Principle 1. Fruit on an Empty Stomach Only

“Pain-Free Eating” Basic Principles: 1. Eat fruit on an empty stomach 2. Eat as much high-water content food (fresh fruits and vegetables) as possible 3. Properly combine your foods 4. Avoid animal products and processed foods 5. Maintain an alkaline pH (7.35 is ideal) Below is a more detailed explanation of each: Principle 1. Fruit on an empty stomach only Fruit is the most perfect food in existence. It’s filled with essential nutrients, is a great energy source and cleanses toxins from the body. It is truly “nature’s candy” and perhaps that’s why so many people eat it as a dessert. Many people claim they can’t eat fruit; that it “doesn’t agree with them. ” In most cases, they are wrong—because it’s almost certain that the problem is not in eating fruit, but in when and how it’s eaten. Fruit is a food mainly made up of water and natural sugars. As such, it doesn’t take much effort for our system to digest it. With the exception of more dense fruits (bananas, avocados and dried fruits), when fresh fruit is eaten, it passes right through the stomach and into the intestines where it’s digested. This is fine when your stomach is empty…but the problems arise when your stomach is full of other foods and is working to digest them and you toss fruit on top of them. At that point, the fruit wants to head to the intestines but its passage is blocked by the other food. So the fruit gets stuck sitting on top of those foods in the stomach and quickly starts to ferment and putrefy. And what happens at that point? You guessed it—stomach aches, gas, bloating, diarrhea and cramps. And you head for the antacids. Bottom line: Eat fruit but eat it on an empty stomach—either (alone) for breakfast, as a snack (at least 3 hours after a properly combined meal) or as a first course of a meal, allowing at least 20-30 minutes for the fruit to pass through the stomach before other foods are eaten. Do this and I’m confident you’ll see a big difference in how you feel fast, and will no longer believe that fruit “doesn’t agree with you.” Plus, you’ll be getting nutrients that you haven’t gotten in years. Principle 2. High water content foods The old saying goes, “You are what you eat.” A new one should be, “Eat what you are.” Our bodies are comprised mainly of water as the percentages below illustrate: Lean muscle tissue is 75% water Saliva is 95% water Blood is 90% water Lymph is 94% water Bone is 22% water Lungs and brain are 80% water Since the body is largely made up of water, it follows that it would need water to help keep it healthy and functioning properly. And I’m not just referring to drinking water (although that’s very important too—you should always drink at least 5-8 cups of water each day). I’m talking about eating foods that have a naturally high content of water—fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables give your body the water it needs to help keep all your tissues moist and hydrated and play a crucial role in creating and maintaining health. First, all the nutrients and vitamins naturally occurring in fresh fruits and vegetables are carried to the intestines by the water in those fruits and vegetables, where they are absorbed and used by the body. Second, the same water that brought the nutrients in also carries wastes away from the body. Perfect! In addition, most fresh fruits and vegetables are alkaline foods, which will help your body achieve and maintain an alkaline pH. (I’ll talk more about an alkaline pH in principle number 5.) 6 Fruits and vegetables “in a pill”? Many people may say, “I don’t really like fresh fruits and vegetables. Can’t I just take a multi- vitamin?” Well, let’s look at that. If someone wants to take a pill to get their vitamins and minerals, my first question is, “Then what ARE they putting into their mouths at meal time?” Sorry, but eating cupcakes, candy bars or chips, McDonald’s, Burger King or KFC and feeling justified to do so because you took your multi-vitamin that morning just doesn’t cut it. Here’s why: First of all, any benefit your body could realize from the pill-induced nutrients is quickly being undermined by the completely-devoid-of-nutritional-value junk you just ingested. The acid created from that non-food destroys the nutrients from the vitamins. Or, the minerals from the supplements are used by the body to neutralize the acid formed from your food. Either way, you are not moving toward a state of health. You are moving backward. (More on processed foods in principle number 4.) Secondly, you’re totally lacking the benefit of the water from fruits and vegetables to help carry away the wastes that are created from the junk food you ate today and yesterday and the day before. Getting those high water content foods into your meals It’s important to point out that the less you cook your vegetables, the better. Cooking for long periods of time and/or in large amounts of water will lessen or even destroy the nutrients in the vegetables and decreases the natural water content. So when cooking vegetables, strive to lightly steam or sauté them until they are just crisp-tender. This will make them more appealing to the average person than plain raw vegetables while still preserving their value to the body. The same and more can be said for fruit. Cooking fruit not only decreases its nutritional value to the body—it also makes it highly acidic and likely to ferment in the stomach, causing gas, pain, bloating, indigestion and diarrhea. Aside from perhaps a rare “indulgence” of apple or blueberry pie, strive not to cook your fruit in any way . And remember, never eat any kind of fruit (cooked or raw) immediately after any other food or you will pay a heavy price. Another question may be, “OK, so what do I need to do now? Eat like a rabbit—raw vegetables and fruit morning, noon and night?” Of course not. The idea is not to turn you into a rabbit but encourage you to incorporate increasing amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables into your meals each day, until they represent a high percentage (at least half and preferably 70%) of what you eat. That leaves a lot of space for all the foods you love. This is a lot easier than it sounds. Simple suggestions for getting more high water content food into your day: 1. Instead of chips with your lunch, have carrot sticks or cucumber slices 2. If you’re still hungry at the end of dinner, have seconds on tossed salad instead of anything else 3. Make sure to have a raw veggie tray at all parties and get-togethers 4. If the kids are hungry after school, give them fresh fruit instead of cookies, chips or other “non-foods” 5. Add diced celery, cucumbers, onions and peppers to tuna or egg salad 7 6. Stir some lightly steamed or sautéed broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage into your favorite soup 7. Bring bags of veggie dippers (cut-up broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, radishes, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms) to work to nibble on instead of answering the call of the vending machine 8. Offer a fresh fruit cup as a first course at dinner (never after dinner) 9. Turn plain spaghetti with tomato sauce into special primavera by sautéing some of your favorite vegetables and stirring them in 10. For a light, healthy and great tasting breakfast, throw together a collection of all of your favorite fresh fruits, instead of the usual cereal, toast, eggs, etc. No matter where you’re starting from, incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables into your meals will be beneficial. - If you are already someone who eats a fairly high amount of fruits and vegetables, I commend you. - If you occasionally (and maybe reluctantly) eat some fresh fruits and vegetables and are trying to eat better, I applaud you and encourage you to keep on that track. If you are the person described above who wants your only source of vitamins to come from a pill or a powder, the next several paragraphs are just for you: Your body is mainly water. It needs water to keep it working properly. It needs nutrients to stay strong and healthy. It must get rid of wastes without working hard to do it. Stop looking for a magic pill that will serve as justification for you eating chemical potions created in labs designed by taste engineers to taste unbelievably good on your tongue. “Garbage in, garbage out” applies to your body as well as computers. If you exist mainly on nutritionally devoid, chemical-laden junk, don’t expect to look good, feel good or have much energy for anything besides being a couch potato. And don’t expect to see your toes for much longer, if you still can at this point. You need to stop complaining about being sick and gulping drugs for stomach problems, aches and pains and high cholesterol (among other things) that can be completely eliminated (or drastically improved) by properly combined healthy meals. I pray you’re not there already, but if you suffer from a tragic disease like cancer, heart disease, arthritis or diabetes, know this: Your diet plays a MAJOR role in the development and severity of those diseases! Don’t expect to ever hear that from a doctor, because most doctors are not educated in prevention of disease or preservation of health—they are disease-oriented.

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