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

10 Benefits of a Raw Food Diet

Are you really eager to go raw, but just can’t seem to muster up the courage to get started?

These are some of the top 10 benefits of the raw food diet that most every raw foodist has experienced. If this doesn’t convince you to go raw, I just don’t know what will!

#1: Improved Digestion

If I had to give you my top raw food benefit, improved digestion would be it. It is the one result that almost every single person who attempts a healthy raw diet experiences.

Not only that, but it usually occurs very quickly. Many indigestion symptoms go away in just a few short days, if not less.  Whether you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome or just the occasional upset tummy, you will see major improvements after going raw.

However, if you continue to abuse the #1 food combining rule, then your results will not be as great. No amount of raw food can undo the effects of the sugar-fat combo.

#2: Permanent Weight Loss

Hmmmm…maybe permanent weight loss should be the top benefit?

I don’t think it’s going too far to say that close to 99.9999999% of people struggle with their weight at some point in their lives. Many of us go on diet after diet after diet, hoping that we will see *some* kind of positive change in our weight.

Unfortunately, the only change that most of us witness is a higher number on the scale. And if we do happen to lose weight, it’s usually at the expense of our health (i.e. calorie restriction, dangerous diet pills, frozen food programs, etc.) and typically comes back to haunt us sooner or later.

On the other hand, eating a healthy raw food diet allows you to lose weight *permanently* while improving your health substantially. Plus, you get to eat *pounds* of food on a daily basis, without any gain or the guilt!

#3: More Energy

Unlike what you read/hear from many well-known raw foodists, raw foods do *not* give you energy.  Nothing you eat does, whether it’s a burger or a banana.  Eating food of any kind *requires* energy, just as everything else that you do during the day requires energy.

What makes following a healthy raw vegan diet truly special is that it requires less energy to process inside your body. 2 pounds of grapes literally takes *minutes* to be fully digested by the body. This is opposed to cooked foods, or even a complicated fatty raw dish, which take hours to be digested.

The one *true* energy provider is sleep, which brings me to benefit #4…

#4: Better Sleep

Since I’ve been raw, I rarely ever feel tired when I get into bed. Even after being raw for so long, I still get ready for bed sometimes and think, “Gee, I’m not going to be able to fall asleep right now. Maybe I should just stay up for a little longer.”

However, I convince myself to get into bed and the moment my head hits the pillow, I feel so relaxed. Within minutes, I’m out.

The best part? When I wake up, I feel completely awake and ready to begin my day. No more groggy mornings for me!

This is a far cry from my bedtime routine from two years ago.

My daily routine was this: feel absolutely exhausted by 4pm. Try not to fall asleep at the wheel on the way to a client’s house. Feel a little better after a 30-minute nap. Feel exhausted again by 7pm. Get into bed still exhausted by 10pm. Remain awake for an hour. Wake up at 7am groggy and grouchy. Repeat.

Yikes, that makes me tired just writing it!

#5: Mental Clarity

I’m sure that many non-raw foodists will disagree with this one. Raw foodists are supposed to be tree-hugging, hippie nut jobs, right?

On a raw food diet, because you are no longer weighing your body down with hard-to-digest cooked foods, you have more energy to use your brain!

Of course, this has a lot to do with sleep as discussed previously.

Because you spend less energy digesting your foods, you sleep more soundly. This means that you have more energy during the day, meaning your thoughts are generally much more clear and your focus greatly improved. You are more mentally, and even emotionally stable.

It’s really a cycle, isn’t it? The more raw foods you eat, the better you sleep. The better you sleep, the more energy you have. The more energy you have, the more mentally stable you are. The more mentally stable, the easier it is to stay raw.

And the longer you stay raw, the healthier you become!

#6: Soft, Smooth, & Clear Skin

To be honest, I’ve always had pretty good skin. I’ve had maybe three blemishes in my entire life. In fact, the worst my skin has ever been was for the first few months *after* I gave up salt! But that’s for another article…

I’m not trying to brag. I just want to be honest. I’m not here to make up crazy transition stories about how going raw made me grow 5 inches taller and gave me the power of flight.

Anyway, I’m sure that many of you struggle with skin problems, whether it’s a blotchy skin tone, dry skin, oily skin, visible pores, blemishes, etc.

You *do not* need an expensive, chemical-laden skin treatment routine that only serves to further irritate your already abused skin. All you need is a good heapin’ helping of water-rich raw fruits and veggies.

And some sunshine couldn’t hurt either.

SIDE NOTE: I did have one skin problem prior to raw: keratosis pilaris (aka chicken skin). Click here to see how I bested it.

#7: Thick, Healthy, & Shiny Hair

I’ve always had really thick hair, but it was very dry and hard to manage before I went raw. The worst part was that I would shed like crazy!

