Hi all

Have been reading a lot in this forum about food combining...how important is it in your opinions?

I have noticed that I am not feeling particularly satisfied after many of my raw meals, despite feeling full I want something else. This has led me searching for cooked, starchy foods even though I really prefer the raw! Frustrating .

Could this be due to poor food combining...or is it just getting used to a new way of doing things?

Claire

Fogot to add that I do not know too much about food combining, just the basics...fruit by itself, no starches and proteins together.

Claire

I feel it is a good idea for digestion. Beginners I think should be more concerned with adapting eating raw foods rather than stressing about combining though. BUT, it is something I feel the longer or further one progresses it becomes a natural thing to want to do as well as desiring to do. Just as mono-fruit eating becomes common place through time and hence combining becomes a non-issue. It's all a progression and meant to be taken as it comes, I feel in the end as long as you are moving forward it's all good.

I certainly agree with Tanawana. It's a great point. I think those at the beginning need to concentrate on just increasing the overall % of fresh, raw plant foods they are eating for life....until they hit their goals....and never look back - you know? Beyond that, there are many 'refinement' tools that can be utilized like Fasting, Hydrocolonic Therapy, Mono-eating, food-combining, yoga, etc., that can help accellerate an already clean system....and get out any remaining contaminants.

-As Tan says...I have mono-eaten fruit for several years now...and those kind of issues become a non-issue...for me. There ARE some basic food combining rules - and I'm sure one of the great folks on this board will post those for you. Thank you for your intelligent question.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I appreciate Tanawana's and DavidZaneMason's advice, but it pays to remember that everybody's - every body is - different! Doing a lot of research on food combining as I was going raw / increasing my percentage saved my butt, and my commitment to live this way!!! I'm a newbie of just over two months and if I don't watch my combinations I really pay for it - if I wasn't as aware as I was I would've ditched the whole idea a second (tried going raw some monthes earlier and boy was I hurting) and final time.

I think it would only be to everyone's advantage to leard about the rules, then see where your body leads you / needs to go.

Also remember that your body will have to get used to eating in this new manner; mine still is, and sometimes I feel as if I'm eating the house down! It never ceases to amaze me how much cooked food you have to eat in order to equal the satiation you feel when eating raw. Your body tends to overeat the cooked items in order to try to get some nurishment out of it, so you get used to feeling stuffed. On raw, the fiber fills you up much more quickly, so you need to eat less. Your body will have to learn what real hunger feels like...

Another thing is that you (may) derive psychological and emotional pleasure form eating certain cooked items - the textures and smells triggure certain feelings, emotions and memories - and you won't get that from raw (at this point)! Many people use food to numb their feelings, keep them at bay or to make them feel good, and you won't get that from raw, either! Eating raw makes you come face-to-face with yourself in a very revealing manner, and this may be a subconcious reason for your lack of satisfaction as well...

Hope this helps; all the best!

Thanks all of you for your helpful comments

Claire

I found it very hard sometimes in the beginning. I've been transitioning for a year and a half now. Eating lots of nuts/fat with fruit was awful for me. I recall how awful I felt after making my first raw gourmet (chocolate strawberry) cake.

You should get used to "hunger" or the absense of that really full feeling, but it's not the same as before because you are more nourished. If you drink two green smoothies a day you will not be nearly as susceptible to cravings, at least that works really well for me.

Right now pear/orange/romaine (a whole head) or pear/mango/romaine are going down real good. The nectarine/pear/green smoothie this AM was real nice too.

Get a copy of Green For Life or 12 Steps To Raw by V Boutenko.

12 Steps To Raw was an immense help to me, personally, and I agree that green smoothies do take some of the edge off! My current mix of mixed greens/spinach/ bananas/peach is divine! I've experimented a lot, and love smoothies because it helps me keep my greens intake higher without having to eat all day!

Real hunger is felt in your mouth and/or throat...takes a little getting used to...

Thanks!

claire Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi all
>
> Have been reading a lot in this forum about food
> combining...how important is it in your opinions?
>
====================================================
In my transition, I used to mix foods. Not anymore.
My system's basic instinct is leading me this way, not much a certain discipline or elaborated goals.

Couple of observations supporting my actual way of eating raw w/o combining whatever I eat, can be considered:

a) More fruits/veggies we blend, will decrease the benefits and the taste of the components, taken/eaten individually;

b) The blending process is accelerating the oxidation and degradation hundreds or thousands times. Example: blend a beet, fill a glass jar, screw the lid on. Notice how fast the smoothie is changing the color around the air bubbles;

c) Taken individually, each fruit or vegetable is a balanced (self sufficient) system or form of life. IMHO, eating them individually is like taking a prescription - it is meant to help you to fix a health problem.
Mixing them in blenders will simply disturb their balance. More organic and inorganic chemicals from different sub-systems we put together, will create new blends with different properties, more chemicals will interact, creating new compounds AND anihilating each other.

I feel sooo much better to taste each fruit/veggie individually! Like being together for a while with every friend.

There are so many other questions and things we have to try!
Couple of words to think about: variety, how much?, when?, how long?, etc.

In everything we ingest there is a mix of benefic and toxic chemicals our system has to deal with.
Every component taken in small amount can help and taken in (very) large amount can kill. It's all about proportions.

