Touchy subject

I woke up this morning feeling like I hadn't even slept for 2 hours. When in actual fact I had a good 8 hours. When I got to work my manager asked me if I'm OK, since I had puffy eyes*. For the next 2 hours I struggled to stay awake**. I have a theory as to why I'm so low on energy today. It's something that I've neglected to blog about in the 4 months, because it is a rather touchy subject. No no. Nothing embarrassing or age restricted. Just a sticky subject.

It's about food combining.

If you haven't heard of it, you're probably not the only one. If you have, good for you. I heard about food combining about a year ago now. My husband's wizard of a doctor advised him (for years) to combine his food properly. But it was only when the doctor got a little irate about his non-compliance (even though it was impossible for him as he didn't have control over his meals) that my husband started taking it seriously. He came home and shared the theory with me. I was totally against it for the first hour, but we decided to give it a try. We have been attempting it on and off ever since, and have finally been following it quite diligently for a few months now.

The basic principle of food combining is that a starch requires an alkaline solution to be digested properly, while a protein needs an acid. If you mix starch and protein in one meal, the alkaline and acid digestive juices neutralise each other, thus leading to fermentation of your meal in your stomach, instead of correct digestion and uptake of nutrients. Ever noticed how you become tired after a big meal? All your energy is going to your stomach to try and digest these 2 opposing substances. Wrong food combining also leads to indigestion.

Sounds simple enough, but if you think about it, this means a change in the way you have viewed food for your entire life. From breakfast to dinner.

No more eggs (protein) on toast (starch).
No more spaghetti (starch) bolognaise (protein).
No more macaroni (starch) cheese (protein).
No more meat and potatoes.
No more burger (protein and starch!) and chips (starch).

You get my drift.

Even for vegetarians things become a little more complicated since things like cheese and eggs (which we freely like to mix with starches) are actually protein.

So what CAN you eat?

Anything, of course, provided you combine it correctly. In other words, mix starch only with vegetables (ANY), and mix protein only with vegetables. And then of course there are legumes. Thank God for legumes. You can have these with either groups (they are a natural starch/protein mix - that's why they make you fart!).

Now you see what I mean. It's not something people really want to hear, let alone try. It just seems like too much of a lifestyle change. It IS a very big change. My husband and I try to combine correctly at every meal***. I combined wrong last night, and the night before. I think this might be the reason I am feeling so listless today.

We eat a lot of salad and vegetables. We have even found a recipe for lasagne with Ricotta cheese (VERY low in protein - only about 18%). We've also cut out most dairy products, and coffee (I have, anyway). For breakfast I only have fruit since I am giving my body time to get rid of toxins. This is difficult for a body that is trying to digest a heavy breakfast.

I haven't been sick in the past year. I have only had indigestion when eating Kara Nicha's once or twice (which is spicy, heavy and rich, and clearly difficult to digest in itself). I have had one mild sinus bout in the past year (despite living in Pietermaritzburg, the sinus capital of the freekin' world). I used to have a nap every day in the afternoon. Now (on most days) I have a lot of energy. After a full day's work, I still go out for a run with my husband. Plus I am regular as clockwork (hehehe). My weight has been pretty constant for the past year (except when we succumb - which happens a little too often nowadays - to something sweet).

The colon is the most negative part of your body. So many people in later years develop digestive/colon problems. With already so many additives and pesticides polluting our food, we wanted to make things a little easier for our colons. For us it was a big lifestyle decision that will benefit as in the long run (as much as we have kicked ourselves for it, since we both LOVE food - especially food which is wrongly combined).

I was finally convinced (on Honeymoon) by a book called The Natural Way by Mary Ann Shearer****. So I've taken the plunge at last and put it out there for you to do with what you like.

Use it, don't use it.

*Yikes. This is the first time anyone has ever said I have puffy eyes!
**If I had been in a lecture, that would have been the end of me.
***Obviously this is not always possible. When we visit friends we (gladly) combine incorrectly. We know that our lifestyle is not something many people embrace. Also we combine incorrectly once or twice a week as a treat (I think we deserve it).
****She is sometimes over the top, but mostly makes a lot of sense. We often use her recipe books - there are some excellent ones that have become our favourites.