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Energise your life the food combining way!

There is so much confusion around food. I can only inform you about the things I believe to be right, and the way food has worked for myself, my friends and family and many clients who have seen drastic improvements in their health by following these simple guidelines.

No matter what your health challenges are the number one thing you must get right before you can tackle ANY other ailment or illness is digestion.

Food combining can take your energy to the next level because you are taking the strain away from your digestion and giving your system exactly what it needs. To avoid indigestion, bowel complaints and insure optimal absorption (therefore optimum energy) of all that good stuff you are eating follow these simple rules;

1. Avoid drinking too much liquid with your meals. Drinking while eating weakens the action of the digestive juices in the stomach, and is unnecessary in terms of thirst when you eat plenty of fresh, natural foods as they contain lots of water. In an ideal world drink half an hour before meals and wait for at least an hour afterwards.

2. Fruits and vegetables don’t mix as a rule! The sugars and acids in fruits slow the digestion of starches in the vegetables and can easily cause fermentation in those of us with a weak digestive system (which actually is 90% of the uk!). If you know someone who as plenty of gas and has a bloaty stomach, you can bet your life that they are not combining their food well. Fruits and vegetables should be eaten separately at different meals. If you wish to eat a fruit desert eat at least 1 and a half hours after your meal! Your dinner party’s will last a long time, but at least your guests won’t be fumigating your house!

3. Any greens, sprouted seeds, vegetables and avocados mix well together. Sauces made with avocados, seeds and nuts are fine to have with all your salads. Try not to overcomplicate meals with too much variety. For example when mixing a salad keep to 8 or less vegetables at any meal time. Remember food is our fuel, our energy, but does not need to be over complicated, in the same way that life doesn’t need to be overcomplicated!

4. Avoid eating breads and grains with acid fruits. Ocassionally sweet fruits (Dates, figs, raisins, bananas) can be used to include in the bread or homemade cereals, but acidic fruits should be avoided such as oranges, pinapples, strawberries etc.

5. Eat food that is warmed to room temperature. Cold food is just a use of energy that you could do without!  It dilates the diaphragm, which causes pain and effects the enzyme activity and your body. It also has to bring the food down to your body temperature before it can be digested! A complicated process for your body, when it could be so simple!

6. Chew, Chew and chew!! Sit down to eat and be thoughtful of every mouthful Shoveling food in doesn’t do anything for the wasteline or the taste buds!

7. Always eat raw food before cooked otherwise the cooked food holds up the digestion of the raw causing unwanted gas again! If you want to lose weight this is the BEST solution as it fills you up and you are much more likely to eat slowly and less of it!

8. Make meals of one or two combinations, such as protein with vegetables for lunch and starch with vegetables in the evening!

9. Be as relaxed as possible when you eat! Enjoy!

Denise Kelly is a BANT (British Association of Nutritional Therpaists) registered Naturopahic Nutritional Therapist.

She writes Nutrition Programmes for a variety of organisations and has a private practice in Chichester, West Sussex. Denise is founder of K4 Fit Kidz.

If you would like to learn more about Denise and her services please visit www.denisekelly.co.uk or phone +44(0)1243 528040.

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