The fitness industry is a booming billion dollar business and we have been bombarded with tips and facts on how to eat, what to eat, how much or little, fad diets, trends, eating for our blood type, cutting carbs, eating only protein, eating like our caveman brothers, and more. The list is long and exhausting.
The fact is even with all of these latest and greatest diets, the statistics by the World Health Organization show that Americans are the second fattest people in the world, only being beat out of the top spot by Mexico by a mere one percent.
So, in my extensive research and study of the body, how it works, and how to sustain longevity there is a specific nutrition plan I follow.
Now I am going to preface the information that follows with the fact that I am 48 years old, still very energetic, don’t look my age, am fit, and love my body. I have a certification in Nutrition, have done vast amounts of research, and have tried many different diets in the search for the truth in optimal health. I am not paid by any doctor, medical group, food organization, or pharmaceutical company, and I am currently not trying to sell you a diet or nutrition product.
Now that I have covered all of that, allow me to feed your mind.
What I have found is that the body needs good nutrition to sustain itself which means that we need our macro and micro nutrients and those come from the food we eat. I have discovered a way of eating that assists your body in optimally absorbing those nutrients from the foods we eat. It is called “Trophology” also known as food combining. It has been around for over 1,000 years, and it is in my view “Eating Evolved.”
“What is Eating Evolved?” you ask. It is just as it sounds, the way we combine the foods we eat when we sit to have a meal.
Understand that the body is a finely-tuned, beautiful piece of awesome machinery and it needs specific fuels and maintenance to ensure that it has a lengthy life with few breakdowns. The fuel is the food we eat, and the maintenance is our fitness regimen and preventative care.
Food combining enables your body to run at its optimal performance by boosting your digestion.
Following is an example:
Your stomach must secrete pepsin (an enzyme which only functions in a highly acidic medium) for the complete digestion of animal proteins. When you eat carbohydrates or starches, ptyalin (an enzyme which only functions in an alkaline medium) and alkaline juices are secreted into the food through the saliva in your mouth in order to breakdown carbohydrates. When mixed together, the two enzymes cancel each other out. So if you eat a burger which combines both carbohydrates and protein, you have now waged a battle in your digestive system by pitting these two enzymes against each other with each of them battling to digest that burger. The reason you are full for much longer and feel tired or sluggish when you eat a burger versus when you eat a plate of healthy vegetables is because your digestive system is on overdrive trying to digest what you’ve just put into it.
When you eat a plate of vegetables, your digestive system excretes the exact enzyme needed and begins an efficient breakdown of the food. The body wastes no time and comes across no barriers and no battles for domination occur. Your metabolism remains at its peak, and you are hungry again sooner because your digestive system has completed its task with ease.
Food combining aka Evolved Eating allows your body to work at its optimal performance by completing the digestive process as it was designed to. And one of the benefits is that because your body is no longer struggling with the digestive process, your metabolism increases to its original programmed state. Your energy level increases, you begin to lose excess weight naturally, and I have found that you eat more often.
When I began Eating Evolved, I noticed that I became a grazer, eating smaller meals five times a day. The meals were smaller because my body let me know that it was full more quickly.
Trophology isn't new. It is a way of eating that has been around for over 1000 years. I call it “Eating Evolved” because I believe it is the optimal peak of evolution for our bodies. We digest better which means we are absorbing the nutrients from our food properly, our metabolism is at its peak, food is not sitting in our stomach for so long that it begins to putrefy, and our bowels keep moving so we are not suffering constipation. Over the years, it has been discussed among the medical community that certain diseases start in the digestive system. Food combining keeps the digestive system moving, which in my humble opinion can keep those problems at bay.
I have also discovered that if you add a steady workout routine to food combining, you will lose weight very quickly.
One of my friends who I gave all of the Eating Evolved information to followed it and lost twenty pounds in thirty days with minimal exercise. He walked and did Yoga during this period but wasn’t hitting the gym as hard as he had been prior.
As with any nutrition program, there are rules to follow to get it perfect. It takes a lot of understanding and mindfulness to get food combining right. Also remember the body (being a finely tuned machine) is healthiest at certain levels which means it does not work properly with consumption of more than 25 grams of sugar per day. Sugar turns to fat and more than 25 grams a day is unhealthy because the body struggles with the fat. If you live a more sedentary lifestyle or are not engaging in regular workouts, be careful not to carb load or consume too much sugar.
Have I had to give up certain foods? Yes. But I didn’t want to go into what I call “Lack” so I have what I call a “treat day” where I eat whatever I want once a week. I have pizza or a burger, and I don’t follow food combining for that day. I do however try to stay within my calorie range (but that conversation is best saved for another article).
Your body is yours. It is important and if you want it to continue to be awesome, take care of it.
If you would like more information and the basic rules to "eating evolved", click here to read the guidelines.
Peace and Love to the Universe!!!
This Post Has One Comment
I lost 32 lbs with food combining when I was 40 yrs old. I found it easy to do, did not starve myself, did not measure my food, did not exercise ( but I did have a very physical job. ) My digestion and metabolism was off the chart! My hair was gorgeous and shiny and my skin was beautiful. It made me look like I was in my late 20’s. I also made of point of eating as many raw vegetables as possible, (as well as cooked)
I called vegetables “beauty food”. I ate this wY for years and never felt deprived. I still allowed myself a day here and there of non-food combining and the occasional dessert. It absolutely works, read the book by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, “Fit for Life” and “Living Health”. I know there are more updated versions out there by different authors, but this one was one of the first on the subject.