RE: Breakfast / Food Combining + Cleansing [s]

[Guest guest]

Janeen wrote:

 

I am interested in the mono eating too. I was eating an orange and a banana

 

every day for breakfast together. I guess this was wrong because I read

yesterday that the Orange needs 1 hour to digest so today I ate the Orange

first

and in an hour I'll eat the Banana and maybe an hour or two after that I

will

have a Banana Smoothie. Is that how you do it? Janeen

_____

Actually, this is one of those places where " good food combining " principles

could lead us in two different directions. So let's add a bit of refinement

to what I wrote the other day.

 

On one hand, the orange is higher in water content than the banana, so it

would go first, as you've suggested.

 

On the other hand, the banana is the sweeter (higher sugar content), so it

would go first. Let's keep in mind that the banana, while lower in water

content than the orange is still about 75% water, roughly matching the

makeup of our bodies.

 

So it seems that eating these foods in either order would likely work, and

that is generally correct. At the same time, we might wonder whether there

is some other criterion for " breaking this tie. " Her are some additional

thoughts:

 

Sleep, particularly if we do not eat for at least a few hours before

sleeping, provides our primary daily physiological rest. By not eating right

before sleeping, we allow digestion to wind down, so that our digestive

system is relatively quiet through the night. This frees energy to cleanse

etc. elsewhere.

 

During sleep, our body cleanses, restores, constructs, and rejuvenates,

limited only by the degree to which the rest is deep and full. This is why

we are almost always ready to eliminate upon awakening. In general, this

cleansing process will continue after we awaken, particularly if we delay

eating for awhile.

 

An aside: Consider, for the moment, the meaning of the word " breakfast. " It

means, quite literally, to break a fast. Every night, as we sleep, we fast

for a period of time, let's say 8 hours. This rest is an essential piece of

Nature's design, guaranteeing that our entire system will have a significant

cleaning and replenishment cycle at least daily.

 

By not eating for awhile prior to sleeping, we allow the body to enter sleep

with the digestive system in a quiet state. By not eating for awhile (even

several hours) after awakening, we maintain or extend this physiological

rest Along the way, you may come to realize that this " most important meal

of the day " simply isn't, for most people. Over time, you may discover that

your " breakfast " and lunch merge! (Note: if you choose a lifestyle where you

are physically active before you eat, then your first meal would occur after

some period of physical activity -- a hike, workout, etc. More on that in

another post.)

 

Now, from a previous post, we have already discussed that our body is an

acid-producing, alkaline-seeking machine. That is, everything we do --

physical activity, thinking, feeling, imagining, most of our physiological

activity -- produces some form of acidic residue. With respect to ordinary

metabolism, " cleansing " is, to a large extent, the body's continuous process

of eliminating this residue. And since most of the residue is acidic, the

body must generally add alkalizing material (alkaline minerals) to

neutralize or at least ameliorate the acid before elimination, to avoid

burning tissue on the way out.

 

As sleep is our greatest period of rest and therefore of cleansing, sleep is

also the time when our body tends to produce considerable acid material and

move that material toward elimination. (Hence, we eliminate upon or shortly

after awakening.) It stands to reason, then, that our first food of the day

be as alkalizing as possible.

 

Now both bananas and oranges are, ultimately alkalizing to the body. That is

their digestive ash (another time) is alkalizing, assuming both fruits are

ripe. However, the banana is MORE alkalinizing than the orange.

 

This, then provides us a way to " break that tie. " So while there are times

when I begin my daily eating with oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, or the

like, far more frequently my first meal contains bananas. I might just eat

bananas, I might have a smoothie of bananas, dates, and perhaps celery, but

whatever I choose, EVERY component is likely on the very alkalizing end of

the food spectrum.

 

And I never feel compelled to eat " breakfast! "

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

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