As a small part of the Universe, we are changing/transforming continuously.
The same about our needs.
To fully understand how our body works is way above our capacities.

Pls. excuse my English - foreigner.

=============================================================
Medicine, Food Industry and Commerce are businesses.
Is their goal to make/keep me healthy or to make more profit?
=============================================================

Soraya says:

"On raw, the fiber fills you up much more quickly, so you need to eat less. Your body will have to learn what real hunger feels like... "
When i was on the SAD diet it was EASY to get full, now that im RAW it seems I can just keep eating and eating and never really get full so Id have to disagree with that statement and just that statement alone. I eat like a horse on RAW and i never really get full, satisfied yes,full? no. Like bananas, I can eat one after the other and I never get truly full from them but a hamburger and fries? I got full,very full and sometimes couldnt finish,same with a steak or chicken, Id definately get full.Last night I had about a POUND of greens for dinner with TWO large avacados in it and diced tomatoes all over it and when I finished, I could have made another salad!!! But I didnt. "true fullness" is different on RAW at least it is for me.
Rob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2008 02:53PM by roadrunner.

Roadrunner: Let me clarify my thought process...sometimes I forget that other people can't hear what's going on in my head... I find it so much easier to explain things when I just talk...

I may have been a little muddled/unclear/non-linear in what I was trying to say...

We get used to eating to the point of fullness on SAD because its hard to feel satiated - satisfied - at least it was for me(!), and it is something that was habitual. That full feeling also comes from, I am surmising, all the hard work our digestive system had to then put in to break all that stuff down! So we get used to that, and feel that if we don't connect with that, we haven't eaten enough. I think that, on raw, we have to learn how to disconnect from that assumption.

There is a difference between feeling full, feeling satiated, and being aware of what true hunger feels like.

I've found that sometimes (I'm still new to this) that I have days when I eat like crazy...really often. I know that my body is sucking up all the nutrition that I wasn't getting enough of even through my "super healthy" diet, which was not SAD! I also keep in mind that most of what I eat digests a whole lot quicker than cooked food used to, so that contibutes to how much/how often I have to eat as well. I've learned that true hunger is felt in the throat and mouth, and that I don't have to eat to the point of fulness in order to feel satisfied, as if my body has taken what it needed to at that moment. It can be a very subtle thing to feel, and it takes a lot of practice to be able to...

In my experience, I can't eat tons of raw in one sitting...I eat slowly and munch thoroughly like a cow,so my system has time to realise that I'm satiated, and that its time to stop. I use satiation as my benchmark instead of just feeling stuffed, and that works much better for me. Yes, "fullness is very different on raw" was one of the points I was trying to (not so eloquently, apparently!) make...

Trust me, I can get full on bananas!!!

When all is said and done, it is important that we each do what works for our own body. I was just trying to share some awareness that I've gained from my experience in practice, and through things I've learned...

If the above isn't clear enough then I give up!

* Oh...and I wanted to ask how long each of you have been raw...I think that would give some clarity as to why we are experiencing certain things / reached certain conclusions...*



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2008 04:17PM by Soraya.

Proper Food Combining may be more important than we think. I put my Veggie scraps in a Blender Container, with a little water, to use as fertilizer for my Wheatgrass. I didn't use it for a couple of days this week and there was a strange odor coming from the container. I had mixed Celery ends, Carrot tips, Broccoli stalk, and Sweet Pepper ends. I think it may have been the Broccoli that turned it 'sour', but further experimenting is called for......WY

I was 50% raw for a while and loved the raw gourmet. Lots of berry pies, and lots of green smoothies with 5-6 types of greens and whatever fruit I felt like. I was a food combiner's nightmare. :O

After I switched to 100% raw, I find myself wanting things one at a time, even in a meal where I eat several things. I used to amuse myself with food by having a bit of one thing, then another, then another, a neverending carousel of flavors, ha ha, right?

Now I am amazed by the carousel of flavors provided by a single food, the different notes and fragrances and variations all in the same food, whether it's a mango or a bowl of mung bean sprouts.

My stomach also refuses to tolerate green smoothies now, and raw gourmet--gotta love that pistachio pesto sauce!--really makes my stomach ACHE. So it's a very rare treat. >.>

Just keep listening to your body, it will definitely speak. =)

Hi,

I believe that food combining is absolutely imperative for all-round health and digestive ease!

Best wishes,
Gina

Gina Shaw DSc MA AIYS Dip Irid Dipn NH
[www.vibrancyUK.com]

phantom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After I switched to 100% raw, I find myself
> wanting things one at a time, even in a meal where
> I eat several things. I used to amuse myself with
> food by having a bit of one thing, then another,
> then another, a neverending carousel of flavors,
> ha ha, right?

One thing at a time is Great, but you know
what they say about Variety. Perhaps Fruit and Greens should
not be mixed because of the different Transit Times. However,
Chimpanzees in the Wild have been seen wrapping greens around fruit
and eating it like a sandwich.
I've come to enjoy a wide range of ingredients in both my
Fruit and Green Smoothies. Perhaps the best 'Test' would be to
blend everything one likes together and just let it sit for a few
days.......WY