My Mom was always pulling handfuls of my long locks out of the rollers of the vacuum. Yuck!

Now that I eat plenty of nourishing, water-rich foods, my hair is silky and soft. And I’m no longer a shedding machine!

#8: Healthy Teeth & Gums

But aren’t your teeth supposed to rot out of your head when you go raw?

NO! The fact that so many long-term raw foodists have suffered tooth decay is simply a testament to the fact that the mainstream raw food diet *does not work*.

On a healthy raw food diet full of sweet fruit, vegetables and little fat, you will not experience teeth problems. In fact, the condition of your teeth and gums is likely to improve!

The real key is to have a solid dental care system in place and not to make dehydrated foods the base of your diet.

#9: No More Aches, Pains, or Minor Illnesses

How many of you have struggled with “everyday” illnesses and pains such as headaches, migraines, colds, flus, tummy aches, joint pains, muscle cramps, allergies, etc.?

We all have at some point!

Personally, I used to struggle with…

• anemia
• restless leg syndrome
• muscle and joint pains in my legs and feet
• seasonal colds about 3-4 times a year (pretty much whenever the weather changed)
• the flu every couple of years
• headaches
• heavy menstrual flows and horrible cramps in my abdomen and lower back that left me in tears

And of course there were the seemingly random and unexplained aches and pains that would crop up every once in a while.

Every one of these has been *completely eradicated* since I went raw. No more headaches. No more colds. Perhaps best of all, no more heavy periods and gut-wrenching cramps!

Sorry guys, but that really is a big one for the ladies.

#10: Save Some Green

When you decide to take your health into your own hands and go raw, you can expect to save some dough in the process.

No more money wasted on unnecessary drugs, supplements or “superfoods.” No more expensive doctor’s fees. No more high insurance rates.

You can finally focus on *you* and spend that extra time and money on the things that actually make you more…well, you!

Still Waiting to Go Raw?

What are you waiting for? Each day that you remain a slave to your aching back, your extra fat, or even your trip to the local pharmacy, is a day that you could be living raw and loving it!

UPDATE

It’s been over two years and these are still my top raw food benefits. But what about you? Which raw results have you enjoyed the most?

Don’t be shy. Leave your comment below!

Go raw and love it,

Swayze

P.S. A raw food diet not giving you the radical health results you’ve been longing for? Click here to see what you’re doing wrong.

Kidney beans, black beans pinto beans, lima beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, black-eyed peas and other legumes are praised for being good sources of protein, low in fat and calories, and cholesterol-free.

But…all of these foods are eaten cooked, usually baked or boiled.

So then what about RAW beans? Can they be consumed when raw? Should they be?

Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit

There are many versions of this schoolyard rhyme, but here’s the one I remember…

Beans, beans, the musical fruit

The more you eat, the more you toot

The more you toot, the better you feel

So eat your beans with every meal!

Poetry. Sheer poetry!

In all seriousness, this silly song speaks the toot…I mean, truth.

Back when I ate a cooked vegan diet high in grains and legumes (hummus and falafel were two of my favorite snacks), I was pootin’ and tootin’ up a storm. And it definitely wasn’t music to my ears nor did it smell like roses.

But the big question is why? Why do beans and other legumes make us so gassy?

Many legumes contain oligosaccharides, a complex sugar. Because humans do not posses the enzymes necessary to break down this sugar, these large molecules are able to pass through your digestive system mostly intact.

Once the sugars reach your large intestine, they ferment in the presence of bacteria there and cause gas.

Another reason beans are associated with tummy upset is actually not because of the beans themselves. Since beans are so bland and unappealing on their own, they are typically accompanied by condiments, oils, and other foods to add flavor and texture.

For instance, chili, hummus, and falafel all contain beans, but they are also high in fat (e.g. oils, meat, and cheese). In addition, these foods are typically consumed with high carbohydrate foods like bread, corn chips, crackers, etc.

This meal of cooked fat and sugar makes for a very poor food combination that will likely cause gas and bloating.

Finally, the presence of lectins in legumes results in serious intestinal upset. But we’ll get to that in a minute…

Phytohemagglutinin, and Linamarin, and Hydrocyanic Acid! Oh My!

In addition to being difficult to digest, beans and many other legumes are also quite toxic.

For instance, kidney beans (particularly the red variety) contain phytohemagglutinin (PHA). PHA is an incredibly harmful lectin, a class of proteins that bind to certain sugars. Like all lectins, PHA is a naturally-occurring pesticide that protects the seed of the plant (i.e. the bean) from being eaten by predators.

So what does PHA do to you? It damages the lining of the intestinal tract. Your body’s response? Prolonged vomiting and diarrhea.

Yikes!

As a result, kidney beans MUST be boiled (which reduces the level of PHA they contain) to make them edible. And actually, according to Wikipedia, many other commonly consumed beans also contain this lectin, just in smaller amounts. Green beans and fava beans are two examples.

