Do you ever feel gross after eating a meal: bloated, sharp pains, a heavy feeling in your stomach, uncomfortable and t-i-r-e-d?
Well you’re not alone. Indigestion can be a common occurrence BUT just because it is common doesn’t mean you should have to deal with it!
In today’s vlog I share why you may have indigestion and what you can do about it. I’ll be covering 3 areas that can cause indigestion and what you can do to mitigate it.
- Stress
- The mechanics of eating
- The types and combinations of food
Hopefully you’ve learned what you can do if you experience the ill effects of indigestion. This week I challenge you to NOT use the tips but rather to create the optimal environment to eat your meals. Prevention is key here, and not waiting to ‘cure’ the bloating, gas, and lack of energy.
Be sure to SHARE this vlog with any others who are experiencing the not so pretty effects of indigestion and put them in a better mood!
~Michelle
Holistic Nutritionist.
when you talk about carbs and protein in a meal and the digestive process, are you talking about starchy carbs and protein or just carbs in general, why I ask is that I thought for any meal you have it should consist of protein, carbs and good fats.
When I talk about carbs I mean starchy carbs like rice, bread, potatoes, quinoa, etc (essentially foods with high carbohydrate content and low water content). Leafy greens and most vegetables are considered neutral in food combining even though they are mostly complex carbohydrate.
Any whole food including fruits and vegetables all contain fats, carbohydrates and proteins. The degree that each macronutrient is present varies though. For instance spinach contains a lot of protein and even apples contain a small amount of fat.
The goal of food combining is to allow the body to digest food efficiently – the more complicated the meal, the more work the body has to do. By reducing the extra effort expended on digestion the body can then use those resources ( energy and enzymes) to take care of other issues in the body (clearing out toxins, regulating metabolism, healing). Most people have digestive issues so eating one concentrated food at one meal helps with indigestion. BUT if you have no issues having starches + protein in one meal then your digestion is very strong (ie children can mix foods groups and not have digestive issues).
Try out food combining for the week and see if you notice an energy difference! Be sure to have lots of neutral veggies with the meal though (60-80%) to help with digestion 🙂
I admittedly do not chew my food sufficiently from time to time. Is there a guideline for the number of times one should chew their food?
No worries, most people don’t chew their food well! You should aim to chew your food until your tongue can’t discern a carrot chunk from a leaf of kale (mushy and unrecognizable). You can start with 20-30 chews as an exercise but let your tongue guide you! Chew your drinks as well.
Happy chewing 🙂