That said, there are some emails I receive rather frequently that really test my patience. They look something like this:

How can you eat an entire meal of bananas?! When I eat more than a couple of pieces of fruit, my blood sugar goes crazy!

What really irks me about comments like these is that more often than not, the person spewing them hasn’t actually tested their blood sugar after eating a meal of fruit. They really have no idea whether or not fruit actually “spikes” their blood sugar.

They just “feel” that it does.

Well today, I want to SHOW you what REALLY happens to your blood sugar level when you eat a meal of fruit. Check it out…

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Looking for tasty and healthy raw food recipes that most definitely won’t spike your blood sugar? Check this out…

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

 www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:

==> www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

a) too many ingredients being used or
b) improper food combining,

But there is yet another often overlooked habit that could be causing compromised digestion of your sweet n’ scrumptious smoothies…

Chewing vs. Drinking

Even though it’s easy to drink down a sweet smoothie in just a few gulps, you really shouldn’t. If you want to get the most out of your fruity drink, you need to chew it.

That’s because digestion begins in the mouth, not the stomach. When you chew your food, you secrete saliva. This saliva helps to lubricate the food and your esophagus, but it also contains enzymes that initiate the chemical digestion of the food.

In addition, chewing also helps let the rest of your digestive organs know that food is on the way, i.e. the stomach starts producing hydrochloric acid and the pancreas starts secreting digestive enzymes.

But if you swallow without chewing—even if it’s something drinkable like a smoothie that doesn’t need to be broken down mechanically—you miss an important part of the digestive process.

Chemical digestion in the mouth will likely be hampered because the food won’t spend enough time with your saliva and your stomach and intestines may not receive the signal that food is on the way.

Plus, if you don’t chew, you’ll be more likely to eat too much too quickly, which is an easy and quick way to impair digestion.

Take Home Message

Chew your food, even if you don’t need to. It just means you get to enjoy your food longer. Who doesn’t want that?

The easiest way to get into the chewing habit is to avoid all other activities when you are having your smoothie (a good rule for all meals, actually). It will be much easier to slow down and make sure you’re chewing if you aren’t distracted by TV or viral videos on YouTube.

Your Thoughts?

Do you chew your smoothies or do you swig ‘em down like many of us (not me, of course) tend to do? Leave your comments below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Truth be told, I used to drink all my smoothies. Correction, I used to GULP my smoothies! But since I began chewing them a couple years back, it’s become a healthy habit that I don’t even have to think twice about.

P.P.S. Not guilty of gulping your raw smoothies, salads, and soups because you aren’t eating any in the first place? Not a problem, because I’ve got just the thing…

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

 www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:

==> www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

Nut soaking is serious stuff and I won’t tolerate any funny business.

*smirk*

Alright, alright. Let’s get down to business.

Nut Soaking and Digestion

Like grains and legumes, nuts and seeds contain anti-nutrients such as lectins and phytates that can impair digestion. One way to reduce the amount in these foods is to soak them in water, thereby improving digestion.

But I think the main reason that soaked nuts and seeds are easier to digest is simpler than this. When you set nuts/seeds in water for a few hours, they soak up some of this water, thereby becoming more water-rich.

The same thing happens if you soak sun-dried tomatoes, raisins, or any dried food in water. The food will become less dry, softer, and easier to digest simply because the water content has been raised.

You can achieve the same end by simply blending the dry nuts/seeds with water-rich foods (like cucumber and tomato to make a savory salad dressing, for instance). That’s what I do when I eat nuts and I have no problem digesting them whether they are soaked or not.

Nut Soaking and Bioavailability

Because phytic acid hinders the absorption of iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium when it binds to these minerals—and because soaking reduces the amount of phytic acid present in nuts and seeds—it makes sense that soaking also improves the bioavailability of these nutrients.

In other words, you potentially absorb more nutrients from dried nuts that have been soaked then from dried nuts that haven’t been soaked.

What About Sprouting?

Sprouting may further improve the bioavailability of certain nutrients beyond soaking, but I honestly have no idea to what degree.

Personally, I don’t think sprouting is worth the effort and here’s why…

The Big Picture

Generally, the people so fervent about soaking/sprouting nuts and seeds are those who consume these foods in abundance. I am not one of those people and you shouldn’t be either.

When we’re talking about nuts and seeds, the ideal amount we’re looking at is around 1-2 ounces per day. That’s about 1-2 small handfuls.

And because the amount of nuts and seeds consumed is so small (or at least it should be), soaking/sprouting really shouldn’t make that big of a difference. As long as you’re eating enough fruit and greens, you should get plenty of the nutrients you need without nuts and seeds.

One exception is selenium, which is found in abundance in brazil nuts. Even still, this selenium has a very high absorption rate (over 90%) regardless of soaking.

So if you prefer soaking nuts and seeds, go for it. It definitely won’t do any harm and will likely improve digestion and bioavailability of certain nutrients to some degree.

But if you’re worried about becoming nutrient deficient if you don’t soak, stop worrying. Instead, focus on getting the nutrients you need from fresh fruits and vegetables.

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Can’t imagine a raw food diet that isn’t full of fatty foods like nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut, and oils? Then you’ve got to check out my low fat, healthy, and delicious raw recipe e-book:

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

 www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:

==> www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

How important, imperative is food combining????

For example, I love love love taste of bananans and strawberries and bananas and oranges and bananas and pineapples and melon and banananas combined and made into smoothies, but was told that it will be a digestive disaster????

True or false?

Let’s have a look at Heidi’s “disastrous” smoothies:

Bananas and Strawberries

Bananas are a sweet fruit while strawberries fit into the sub-acidic category. This tends to be fine as long as the strawberries are good and not too tart.