Lima beans, especially the darker varieties, are another particularly poisonous legume. They contain linamarin, a cyanogenic glucoside.

So what’s so bad about this cyanogenic whatever-you-call-it? According to Wikipedia:

Upon exposure to enzymes and gut flora in the human intestine, linamarin and its methylated relative lotaustralin can decompose to the toxic chemical hydrogen cyanide

What’s hydrogen cyanide? It’s an extremely poisonous chemical compound!

Finally, ALL legumes (like grains) contain lots of lectin. While not all lectins are as harmful as PHA, they do bind to the lining of your intestines and cause intestinal damage when consumed in high amounts.

This results in compromised absorption of any and all nutrients that pass through your intestines and can even lead to leaky gut syndrome.

Beans, Beans, They’re Yucky to Boot!

Imagine, if you will, a plate of cooked kidney beans. That’s it, just beans. No salt. No spices. Nothing but beans.

Um, eww?

There’s a reason no one sits down to a bowl of beans. Just like grains, beans are bland and unappetizing unless mixed with condiments or other flavorful foods.

And what about raw beans? Even worse, right?! Not only are they bland, but they’re tough and virtually impossible to digest when raw.

There’s a reason that the few raw foodists who do consume raw beans only do so after soaking them for several hours and then combining them with flavorful foods.

The Bottom Line on Beans

Raw beans are not a health food. They are hard to digest, toxic, and completely unpleasant in their whole, raw state.

The simple fact that beans and other legumes must be soaked, cooked, and covered in condiments to be enjoyed is a sure sign that they are not an optimal food for humans.

Go raw and be bean-less,

Swayze

P.S. Some people think they can’t maintain a raw food diet of fresh fruits and veggies. They think that they won’t feel satisfied, won’t have any energy, will have massive cravings, and will have to turn to cooked complex carbs like grains and beans.

If this is you, you’re wrong.

If you can’t stay raw because you never feel satisfied after meals, you’re doing it wrong. If you can’t stay raw because of low-to-no energy, your doing it wrong. If you can’t stay raw because you have massive cravings for cooked foods, you’re doing it wrong.

On a healthy raw vegan diet done right, you should feel satisfied after every meal, have loads of energy, and be completely cravings-free.

Where can you learn how to go raw the right way and abolish your cravings for good? My cravings-crushing program How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All will teach you all that and more…

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

A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.CookedFoodCravings.com

To learn more and purchase your copy today, visit the link below:

==> www.CookedFoodCravings.com

In fact, discomfort and smell-free digestion is one of the major benefits of eating raw!

But of course, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go raw. Here are 4 common raw food mistakes that are likely giving you indigestion:

#1: Improper Food Combining

You know all those gourmet raw food recipes that taste so good? You know, the mock meat loafs, cheesy cheese-less soups, and raw brownies?

Well, it’s time to stop eating them because they’re giving you gas!

You see, most raw food recipes like the ones I mentioned are comprised of two main ingredients: sugar and fat.

The sugar can come from whole sources like fresh fruit or from refined foods like dried fruits and agave nectar. The fat can come from several sources as well, typically avocados, nuts, seeds, oils, and coconut meat.

So what’s the big deal?

Simple carbohydrates like bananas take much less time to digest than high-fat foods such as nuts. A large fruit meal takes under an hour to fully digest while a fatty meal takes several hours.

So when you eat both sugar and fat together, the fat inevitably slows down the digestion of the sugar. Rather than emptying the stomach quickly, the sugary food remains in your digestive tract for too long.

This is what leads to the fermentation that is causing your gas and bloating.

In addition, many poorly combined raw food recipes are too complex and contain too many dried ingredients.

It’s very difficult for your body to digest a dish of several ingredients, even if they are raw. And eating too many dried foods like dried fruits and nuts (or a recipe that has been dehydrated in its entirety) requires more water from your body to digest and can lead to constipation.

#2: Eating Too Much Fat

So you now know that fat takes longer to digest than sugar. But did you also know that fat stays in the bloodstream several hours longer than sugar does?

Here’s an example.

Let’s say that last night you ate a raw burger recipe followed by some raw chocolate cake, both of which were full of avocados, nuts, and seeds. This morning, you ate a simple fruit smoothie of mangoes and blueberries and soon after experienced tummy troubles.

Is the fruit to blame here? Nope, it’s the fatty meal you had the night before.

As Dr. Douglas Graham says in his book The 80/10/10 Diet, if you eat a diet high in fat:

…the bloodstream always contains an excessive quantity of fat, and more is coming in at almost every meal. Essentially, even when you eat a fruit meal alone and wait hours before eating fat, those sugars are likely to mix in your bloodstream with the fats you ate the day before. (pg. 35)

This means that even if you are combining your raw meals properly, you may still be experiencing digestive upset simply from including too many fatty foods in your diet!

