Me and My Cancer?: Trust Your Gut!

I got quite a response from the last post, thank you for paying attention. But, just as you think that's all there is to it, here's more.

Do you know that we have been eating the wrong way? Our typical meal would probably start with soup or salad, or bread and butter, then we'd have meat, carbohydrates, maybe a side dish. We would gobble this up with a drink, then dessert, possibly with tea or coffee. Everyone eats sandwiches.

All diseases start with a digestive system that's taxed and overworked. We can help our guts by properly combining foods and giving our stomachs the time to properly absorb and digest our food so it translates into nutrients.

We describe harrowing experiences as gut-wrenching, we feel "butterflies" in our tummy when we're in love, certain situations make us feel nauseous. We seek comfort food when we're stressed. Embedded in the wall of the gut is the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) which is referred to as the second brain, it shares many features with the brain in your head. It acts autonomously and influences behaviour by sending messages to the brain. It can work both independently of and in conjunction with the brain in your head, this is your gut "thinking" , the ENS helps you sense environmental threats for instance, then influences your response. This little brain in part determines our mental state and plays key roles in developing diseases throughout the body. It makes sense therefore that we treat it with respect. We need four processes to achieve nutrition, these are digestion, absorption, assimilation, and, elimination.

If the food you eat is not digesting properly, you get gas, flatulence, heartburn, and upset stomach. The poor digestion can contribute to malnutrition. We have been improperly combining our foods, gastrointestinal problems abound, but we still eat the same way. The discomfort we feel after meals, and " food allergies" can be attributed to improper food combining. Food combination takes into account the complexity of digestion of each food, to ensure it goes through your entire system with ease. The three primary categories of food namely proteins, carbohydrates, and fats require different processes of digestion. Fruits generally pass through your system with ease but starches require three levels of breakdown, starting in your mouth when you chew. Proteins, begin their digestion chemically in our stomachs. When you put in a smorgasbord of food groups, the digestive system goes on overdrive, food that is waiting to be digested, stays and rots inside your tummy and cause all sorts of problems which we remedy with pills or "tums". So here are the three basic commandments of food combination according to Dr. Wayne Pickering, a naturopathic physician from Florida who is an expert on food combining.

1. No proteins and starches at the same meal. They neutralise each other and prevent proper digestion of either food. Wait two hours after eating a starch before eating a protein, and wait three hours after eating a protein before eating a starch. No buns with your burger, and no sandwiches, meat and potatoes no more, no meatballs on spaghetti.

2. No fruits and vegetables at the same meal. Fruits are either a single or double sugar, whereas the starches are a triple sugar. Fruits mechanically break down in your stomach, but chemically, they don't break down until they reach the third and fourth stage of your digestive system, which are in your small intestine. Starches are broken down in three stages, starting in your mouth. This is also why it's crucial not to eat dessert after a meal. It gets trapped in your stomach with all that other food. Eat fruit 30-60 minutes before dinner. Fruit-vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, okra, bell peppers are ok to combine with other vegetables.

3. Eat melon alone. They do not digest well with other foods and will frequently cause problems unless consumed by itself.

Proteins and carbohydrates should never be combined. Eat fruits by themselves. Fats inhibit the digestion of protein, if you must have it with protein, off set the inhibiting effect on digestion by eating it with a mixed vegetable salad. If we don't combine properly, food is stopped from converting into nutrients. We produce harmful toxins that poisons the cells and tissues of our bodies and our organs of elimination. Improper combining for a prolonged period of time wears the body down and lead to serious diseases. If we spend less energy digesting our food, we absorb more of the nutrients from them.

When you eat matters too, eat least concentrated foods, in the greatest amount in the morning, fruit is an ideal choice, but not a fruit salad, one kind at a time. More complex foods, but in smaller amount is good to take midday, like carbs, the most concentrated foods, like protein, taken in the evening.

Drink water before and after your meals, not during. Ideally, drink water 30 minutes before and 2 hours after, this will aid in digestion and it will stop bloating. Water dilutes the digestive juices. Drink water when you awake to help activate your internal organs and to remove any toxins before your first meal of the day.

Regular colonics and coffee enemas would help with elimination of toxins, schedule a colonic with a trained practitioner. Search the Gerson coffee enema, you can do this yourself at home.

It's not just the food we put in but how and when we eat them that we can achieve optimal health. To fully understand how we can nourish ourselves, we have to understand the amazing system it thrives on. Let's treat it well. Keep your guts happy!