On a rope bridge in Panama
For me an introduction to raw food came quite unexpectedly while I was working and staying with a friend out in Panama; home of some fantastic and enormous fruit and veg. Kami prepared delicious salad after salad; we ate little and often, with the right combinations of foods and two weeks later I was veritably zinging.
We thought it would be a good idea to share Kami’s words of wisdom; after all one of the biggest reasons for going raw is to help the body with its mineral and vitamin absorption and efficient digestion. After some extra research I realised it is easy to get bogged down in this subject. So I squeezed it down into a few main points.
The Big Four Raw no-no’s
1. Fat and carbohydrate: Avoid having sweet fruit like bananas, nuts, seeds, avocados etc together in the same meal. If you do eat them together the fats and proteins (which are slower-digesting foods) will cause the sugary fruit to ferment in your stomach. This cannot be good. You can eat the fats or proteins four hours before, or a couple of hours after the sweet fruit instead – because the sweet nutrients will have had time to dance through your digestive system by then.
2. Carbohydrate food and acid food: Like with fats, acid foods need longer to digest. If they are eaten with sweet fruits they can also cause fermentation in the stomach.
3. Acid food and proteins/fats: Citrus fruit, pineapple, strawberries and other acid fruits should not be eaten with nuts or avocados; otherwise the protein will not digest properly. Acid fruits inhibit the flow of gastric juice whereas digestion of protein requires an unhampered flow of juice.
4. Keep the amount of fat to a minimum: Fat has an inhibiting influence on digestive secretion and also slows down digestion of other foods. It is generally a good idea to reduce fat intake; it is surprising how little of it we need. Delicious but notoriously fatty avocados are best eaten with a green salad but never with nuts sweet fruit, especially melons.
We feel the trick to this diet is to keep it simple. After all we just want to help our bodies digest this lovely fresh food. Tips like sticking to one type of protein in meals (some raw foodies even stick to just one type of nut or seed). By not eating a huge variety of food types in one meal will help to stop our bodies having to work too hard and will avoid most of the no-no’s too.
We’re just looking forward to getting sensitive with our own bodies; listening to how it feels after eating different combinations of food, and how we feel after these small easy to digest portions.
We want to live in the best possible way for our whole lives so that we can be the healthiest and best we can be for ourselves and for other people! Apart from the eating (which has a huge impact) we also want to focus more on sleeping, exercising, relaxing, being creative, being in nature, having fun so we can shine together brighter from the inside out – yay!!
Have fun trying out our recipes and join us in Raw June!
Love Jane xxxxx
beach house kitchen 
Gorgeous photo Jane!
This is such good info! I’m terrible at food combining, especially when it relates to fruit. I just love it with everything!
I’m definitely trying to make my meals more simple. I think I’m going to try eating one food only at a meal as well and see how that helps, such as eating only one kind of fruit for breakfast. I’m hoping it will help with my digestive issues!
Thanks for this Gabby, glad you visited the BHK. The raw diet is helping us all over and digestion is great, less food = less work for the system. Hoorah. Happy blogging.
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Good info. This seems so overwhelming. I tend to throw bananas into every smoothie no matter the fruit…. And I have a habit of eating avocados with tomatoes …. As Im starting out, I guess I’m trying not to overwhelm myself with good food combining yet.
Thanks again
It is a bit of a headache, but once you get the hang of it….. I don’t notice too much difference yet, we ate healthy before, but the science is there so we are listening to that really. Its tough not having nuts and seeds on salads in the morning, or like you said avocado on anything (seemingly), but it does make you enjoy lunch and dinner alot more. It really depends on how far you wish to take it, we like the rules, but also love breaking them. Thanks for dropping by, lee and janeX
Thank you for visiting “God’s Healing Plants”. I really enjoyed reading your blog and just joined your “like” bunch and look forward to receiving new posts from you. Blessings on your day.
Your blog is great and looking forward to reading more. Great to have you in the ‘bunch’. Happy days, lee and janeX
Wow this is interesting as I have just eaten avocado, lemon, line, broccoli, cashews… And finished with banana soft serve shortly after. I do have digestion problems but I think that’s more from guar gums in hidden foods. Does this concept of eating have to do with yeast build up? Anywhere I can read more about this?
There are many sources, we don’t have one particular source and normally research using the internet. Jane has a friend who is an experienced raw food eater and passed the info on. We are definitely feeling the benefit of these rules, especially at breakfast and last meal of the day. Thanks for stopping by, lee and janex
I will make a point to try to follow this but there are so many food combos I love (apple and almond butter, avocado with everything) it will be quite a challenge. Thanks for the great info!