#3: Snacking Between Meals

Properly combining your foods AND limiting your fat intake yet still suffer from gas and discomfort? It’s possibly because you’re snacking between meals.

Even a small snack of a few apples shortly after a large fruit lunch of mangoes can affect the digestion of the mango meal. Rather than passing into the intestines and eventually reaching your cells, some of the mangoes may remain in your stomach, leading to fermentation and gas.

Can’t stop snacking? You need to eat bigger meals. Try adding just one extra piece of fruit to your meals each day until you no longer feel the urge to snack between meals.

#4: Eating Too Fast

Do you burp/hiccup a lot after your meals? It’s likely because you are eating too quickly.

When you eat too fast, you swallow more air. Burping and hiccuping are ways to expel this air. So stop wolfing down your meals and you won’t be so gassy!

I’m really speaking to myself on this one because I eat way too darn fast. But fruit is just so delicious that I can’t help myself!

Your Raw Food Experience?

As I said, optimal digestion is one of the main benefits of eating a low fat, high fruit raw food diet. Vastly improved digestion has definitely been one aspect that has kept me so enamored with this way of eating!

What about you? What fantabulous results have kept you coming back to raw foods again and again?

Leave your comment below!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Looking for properly combined, nutritious raw food recipes to help you go raw the right way? Check out my 100% 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

And the best part? It’s all totally healthy!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the raw gurus are lying to you. These so-called “gourmet” raw recipes are so-totally-NOT healthy and you should avoid them at all costs if you really want to thrive on a a raw food diet.

Luckily, there are a few easy ways to spot these dastardly dishes. Here, I’ll show you…

Gourmet Raw Recipes

Below is a recipe I found at Gone Raw and it is the perfect example of the types of recipes that comprise a gourmet raw food diet:

Orange Creamsicle Tarts

Macaroon Crust:

Here’s what really makes this recipe “gourmet”:

Gourmet Raw is Full of Fat

Take a look at some of the ingredients above: dried coconut, cashews, and coconut oil.

What do all of these foods have in common? They’re all full of fat! Cashews contain around 67% fat, coconut meat about 83%, and oil is nothing but 100% pure fat.

I averaged out the amount of fat in this recipe using Nutridiary and discovered some pretty disconcerting figures…

Each tiny tart contains 860 calories with a whopping 63% coming from fat!

Is it any wonder that so many raw foodists complain of fatigue and hunger cravings when all they’re filling up on is slow-digesting, unsatisfying fatty recipes like this one?

Gourmet Raw is Poorly Combined

In addition to being fatty, many gourmet raw food recipes are also full of sugar. And while I think sugar from fruit is fabulous, I never recommend mixing it with tons of fat.

And yet, this is exactly what you see in the recipe above. You’ll notice that the ingredients list includes lots of cashews (fat) and agave nectar (sugar). It also contains orange juice (more sugar) and dried coconut (more sugar AND fat).

This recipe is the definition of poor food combining. If you want to properly digest your food and avoid tummy troubles, you need to leave fats and sweets separate, especially when dried.

But if it’s gas and bloating that you seek, by all means chow down!

Gourmet Raw is Full of Salt and Spices

Because a diet of raw fruits and veggies is so bland and boring, salt and other condiments like pepper, garlic, onion, chilies, cayenne pepper, cacao, etc are often added to recipes to crank up the flavor.

These flavor-enhancers serve no nutritional purpose whatsoever and are very irritating to the body.

Salt (usually in the form of Himalayan sea salt, Nama Shoyu, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos) is particularly toxic. And while the raw dessert above only calls for a pinch of salt, this is still an unhealthy amount.

Think of it as a pinch of poison!

Gourmet Raw is Not Really Raw

Gasp!

Yep, it’s true. Most gourmet raw recipes are not really raw. Why? Because they either contain ingredients that are dried or refined or they utilize equipment (e.g. dehydrators) that further dries out the entire dish.

Let’s return to the orange tart recipe one more time. Do you see what I see?

Lots of dried ingredients like coconut and cashews, right? And of course, we can’t forget the refined “raw” sweeteners like agave nectar and oils like coconut oil that aren’t really raw either.

Give Up the Gourmet

While you probably won’t find all of these factors in every unhealthy raw recipe, just one is often enough to justify the “gourmet” label.

For instance, this broccoli soup contains no raw sweeteners or other sugary sources, yet it is still full of fat and salt. You can be sure that this dish is indeed “gourmet” and should be avoided.

If you’re still unsure whether a raw recipe is healthy or not, these guidelines for making healthy raw recipes should help you out.

Go raw, give up the gourmet, and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Looking for really raw recipes that are both delicious and good for you? Check out my 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