RE: Smoothies, food combining [s]

[Guest guest]

Hi Doreen and all,

 

This is another of my longer posts, covering several topics:

 

1. Juicing, smoothies, and chewing

2. Food combining guidelines

3. Smoothies: creating your own hybrids

 

Please read only if interested and when you have a bit of time.

Elchanan

_____

1. JUICING, SMOOTHIES, AND CHEWING

 

I generally don't juice anything anymore, except for an occasional citrus

juice treat. I've found that whole foods are always a better choice.

 

Almost anything that can be juiced can also be blended. This is definitely

true for all leafy greens, you can add them to a smoothie any time you wish.

That way you get to pulverize your food before you eat it and retain all the

nutrients, more or less. (There is some damage in pulverizing, as well as

some premature oxidation, as one might anticipate.)

 

However, there is one catch. The physical action of chewing provides

important signals to our system, via the brain and possibly also directly to

ganglia in the digestive region/abdomen, and " fires up " certain digestive

activity. Related to this, the presence of food in the mouth for at least a

few seconds stimulates salivary production, and the saliva varies to some

degree with the food eaten. This then alerts the endocrine system, which in

turn begins production of certain hormones that will be used to catalyze

and/or directly in the digestive process. (E.g., production of digestive

enzymes)

 

So there is an old saying among some raw fooders, something to the effect

that we ought to " chew our juice " (and our smoothies). I'm sure you get the

idea. FOR MORE ON SMOOTHIES, SEE " SMOOTHIES: CREATING YOUR OWN HYBRIDS "

below.

 

2. FOOD COMBINING GUIDELINES (response on gassiness)

 

On a separate topic, it is highly unlikely that " not eating enough " would

ever make anyone gassy. Far more likely, gas is caused by choosing

mismatched food combinations. For example, many popular raw recipes,

particularly desserts, combine lots of fat and sugar (as in pie crust, nuts

and dates). The body can digest the fruit sugar quite rapidly; however,

digestion for fats takes much longer, as does movement of the nondigestible

fiber in the nuts through the digestive tube. So the fats and grit retard

the sugar digestion, resulting in fermentation (with alcohol production) in

the gut. Yes, in this example one is quite literally using one's digestive

system as a distillery.

 

There are other food mismatches, I only share this as an example, because it

is common. Here are a few guidelines for food combining:

 

1. Melons alone, each type (watermelon with watermelon, etc.) and FIRST in

the day, or at least only after a long eating hiatus.

 

2. High water-content foods together and in front of low water-content

foods. For example, citrus a short while AFTER melon will usually work out

just fine. But citrus a short while after a raw pie, especially one

containing nuts, might not go down so well.

 

3. Sweet fruits together and with greens (leafy, celery). Sweet fruits

generally include many tropical fruits...bananas, dates, figs, persimmons,

apricots, some grapes, etc. Sweet fruits and greens comprise the

alkaline-forming backbone of the natural human diet. NO other foods are as

alkalizing to the body, not even close. Athletic types in particular will

notice a huge difference quickly.

 

4. Semisweet (subacid) fruits together. These generally include the fruits

with pits and cores, such as apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums,

mangos, some grapes, etc. These can be combined in moderation with sweet

fruits (above) OR with acid fruits (below), but not with both. Note that

most semisweet fruits are also high in water content, they should precede

foods lower in water content. (A problem if you're eating a raw apple pie

where the crust contains nuts. I make pie crusts out of dates only. Pit the

dates, put them into a food processor and make a big date ball. Then spread

the dates out into the pie pan, then freeze it a bit, for hardness.)

 

5. Acid fruits together and also with high-fat foods (e.g., avocado...great

salad dressings). These generally include berries, citrus, kiwi, tomatoes,

etc. Water content varies, though really fresh, ripe berries are quite high

in water.

 

6. Veggie-fruits with most other categories (but not melons, maybe not with

sweet fruits) and respecting the foregoing guidelines BETWEEN categories. I

wouldn't really choose to mix veggie-fruits with sweet fruits anyway, just

based upon texture and taste. Veggie-fruits include cucumber, zucchini,

squash, etc. They generally have very low acid content and are therefore

quite alkalizing to the system.

 

7. High-fat fruits, primarily avocado, also durian and a few others. Eat

with greens, veggie-fruits, and also with acid fruits if desired. Avoid

combining with sweet and semisweet (subacid) fruits. High-fat foods (with

occasional exceptions such as durian) are very low in water content and take

far longer to digest than any other foods in the raw lexicon. They are best

consumed as part of your last meal of the day, as in a big salad, or a nori

roll concoction, or the like.

 

NOT COVERED HERE: GRAINS, ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR COOKED FOODERS

 

3. SMOOTHIES: CREATING YOUR OWN HYBRIDS

 

The best smoothies (physiologically speaking) are those that are well

combined, as described above. For example, bananas, dates, and water make a

great breakfast smoothie (optional: add celery, greens, particularly if you

have access to a high-end blender such as a Vita-Mix or Champs).

 

But it is conceivable to think of smoothies as a sort of made-in-the-kitchen

hybrid, and I confess that I often cross the guidelines above in some of the

smoothies I make. For example, I love a smoothie made of bananas,

strawberries, blackberries, and lime, I have one almost every day, it seems.

Obviously, this involves mixing a sweet fruit (banana) with acid fruits

(berries and limes). There is a point of view that, once blended, the new

" food " takes on a consistency (water and fiber content) and pH (measure of

acidity or alkalinity) of its own, and my sense is that our digestive system

treats it as " one food. " However, this is not perfectly accurate, as

presence of increased acid in the mouth does inhibit some enzyme production

and send a somewhat confused signal to the rest of the system.

 

But I love it, and it's a WHOLE lot better than what I used to eat!!!

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

 

Doreen Nash [doreennash]

Wednesday, March 09, 2005 5:34 AM

rawfood

Re: [Raw Food] re: a typical day

 

 

 

I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy.

 

Froggy <seconaphim wrote:

What's not enough? if I eat when I'm hungry until I'm no longer

hungry.

 

rawfood , " Gypsi at www.aromaticwings.com "

<aromatic_wings> wrote:

>

> I just recently started eating raw and alot of the journals show

people really do not seem to be eating enough... I would be

interested in this also... and if you juice your greens and veggies

the reason why.. if you do not mind..

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Wonderful info.. thanks you...

 

Now can I ask about soy milk? Such as the soy milk Slik?? can this be used or

would you suggest almond milk or rice milk instead?? I love Silk..especially the

one with the omega 3's///

 

" INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo wrote: