongly against the use of drugs. Much of his life was spent

researching his theories for preserving and restoring health using

himself as a guinea pig. Dr. Bass is still going strong today,

practicing medicine, providing consultations, and writing.Sequential eating is an observational scienceDr.

Bass was aware of a famous case during the American Civil War, in which

a soldier received a gunshot wound that caused a large visible opening

to appear in his stomach. Through this opening, doctors were able to

observe that his food digested in different layers.Much later,

a physiologist named Grutzner fed rats morsels of food in three

different colors. A black layer was fed first, then a white layer, and

finally a red layer. Shortly after eating, the stomachs of the animals

were examined. The different colored food was found to be in layers.Dr. Bass performed studies upon himself by eating different foods, one variety at a time, in sequence throughout several different meals. When nature

called, he examined what came out the other end. He found the

watermelon he had eaten came first, then the tossed salad, cheese, and

meat in that order.Obviously these experiments do not live up

to the rigors of the scientific method, and after the mental picture of

Dr. Bass' experiment leaves the mind, laughter may follow. However, it

is difficult to dismiss these studies because of the large numbers of

people who have been helped by them.Another reason to value

these experiments is their ability to document what many children seem

instinctively to know. Children can often be observed to eat one food

on their plate until they are through with it or it is gone, and then

move on to another. They prefer to begin with the lightest food, and

typically eat meat or other dense protein sources last.Sequential eating theory is based on different digestion times of various foodsThe

theory of sequential eating rests on the vast difference in times

required to digest different types of foods. If foods that digest

quickly are eaten with foods that digest slowly, they must wait for the

slowly digesting foods to leave the stomach. During the time they are

waiting in line to be digested, many of the foods that would have

otherwise been digested quickly begin to ferment and produce gas and

alcohol while waiting for slowly digesting foods to move through the

system. Since it can take some foods up to 4 or 5 hours to leave the

stomach, the gas, acid and indigestion caused by the decomposition of

other foods waiting to be digested can be devastating.In his book Ideal Health through Sequential Eating,

Dr. Bass describes a typically well digested meal in which six

different foods are eaten in sequence producing enzymes adapted to each

particular type of food starting with papaya, tossed salad, and corn on

the cob. Meat is the last food eaten. Each of the foods forms a

sequential layer in the stomach. With this meal, the papaya will leave

the stomach first, after 30 minutes. Then the second layer (tossed

salad) will move into its place, leaving the stomach in about 30 to 40

minutes. This is followed by the third layer (corn) which then moves

down and will be the next to leave the stomach. As the meal progresses,

foods that require longer times in the stomach for processing are eaten.As

each layer leaves, the stomach size gets smaller and feels more

comfortable. Each layer digests separately without mixing and without

disturbing adjacent layers. No foods are allowed to ferment, and no

excessive acids or gases produce.If these six foods had been

eaten all together by moving the fork around the plate taking a bite of

each food, a much longer digestion time would have been required.

During this digestion time, the papaya, salad, and corn eaten toward

the end of the meal would have had to wait until the pieces of meal

eaten earlier had moved out of the stomach. While waiting, they would

have had time to ferment and produce unpleasant effects.Basic rules of sequential eatingThe

most watery, least dense foods should be eaten first, and the most

concentrated or dense foods should be eaten last. Watery foods such as

fresh fruits and leafy salads are digested rapidly, leaving the stomach quickly and making room for the more concentrated foods.A

glass of vegetable juice or a piece of melon leaves the stomach within

minutes if it is consumed first. It can then be followed by something

that would normally be incompatible, such as avocado or nuts,

and there will not be symptoms of indigestion. However, if the avocado

or nuts were eaten first, fermentation of the juice or melon would be

the result.People tend to have a high protein salad or sandwich

followed by a piece of fruit for dessert. They then experience

indigestion, bloating and gas as the fruit ferments while the other

food is being digested. To avoid this, eat the fruit first. Acid fruits, such as citrus, pineapple, blackberry, or pomegranate should be eaten before all other fruits and all other foods.

Beverages or water should be consumed before the meal begins.Some good sequencesAcid fruits before less acid fruitsVegetables before starchFruit 15 minutes before vegetable soup or salad

Melon before all other fruits including acid fruitsSome particularly bad sequences and combinationsMixing dried sweet fruit, honey, maple syrup or bananas with nuts or seedsMixing starch foods with fresh or acid foods or fruits

Mixing dried sweet fruits with acid fruitsEating dried sweet fruits with or after concentrated proteinsEating raw, fresh or dried fruits after any cooked foodDrinking beverages or water during or after meals

Dr. Bass' tips for eatingDr.

Bass views it as supremely important to chew all foods until they are

as close to liquid as possible. Foods eaten without proper chewing take

longer to digest, require the use of more digestive enzymes, and are

not well assimilated into the body. People who do not properly chew

their food often find themselves totally exhausted from all the energy

expenditure needed to digest the food.Dr. Bass recommends

consuming food with full attention directed to the act of eating, and

the taste of the food. When the body and mind are integrated and

attuned to the act of eating, good digestion is promoted. And when the

great sensual enjoyment of eating and relishing the taste of food

becomes the total focus, people instinctively recognize when taste

begins to lose its enjoyment, and the eating will stop. Of course, for

people to eat in this manner which is in sync with the other creatures

of nature, foods that contain flavorings must not be consumed. When

foods are adulterated with added flavors, the body is unable to

recognize natural signals.Digestion times of various foodsDr.

Bass assembled these digestion times which are the amount of time

needed for a food to exit the stomach. These times represent the ideal

situation under which only one food at a time is being considered; it

is well chewed, and the person's digestive functioning is in top shape.

On a conventional diet in which foods are combined haphazardly, or for

persons whose systems are not optimal, digestion times are much longer.The

smaller the amount of a particular food eaten, the less time it will

take for that food to be digested. The fewer the varieties eaten, the

easier the digestion, and the less likely the person is to overeat.Watermelon, fruit and vegetable juices: 15-20 minutes.Semi-liquid blended salads: 20-30 minutesOther melon, orange, grape: 30 minutes

Other fresh fruits: 40 minutesRaw tossed salad: 30-40 minutesMost steamed or cooked vegetable: 40-50-minutesStarchy vegetables: 60 minutesGrains, legumes and lentils: 90 minutesSeeds: 2 hoursNuts: 2 1/2 to 3 hours

Skim milk or low fat cottage cheese or ricotta: 90 minutesWhole milk cottage cheese: 120 minutesWhole milk hard cheese: 4 to 5 hoursEgg yolk: 30 minutesWhole egg: 45 minutesFish (cod, scrod, flounder, sole): 30 minutes

Fatty fish: 45 to 60 minutesChicken without skin: 1 1/2 to 2 hoursTurkey without skin: 2 to 2 1/2 hoursBeef or lamb: 3 to 4 hoursPork: 4 1/2 to 5 hoursFor more information:http://drbass.com/sequential.html

http://www.drbass.com/attentive.htmlhttp://www.drbass.com/cursio.html