Our body is like a vehicle when refilled with clean, high-quality fuel, it runs fast without crushing down all day long. But different type of cars requires different fuel. What works for one, will not work for another. If after lunch you feel sleepy, have a headache or your stomach is bloated, the food was not the right one for you. The food should give energy, not take it away to digest difficult, incompatible or too much food. Less work for stomach, more energy and happiness you have.
What slows down the digestive system?
Incompatible foods. There are no good or bad products, but can be a bad combination of them that leads to poor digestion, causing discomfort. There are products which should not be consumed together – milk with meat, milk and yogurt with fish, milk with legumes, milk with fruits. Also, milk with cereals is not really a good combination. Try to fix your breakfast porridge in water! Maybe the taste will not be so rich, but energy after more. Very effective is separated food method – the animal protein is consumed separately from starchy vegetables and cereals. Separate eating enhance digestion, boost energy, increase sence of well being.
Wrong food order. Here comes a dessert what usually we eat at the end of meal. Ayurveda experts recommend start your meal with a sweet, because it does not require long processing. Consumed at the end of the meal, it stays long in the stomach together with other food, causing difficult digestion, fermentation and forming of gas. The best is not to eat sweets at all or eat alone. Also it is better to eat fruits alone between meals or an half hour before a meal, not at the end. Especially watermelons and melons.
Too much food. They say that our food portion should not be bigger than our two palms together. In any case, even the best food consumed too much will slow down our digestive system and make us drowsy and tired.
Intolerance of some products. Is your back itching after sandwiches? Or your stomach bloating after latte? Maybe your body is unable to digest gluten or lactose? The blood test can show which products your body can not tolerate. But you can also use the principle of exclusion to find out by yourself. Observe when you feel better, for example, after drinking milk or not. And check out all the “suspicious products” – bananas, potatoes, nuts, wheat, barley, rye, cheese, yogurt, eggs, etc., etc.. Long-term consumption of the products, which the body can not digest may provoke variety of health problems – chronic fatigue, unexplained headaches, lethargy, persistent heaviness after eating, constipation, skin problems neurodermatitis and psoriasis.
How to help the digestive system?
Eat only when you are really hungry. In your diet include as much as possible “live” products, products as they are in nature – raw, unproceeded. The best way of cooking is steaming and boiling. Fried food is more difficult to digest.
Use spices to improve digestion – cardamon, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, turmeric, oregon, basil, etc.
After huge meal slowly enjoy some herbal tea – ginger, fennel, sage, marjoram, lemon balm, yarrow, caraway, etc. It helps your stomach not to be upset.
Hard digestive products such as nuts and seeds before use soak or slightly roast. Sprout the legumes.
Consume compatible, good food and you will have enough energy and strength throughout the day to work creatively, to accomplish the planned work and give love to others. Your skin also will look healthy and glowing.