Ever heard that beans plus rice equals a complete protein? Food combining for better absorption of nutrients has been studied and used for thousands of years. But what about the order in which we devour our meals? Won’t that make a difference in how we digest, feel physically and eventually absorb vital nutrients? You bet! In fact not only will choosing the correct order of carbs, proteins, and fats, aid in awesome digestion, but also in managing your appetite.
Understanding the way the body breaks down food is key to appetite control. Instead of munching down that whole bowl of tortilla chips before your fave salsa drenched burrito, realize that carbs are the easiest to digest. You won’t feel satisfied nor full which is why you can still stuff in that mondo burrito! With these simple fundamental rules you’ll be on your way to sensing and figuring out portion control:
Rule 1: Place highest-protein foods at the beginning of the meal– High protein foods like legumes, nuts, seeds, and animal products should be first priority since they require tons of stomach acids to breakdown. They need more time to cook in the pot. What does this mean for your hunger? That you’ll be satisfied and less hungry sooner because your tummy will be busy breaking up the protein. When proteins are eaten after starches or other food, stomach acids will not be sufficient for their digestion. Protein also shuts off the hunger mechanism in the hypothalamus, in the brain!
Rule 2: Proteins combine best with green and non-starchy vegetables– Green vegetables and their vitamin A content benefit the subtle protein metabolic processes that take place in the liver. Provitamin A is highly concentrated in blue-green algae and abundant in kale, parsley, watercress, and turnip, collard, beet, mustard and dandelion greens. Cook up those greens!
Rule 3: Fruit and sweet foods should be eaten alone, or at the end of a meal– Because of their simple carbohydrate structure, fruit and all those out-of-this-world desserts are broken down the easiest. When eaten with other foods they tend to monopolize all the digestive functions while other foods wait and ferment.
So test it out at your next meal. Do you feel better after eating in order? Let me know how fabulous and satisfied you are in the comments.
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