Importance of food
We cannot deny the fact that we need food in order to survive. Food and water has been the centre of our life. Humans can survive without their big houses, expensive cars and clothes but they could never survive for more than a week without any food and water.
If you could observe, large parts of the third world countries suffer from malnutrition. They have food but the foods they have do not meet the daily required calories or energy of the body. Also, they do not have enough food for the day that they could only eat once or twice a day. As they say, “you are what you eat”. If we eat all those greasy and oily foods, we tend to become overweight or unhealthy. If we eat only sweets and caffeine, then don’t expect that we could have that perfect, healthy body we always dream.
So just how important is the food?
To function properly, the human body must have nutrients that are present in the food. Our brain cannot function if the body is weak. We will suffer from fatigue and stress from the lack of food. Extreme dieting is harmful to us and our body. Our digestive system and our cardiovascular system are the ones at greatest risk to being damaged and become not repairable.
Food Pyramid
The basic four food groups were reworked into a more balanced and healthy food pyramid guide. Now this food pyramid has its base on the grain group, the second level with fruit and vegetables group, third level with meat and diary groups and on the last level, fats, oils and sweets group.
The food pyramid is generally a guide for everyone of what to be eaten each and as to how much quantity should be eaten. There should be a variety and balance in eating so as to meet the required calories per day. Each group provides what a person needs but in small amounts. No food group in the food pyramid could provide all the nutrients that a person needs. Also, the foods in the pyramids have no substitute and must not be replaced by any commercial products stating that they are the substitute.
The grain group which is found at the base of the pyramid is composed mainly of cereals, pasta, rice and other foods made from grains. We need a lot of daily servings of these foods than any other groups because they are our source of B-vitamins, iron, carbohydrates and some protein. The daily recommendation is at least 6 servings per day.
Fruit and vegetable group are the richest source of vitamins and minerals. Take note, they provide fiber which may not contain nutrients but is extremely important for the digestive system. They aide in the smooth digestion of the food and thus ensure good digestion. At least 3— 5 serving so f vegetables and 2-4 serving of fruits per day is recommended.
Meat and diary groups are the richest source of proteins. On this level, the two groups of food such as milk, fish, eggs, poultry and cheese are all animal source except for nuts and beans which are from plants. High amounts of protein, calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc and B vitamins. These are essential in bone and muscle development which why children need more meat and dairy products in their diet during their growing years.
Fats, oils and sweets group are on the top of the pyramid and is recommended to be used sparingly. Even if they are a pleasure to eat, they provide only calories and very little nutrients to our body. These include cream, chocolates, sugars, candy sodas and cakes. Too much of this results in have ailments and problems with the heart and blood sugar.
Malnutrition
It is likewise important to know what malnutrition is. This will be vital as some weight loss diet deprive our body with the much needed nutrients and lead to malnutrition without our knowledge.
So what is malnutrition? It is the imbalance between the body’s demand for nutrition and the available supply of nutrients. When the body is not given enough of any of the essential nutrients over a certain period of time, it will result to becoming weak and more prone to infection and sickness. The body withers as a result of the muscle being broken down for energy since the body will tap its stored fats for energy. In extreme cases, death occurs.
What causes it then? It can result from an unsatisfactory diet that often results to starvation oneself by force. It can likewise come from a disorder that interferes with the body’s utilization of food.
But did you know that obesity is also a form of malnutrition? It is being defined as body weight more than 20 percent above the ideal body weight.
Extreme weight loss such as that in anorexics is life-threatening. It is one form of malnutrition that is extremely rampant among women. Anorexia nervosa is condition that requires professional treatment and emotional support from family and friends.
In unindustrialized countries, protein-calorie malnutrition is one problem that is common among children. Their bodies fail to grow with damage digestive organs. Starvation results in calorie deficiency.
Lack of the critical nutrients results in the deficiency of vitamins and minerals that are responsible for different disorders. Like, lack of iron results to anemia, lack of iodine results to goiter which is the enlargement of the thyroid gland and many other diseases detrimental to the body.
