the MISSING PIECE of the EQUATION - enzymes in well-being and proper function of digestive organs

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 2000 by Robin Westen, Janet Webb

Michael Murray says most Americans need to make fundamental changes to their diets before they'll get relief from digestive problems. It's easier to notice how your body responds when you're working with a relatively clean slate, he says. From that point, you can experiment on yourself to see, for instance, how your system responds to adding more raw or fermented foods to your diet. Even though digestive problems have become as common as the cold, they're mostly in your power to prevent.

proper food combining

One school of thought believes how you combine food is as important as the foods' nutritional content. The Hippocrates Institute health center in West Palm Beach, Fla., uses the "living foods" philosophy developed by the late naturopathic doctor Ann Wigmore to improve the digestion of healthy people and help others heal from illnesses, sometimes grave.

The living foods system advocates a diet consisting primarily of raw fruits and vegetables, along with juices, sprouted nuts and grains and wheat grass juice. The diet, proponents say, boosts immune function, improves mental clarity and slows the aging process.

The system promotes raw food because of its enzyme content-but only in the right combinations. The goal is to create a favorable atmosphere in the body for absorption of nutrients and quick elimination of waste. Some food combinations help this process and others hinder it, explains Brian Clement, Hippocrates director.

Foods digest at different rates in acid and alkaline environments. And when acid and alkaline mix, they neutralize each other, proponents say. Clement compares the process to highway traffic patterns. Just as a slow-moving vehicle will force a faster one to brake, foods that digest quickly collide with slow-moving foods-resulting in indigestion, bloating and poor assimilation.

Poor food combinations include proteins and starches (like tofu with rice), because starchy foods need an alkaline environment to digest in the stomach, while proteins need acidic digestive juices. Another bad match is any kind of fruit with starch, protein or vegetables. The sugars and acids in fruits slow the digestion of other foods. Fruits are divided into three categories: acidic fruits, like lemons; "subacid" fruits, like apples; and sweet fruits, like bananas. Stick to one category per meal for optimal digestion. And melons should always be eaten alone because they digest more rapidly than other foods.

Poor food combinations can cause residues to collect in the bowel. Protein residues, for instance, cause bacteria growth, disrupting the balance of intestinal flora and creating gases. These gases may cause abdominal bloating, which puts pressure on the diaphragm, heart and lungs, according The Complete Book of Food Combining by Jan and Inge Dries (Element Books Limited, 1998).

Good combinations, like protein with sprouts and leafy greens or starches with sprouts and vegetables, take about the same time to digest and use compatible digestive juices, Sprouts stay in the stomach about an hour, while most vegetable proteins are there one to two hours. In the living food system, it's the reaction between foods whether they digests properly or not, Clement notes. "Food is cannot supercede that chemistry."