It’s definitely one of my favorite fruit combos.

Bananas and Oranges

Even when bananas are ripe, they still contain some starch. Because acid can impair the digestion of starch, a smoothie of bananas and oranges don’t make for the best combination.

Personally, I have no problem digesting bananas and oranges as long as the bananas are perfectly ripe and the oranges are very sweet.

Bananas and Pineapple

Again, we have a sweet/starchy fruit combined with an acidic fruit. Not a great combination.

Bananas and Melon

Here we have a sweet fruit combined with some kind of melon. This tends to be a less-than-stellar combo simply because melons like watermelon and cantaloupe are so water-rich and require less time to digest than bananas and other dense fruits do.

Digestive Disaster?

While many of the combinations above may not be optimal, I certainly wouldn’t call any of them disastrous. You may get a little bit of gas or some rumbly in your tumbly (thanks, Pooh Bear), but that’s about it.

A plate of fatty meat with mashed potatoes and gravy, a side of buttered green beans, and a tall glass of milk? Now THAT’S a recipe for digestive disaster!

Test it for Yourself

If you’re unsure of a fruit combination, just try it out for yourself. If you experience any tummy troubles, such as rumblings or gas, then you know that what you ate didn’t digest properly.

If you don’t, then eat up and enjoy!

What Say You?

What are your thoughts on food combining? Do you follow it? Do you scoff at it?

Let me know in the comments below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Looking for tasty and satisfying fruity combinations? Be sure to check out my raw recipe e-book…

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:

==> www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

There are hundreds of articles and books dedicated to helping you have more energy. I’m sure you’ve heard of these solutions: eat less meat, cut down on sugar, eat more fiber, drink lots of water, exercise everyday, on and on.

I’m here to tell you that you can significantly increase your energy by doing just one simple thing. But first, let me dispel a few myths…

Do Nuts and Protein Bars REALLY Increase Your Energy?

Have you seen those Emerald nuts commercials? You know, the ones where the people fall asleep during important tasks because they haven’t got enough energy. Then a friend gives them some nuts and woo hoo, they have energy galore!

I want to let you in on a little secret: there is *nothing* you can eat that will increase your energy. Not fruit, not vegetables, and certainly not nuts!

Digestion is a process in your body and it *requires* energy. That’s why everyone retires to the couch after a large Holiday meal. Your body is working overtime to process all of the food, leaving you too worn out to do anything else!

Which brings me to my next point: there are certain foods that require *less* effort from your body to digest. Raw fruit, for instance, only takes *minutes* to go through the full digestive process.

But again, even raw foods do not give you energy. It just uses up less, providing you with optimal fuel and letting you retain more of your own energy than if you had eaten, say, a bologna sandwich.

What About Exercise?

If simply eating an apple requires energy, you know what exercise does, right? Yep. Exercise saps your energy!

Think about it: you decide to go for a jog. You spend a good 30 minutes on the track. How do you feel afterwards? You feel a little worn out, right? And probably a little hungry, too.

With that said, making exercise a regular part of your life will *improve* your energy expenditure in the long run.

Because your body is now engaging in more intense periods of movement, average daily tasks will become even easier to perform. They will require less energy from you than they did before an exercise routine was implemented.

Exercising also makes the *true* energy booster even more efficient…

So What Does Give Us Energy?

Good question!

The *only* thing that we can do to actually restore our energy is…

*SLEEP*

That’s right.  Good ole’ sleep.  It’s easy to do, you can do it in the comfort of your own home, and it’s free!  What’s better than waking up naturally after a good night’s rest?

When you sleep, your body goes into hibernation mode. Because you are not moving, eating or thinking, you are creating less of a demand on your body. All of your organs, muscles and nerves are given the chance to rest and recover.

How much sleep do you need? It’s an easy answer, but you might not like it…enough.

You need enough sleep.

You want some numbers?  The general guideline is 8-10 hours every night. However, this changes from person to person. Someone who is training for a marathon will need much more sleep than someone who only goes for long walks on the weekends.

Tips For Getting Quality Sleep

As evidenced by the vast number of sleeping pills and potions used by the general public, people have a hard time getting quality sleep.

Here are some easy tips to help you *finally* get some sound sleep:

• Go raw! As stated earlier, eating healthy raw foods require less energy, allowing you to sleep much more soundly.
• Don’t eat too late. Try to finish your last meal a few hours before bedtime so that your body is not digesting food while you are asleep.
• Be a yogi! Just a few minutes of yoga, or any kind of light stretching, is a great way to calm your body and mind before sleepy time.
• Start an exercise routine. You will be amazed at how wonderfully exhausted you feel when bedtime rolls around.
• Turn off the computer or put down the laptop at least an hour before you go to sleep. I’m really bad about this sometimes, but it truly makes a difference.

As far as getting *enough* sleep, you simply have to get into the habit of doing so. The easiest way to do this is to gradually add on time to your nights. For instance, start by going to bed just 20 minutes earlier than you usually do. Add 20 more minutes the following week, and so on.

You can also try just adding a few restful moments throughout your day. That means no TV, no computer, and no phone! While this isn’t as restorative as sleeping, it does provide your body with a little bit of recovery time.

I have one last little point to make. If you wake up in the morning exhausted, that’s because you are! The absolute best thing you can do is go back to bed. Even if it means skipping exercise, go back to bed.

Yes, it’s that important.

What’s Your Sleep Schedule?

I’m an early to bed, early to rise type of gal and I feel best with about 9 hours of sleep a night. How about you?

Leave your comments below!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Can’t get enough quality sleep because you can’t stay raw? Can’t stay raw because of crazy cooked food cravings?

I’ve got just the thing…

“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”

A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.CookedFoodCravings.com

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==> www.CookedFoodCravings.com