How the digestive system works
The foods we eat are not in a form that the body can use as nourishment. Food and drink must be changed into smaller molecules of nutrients before they can be absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout the body. Digestion is the process by which food and drink are broken down into their smallest parts so the body can use them to build and nourish cells and to provide energy.
Digestion involves mixing food with digestive juices, moving it through the digestive tract, and breaking down large molecules of food into smaller molecules. Digestion begins in the mouth, when we chew and swallow, and is completed in the small intestine.
So how does digestion work?
Well, the large, hollow organs of the digestive tract contain a layer of muscle that enables their walls to move. The movement of organ walls can propel food and liquid through the system and also can mix the contents within each organ. Food moves from one organ to the next through muscle action called peristalsis. Peristalsis looks like an ocean wave traveling through the muscle. The muscle of the organ contracts to create a narrowing and then propels the narrowed portion slowly down the length of the organ. These waves of narrowing push the food and fluid in front of them through each hollow organ.
The first major muscle movement occurs when food or liquid is swallowed. Although we are able to start swallowing by choice, once the swallow begins, it becomes involuntary and proceeds under the control of the nerves.
Swallowed food is pushed into the esophagus, which connects the throat above with the stomach below. At the junction of the esophagus and stomach, there is a ring like muscle, called the lower esophageal sphincter, closing the passage between the two organs. As food approaches the closed sphincter, the sphincter relaxes and allows the food to pass through to the stomach.
The stomach has three mechanical tasks. First, it stores the swallowed food and liquid. To do this, the muscle of the upper part of the stomach relaxes to accept large volumes of swallowed material. The second job is to mix up the food, liquid, and digestive juice produced by the stomach. The lower part of the stomach mixes these materials by its muscle action. The third task of the stomach is to empty its contents slowly into the small intestine.
Several factors affect emptying of the stomach, including the kind of food and the degree of muscle action of the emptying stomach and the small intestine. Carbohydrates, for example, spend the least amount of time in the stomach, while protein stays in the stomach longer, and fats the longest. As the food dissolves into the juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, the contents of the intestine are mixed and pushed forward to allow further digestion.
Finally, the digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls and transported throughout the body. The waste products of this process include undigested parts of the food, known as fiber, and older cells that have been shed from the mucosa. These materials are pushed into the colon, where they remain until the feces are expelled by a bowel movement.
Importance of digestion
Most digested molecules of food are absorbed through the small intestine. They may either have been mechanically digested (food is chewed, mashed and broken down into smaller pieces) or chemically digested (enzymes change food into simpler substances).
So what makes digestion so important? Digestion is the breaking of food into smaller pieces so that it could be absorbed and utilized by our body. The smaller pieces that were broken down are then absorbed into the small intestine where they will be transported to the different body parts. The body in return utilizes for the nourishment of the cells and be an energy source. Like tiny building blocks, they work together to form every part of you. Cells make up the skin, bones, muscles, and organs. Our body uses nutrients to fix damaged cells and make new ones. Nutrients give cells what they need to work, grow, and divide. Consider the foods we eat at the raw materials or ingredients of a dish. In order for us to be able to make a certain dish, the ingredients must chopped and processed so that they will fully utilized and cook. The same way goes with digestion.
Improper digestion results from the different digestive problems. This could also come from the malabsorption of the different nutrients. Lets us not forget that our digestive system support our body. As small as we think that system is, we cannot overlook the fact its importance. It is composed of a series of organs that break down and absorb the food we eat so that the nutrients can be transported into the blood stream and delivered to cells throughout the body. Most of us ignore our digestive system unless there’s a problem. We never or if not, rarely consider the role it plays in our overall health. To think, move, work, and learn, we need our digestive system to process your food and help utilize the nutrients. Our skin, hair, and even sleep can be affected by whether or not everything is working correctly.
One expert says that people with poor digestive health might struggle with their weight, experience irregularity, nausea, bloating, constipation, stomach pain, diarrhea, heartburn, or gas on a routine basis. Poor digestive health also can prevent people from sleeping, working, exercising, or socializing with friends.
So bear in mind that our digestive system affects our whole body when it is not well taken cared of.
