I have been exploring various systems and approaches for more than ten years, I like to experiment (especially on myself!). But I certainly believe in the uniqueness of each of us. My lifestyle changes from year to year. Oops! A new project appears. Oops! I am pregnant, and a person grows inside me. Oops! I feed the new inhabitant of the planet with my milk. Oops! I recover from shock training. Oops! I slept very little and worked a lot. Oops! It's so hot outside! And now it is so cold that all the eyelashes are in the snow. I live in very changeable conditions, and my diet also changes with them. There are several principles that work for me regardless of the season, the amount of stress and my mood. They help me to maintain excellent digestion, a sense of vitality, tone, good condition of the skin and hair.
– 1 –
I never eat large amounts of peanut butter, even if it's vegan and natural. Sandwiches with a thick layer of peanut butter may look beautiful in the pictures, but for my digestion, this is too heavy combination. Peanut itself is one of the hardest products for digestion, and I never eat it more than one tablespoon at a time, and I do it quite rarely. Peanuts are also highly susceptible to mold, which produces harmful toxins on its surface. This mold is resistant to high temperatures, and can negatively affect digestion and liver health. It is almost impossible to determine the presence of this mold on peanuts without a microscope. A spoon of peanuts once a week will not be a big problem, but I try to limit its amount in the diet.
- 2 -
If I eat pizza, it is only on freshly prepared dough and in a good restaurant. If I eat pizza, I eat it with a lot of vegetables. And after the pizza, I do not eat dessert with refined sugar. The combination of refined sugar and refined flour is one of the worst for our digestion. If I want to eat ice cream or cheesecake, I eat vegetables with eggs, young cheese, buckwheat, or quinoa for the main course.
- 3 -
A glass of hot water helps me to improve digestion during or after a meal. If I feel that at the time of the meal there was anxiety in the body because of work, or the food I eat is quite heavy, I always accompany lunch with hot water. It can be plain water, water with lemon, water with ginger and a little honey or turmeric. Sometimes it's a cup of green tea or chicory. Cold drinks, and especially ice drinks, weaken digestion. I always drink a bottle of green juice from the fridge in small sips, warming the juice in my mouth, or wait a few minutes for the drink to warm up a little at room temperature.
– 4 –
The size of the portion is important, especially if what lies on the plate falls into one of these categories: nuts, seeds, cereals, food based on any flour, butter, cheese, cottage cheese and other dairy products, eggs, beans, potatoes and dried fruits. These products are quite difficult to digest, and each has that portion that should not be exceeded. What helps me to control the size of the portion is the lack of haste or phone in hand and careful chewing. If it is fresh or cooked vegetables and some fresh fruits (not all!), I can eat them in large quantities, and this will not affect my digestion and vigor.
– 5 –
I do not combine fresh fruit with other foods. Quinoa, cheese and watermelon salad looks great, but my digestion will immediately react negatively to the presence of watermelon in the salad. Fruits are absorbed very quickly - faster than cereals, dairy products and cooked vegetables. Combining fruits with other foods makes it harder for us to digest. But even here the quantity is of great importance - a slice of tangerine or a spoonful of fresh berries will not be a problem, but because of a kilogram of watermelon or melon eaten right after dinner, a few hours you may feel noticeable discomfort in the stomach. I always eat fresh fruit in the morning after a couple of glasses of hot water and vegetable juice. During the day, I take a break about two hours after another meal to eat fruit.
– 6 –
The more excitement, the more hot food in the diet. After the speeches, seminars and important working meetings, I always want a bowl of hot soup. Hot food soothes me and helps maintain good digestion regardless of the amount of excitement.
– 7 –
I allow myself to have everything, but I always do it, watching my feelings. How does my digestion and my skin react, how does the level of vigor change? It can be an unpleasant feeling in the stomach or a headache, it can be a feeling of lethargy and drowsiness. I never condemn myself, I just observe and draw conclusions. Sometimes the problem is in the product itself, and sometimes in its quantity, in combination or even in what condition I ate this food. No one better than me will determine which products are suitable for me and which are not. This helps only daily observation, lack of self-criticism and guilt.
