2 Minute FitBit: Proper Food Combining for Better Nutrition Artwork

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2 Minute FitBit: Proper Food Combining for Better Nutrition

May 02, 2022 • Jerry Bacall • Season 1 • Episode 10

0:00 | 5:22

The old saying "you are what you eat" is really "you are what you digest". In this episode Jerry takes you out of the gym and into the kitchen for some tips on proper food combining and other digestion hints to help make sure you're getting the most out of your nutrition. This nutritional insight will allow you to get the most out of what you are eating

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Proper Food Combining

Hi and welcome to this edition of the 2 Minute FitBit brought to you by Phaze One Fitness and me, your host, Jerry Bacall. Today we’re going to leave the gym and head into the kitchen for some tips on proper food combining for optimal digestion.

There’s an old saying…you are what you eat…when in fact you are not what you eat but rather what you digest. So eating good foods can go to waste if you’re not digesting them properly and getting the full advantage of the nutrition contained within. A lot of what I’m referencing today are concepts taken from the most outstanding book entitled, Fit For Life, by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. The concept is rather simple. Foods are categorized into two groups. Concentrated and high water content. Concentrated foods consist of proteins and complex carbohydrates while the high water content foods are fruits and vegetables.

The mistake we make in food consumption is thinking that a balanced diet means a balanced plate. When you try and eat a balanced plate you create problems in the digestive tract and actually impede many of the nutrients from being digested and absorbed.

This is where proper food combining comes into play. Now those on super high caloric diets as part of the weight gain portion of their contest prep, may have a problem with strict adherence to this regimen due to time constraints between training and eating.

But for the average trainee, food combining, and allowing for the 3 phases of digestion, Appropriation, Assimilation, and Elimination, can make for great nutritional gains. In this regimen, not only are you properly combining foods, but you’re allowing the body to digest, absorb the food, while allowing it to eliminate the waste generated.

Proper food combining goes like this. Fruit, although a high water content food, is considered a cleanser, so optimally should be eaten alone and because it is a cleanser it’s the only food that should be consumed during the elimination phase.

To properly combine foods, at any one meal you eat only one concentrated food along with one or several high-water content foods. So that’s either a protein or a complex carbohydrate along with one or several vegetables. Here is an over simplified version of just how digestion works. Proteins are mostly digested in the stomach whereas complex carbohydrates are digested in the small intestine. Proteins need an acidic environment to digest while the high acidity turns off the enzymes that digest carbs. If concentrated foods are ingested together, while in the stomach, the proteins are digested while the carbs begin fermenting trying to get to the small intestine. Gasses are produced from the fermentation, which are then expelled up the esophagus, bringing with it some of the stomach acids, and viola, next stop….. heartburn. Hence the multi-billion dollar ant-acid industry.

As for the 3 phases of digestion….a 24 hour day is divided into approximately 3 8-hour phases usually determined by your sleep schedule. Phase one is appropriation. This is when you are introducing food into your system. Phase Two is assimilation. You’re giving your body the opportunity to digest and absorb all the food you’ve appropriated. And Phase Three is elimination. Allowing your body to rid itself of all the waste and by-products of the appropriation and assimilation phases. Generally coming off of sleep, you are still in the elimination phase and therefore should only eat fruit until you start the appropriation phase.

A significant problem with the average diet is that not enough attention is paid to separating the 3 phases and giving each its’ due time to complete. In fact, way too much time is spent appropriating and not enough time assimilating and eliminating. One should keep in mind that all 3 phases share the same importance.

So follow these few easy steps for combining your food and controlling your intake and allowing for proper digestion and elimination and you will notice a huge difference in your energy levels.

And speaking of phases, this 2 Minute FitBit has been brought to you by Phaze One Fitness. Join us again when we discuss another interesting topic. For questions on this topic or any other topic you can always email us at info@phazeonefitness.com and we’ll get back to you with the answers. Until then, I’m your host Jerry Bacall wishing you success, and above all please stay safe and healthy