What’s Food Combination?
Food combining, or scientifically called, Trophology, is the science of correct food- combining, that is, the art of knowing which foods go best with which others. 'Food combining' may also mean to the combination of foods which are compatible with each other in terms of digestive chemistry. Food combining is a basic component of optimal nutrition because it allows the body to digest and utilize the nutrients in our foods to their full extent.
Most would agree that “Food combining is based on the theory that different food groups require different digestion times. Digestion is helped the most by using foods which have roughly the same digestion time.” Thus, correct food combinations are important for proper digestion, utilization, and assimulation of the nutrients in our diet. The principles of food combining are dictated by digestive chemistry. Different foods require different digestive enzymes to aid in the digestive process - some acid, some alkaline.
Below is a list of foods and their digestion time.
Other melons - Cantaloupes, Cranshaw, Honeydew etc. - 30 min.
Oranges, grapefruit, grapes - 30 min.
Apples, pears, peaches, cherries etc. - digest in 40 min.
digestion time
Root vegetables - carrots, beets, parsnips, and turnips etc. - 50 min.
digestion time
soy beans -120 min. digestion time
Nuts - Almonds, filberts, peanuts (raw), cashews, brazil, walnuts, pecans etc. - 2 1/2 to 3 hours to digest.
time
whole milk cottage cheese - 120 min. digestion
whole milk hard cheese - 4 to 5 hours digestion time
Whole egg - 45 min.
Fish - cod, scrod, flounder, sole seafood - 30 min. digestion time
Fish - salmon, salmon trout, herring, (more fatty fish) - 45 min. to 60 digestion
time
Chicken - 1½ to 2 hours digestion time (without skin)
Turkey - 2 to 2 ¼ hours digestion time (without skin)
Beef, lamb - 3 to 4 hours digestion time
Pork - 4½ to 5 hours digestion time
Dr. Hay and Food Combining
"Any carbohydrate foods require alkaline conditions for their complete digestion, so must not be combined with acids of any kind, as sour fruits, because the acid will neutralize. Neither should these be combined with a protein of concentrated sort as these protein foods will excite too much hydrochloric acid during their stomach digestion." - Dr. Hay, How to Always Be Well
According to common story, when William Howard Hay (1866–1940) graduated from New York University Medical College in 1891, he practiced medicine and specialized in surgery. That changed 16 years later when his own medical troubles led him to research the connection between diet and health. Hay then weighed 225 pounds (102 kilograms) and had high blood pressure and Bright’s disease, a kidney condition. Hay discovered that his heart was dilated while running to catch a train.
The dilated heart caused by weakened heart muscles meant that his blood could not pump efficiently. Hay knew from treating patients that his future did not “look overlong or very bright,” according to his 1929 book Health via Food. The title described Hay’s health theories, his condition, and treatment.
Hay diagnosed the causes of his conditions as the “very familiar trinity of troubles” that then ranked as the primary cause of death: the combination of high blood pressure, kidney disease, and dilated heart. But he could not accept the fact that his legs, which have swollen that time might be chopped off. So he looked for other reasons and so Hay looked at his eating habits.
Thus he went into research and it was said that, Hay’s research led to a diet based on the theory that health was affected by the chemical process of digestion. The body uses an alkaline digestive process for carbohydrates, the group that Hay classified as consisting of starchy foods and sweet things. The digestion of proteins involved acid. If carbohydrates and proteins were consumed at the same time, the alkaline process was interrupted by the acid process. Combining incompatible foods caused acidosis, the accumulation of excess acid in body fluids. Hay linked the combination of foods to medical conditions like Bright’s disease and diabetes. The wrong combinations “drained vitality” and caused people to gain weight.
Hay maintained that the solution was to eat proteins at one meal and carbohydrates at another. He classified fruits with acids. Hay labeled vegetables in the neutral category that could be consumed with either group. He also advocated the daily administration of an enema to cleanse the colon.
This was the starting point for the interest in the field by other doctors who would later have a classification of the food system.
