Nutritional Fridays

FOOD COMBINING

 What is it? Food combining is the use of vegetable proteins, grains, and nuts in combination to allow for the body to digest nutrients that will make a complete protein.

Our human bodies need complete proteins, and nitrogen.  There are 22 Amino Acids that make proteins, 8 of them are essential for good health.  Meat and dairy are not necessarily the only source of proteins!  Although, the dairy and beef industry would like to convince you that these are necessary!  They advertise this and donate to politicians inn order to have the backing they need to "push" the idea of their necessity.

But, not that we know that the beef and dairy industry has been using hormones in the cow's feed, and genetically modified grains are also used, lets now take another look! Is meat the main source to look to for protein? NO.

Did you know that grains, vegetables, nuts, and legumes (beans) have proteins?  They also contain many vitamins our bodies need, as well! Do we need to supplement these in our diet, in order to get the 8 essential Amino Acids? No.

Ancient cultures knew instinctively what foods to eat to have inexpensive and yet tasty, nutritious diets.  The Mayan meal of beans, rice, tomatoes, and bits of chili contains everything necessary for all 8 essential Amino Acids and vitamins from the vegetables. 

I will discuss next Friday how this all works....

Nutrition Fridays

I haven't posted for a few days, for two reasons: 1) I had to do post-storm clean-up and 2) I am an instructor and I am grading essay papers!

This blog will be a bit of switch in gears.  It will discuss the methods that I use for recommendations for my own clients.

I use a combination of ideas and documented studies for my dietary recommendations, gleaned from various sources.  First and primary is the Mediterranean Diet along with information from the The China Study.  After these two sources would be information that assists in consuming proteins that are none-meat sources, regulation of blood sugars and jump-starting the metabolism, and finally, Alkaline/Acid balance of the body.

So I will here transition to a discussion about a couple of books that I have used, helping me lose 20 pounds over the last year. It also has taught me to eat less at a sitting.

The best guide for weight-loss, I have ever found is The Food Doctor Everyday Diet written by Ian Marber. First of all, there is NO counting of calories. There is no weighing of food portions.  He uses another form of weighing and counting.  The proportion used, or amount of food to place on the plate.  Marber uses the size of your hands as the indicator! I like that, it keeps it simple, no kitchen scales to purchase, no measuring or calculating.

He explains in his book about the GI factor / insulin and metabolism in very simple layman’s terms.  I think along the lines of “don’t get all scientific on me, just tell me how it works and why”. 

He has numerous pages with comparative charts, one side with the average meal people prepare and the other with what is better / i.e. balanced.  There are a number of recipes (I have tried) in the book.  

You do have to translate some terms from British to American English, such as: “mash”.  We would call it a “spread”.  Its only draw-back is that the Brits tend to eat some foods in strange combinations for our American tastes. 

Along with this book, is another book he wrote (with Vicki Edgson): Healing Foods for Mind and Body. In the book you can find detailed information about foods that assist in healing specific ailments, such as inflammatory diseases. 

Next blog: Food Combining for proteins