Food Sources
The principal sources of protein are:
The chief sources of our starchy foods are:
The chief sources of our fats are:
Some of the most common juicy fruits are:
Apples, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, strawberries, apricots, avocados, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, huckleberries, blueberries, mulberries, nectarines, olives, pineapples, plums, raspberries and whortleberries.
The melons (watermelon, muskmelon, cantaloupe, casaba, honey dew, etc.), rhubarb stalk and tomatoes are so like fruit that for practical purposes we may call them so.
The most important sweet fruits are:
Ripe bananas, sweet prunes, sweet grapes, raisins, dried currants, figs, dates and persimmons
The principal succulent vegetables are:
Asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, parsnips, cauliflower, cucumber, egg plant, lettuce, okra (gumbo), onions, radish, summer squash, tomatoes, spinach, kohlrabi, kale, Brussels sprouts, cone artichoke, chard, string beans, celery, turnip tops, lotus, endive, dandelion, oyster plant, rutabaga and garlic. Though corn is really a cereal, corn in the milk, either on the cob or canned and green peas may also be classed with the succulent vegetables and also the pumpkin.
The principal salad vegetables are:
Lettuce, celery, endive, romaine, chicory, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, celery cabbage, parsley, field lettuce, and cress are suggested. All leaves that are relished may be used for salad purposes.
The Nine Rules
Food combining cannot be done without any rules. And it is dilated by the digestive system and the digestive process. This is as dictated as the different food types require different digestion length and process. It is then important that when doing food combining, do not just combine just because you think it is right. You must know the basics and what food goes well with another.
Dr. Herbert Shelton in his book” Combining Food Made Easy”, gave some easy and simple combinations so as not to confuse a beginner or someone interested in the diet.
The Nine Basic Rules of Proper Food Combining:
Food combination Table
When having meals, it is better to take note that the smaller the number of courses, the better it will be. Food combining is not about the bulk or the quantity of food you eat but the quality and the combination observed in the meal. What is important is that the meals should be favorable to the well being and health of someone rather than the complexity of its preparation.
Proteins, fats and carbohydrates remain in our stomach for as long as seven hours until all the stomach contents empty. Depending on how they are paired with, carbohydrates pretty much have a short stay in the stomach when eaten alone without protein. Even shorter are the fruit meals while proteins have the longest stay in the stomach. So it is ideal that the three be eaten at different meals. Like for breakfast, you could opt for just a fruit meal or a protein meal with say like salad and vegetables when it comes to dinner. The choices are many as long as you know how to combine them. The rules are there to guide you.
Even more, the food combinations will be greatly aided by this chart.
Food Combining Chart
* Not recommended for good nutrition.
Food combination-digestion pairing
Writer Carly Schuna shares her thoughts about the topic. In her article, she discusses the relation of food combining and digestion. We must remember however that what might work for one person, may not hold true to another.
“Food combining involves eating foods in certain combinations or sequences with the goal of aiding digestion and minimizing stomach discomfort. People who advocate food combining follow guidelines that dictate how to combine foods at meals and in what sequence to eat each food. They feel that improperly combined meals can result in digestive discomfort, a build up of food in the stomach and even more serious health problems.
Digestion
A basic principle of food combining is to only combine foods that have similar digestion times. According to nutritionist and food-combining advocate Dr. Stanley Bass, water, juice, fruits and vegetables have generally short digestion times of under 45 minutes, and whole grains, dairy products, proteins, nuts, seeds and complex carbohydrates take more than one hour and sometimes as long as several hours to digest. Proponents of food combining believe that the stomach overworks when it digests a variety of foods at a single meal, and it's healthiest for the stomach to handle similar types of food at once. When the stomach has completed the majority of digestion for one group of items and is mostly empty, it's permissible to eat again.
Good Combinations
Combine foods that have similar digestion times or that are in the same food group (with the exception of proteins, which should be limited to one type at each meal). Alder Brooke Healing Arts recommends combining vegetables with buttery or fatty foods, carbohydrates or proteins. Other good combinations include starches with carbohydrates or proteins and fatty foods with carbohydrates.
Bad Combinations
Avoid comb