Edible Art

Image via Healthy Living

Due to a persistent and pesky stomach ailment, I've decided to try what is known as "food combining"...which is actually more like food segregation, if you ask me. The theory behind it is that certain foods require certain digestive enzymes and that improperly combining foods can lead to low energy and lackluster health. In a nutshell, fruits should only be eaten on an empty stomach and never combined with anything else, meat should never be eaten with carbohydrates but vegetables can be eaten with either meats or carbs, but not fruit. Only fruit should be ingested until noon, and nothing should be eaten after 8:00 p.m. Oh, and forgo vinegar.

Needless to say, this poses something of a challenge.

One can argue that this is a silly way to eat. Of course we can eat everything altogether...it's done all over the world! But, once I read up on the subject, also known as "natural hygiene", it made sense...for me.  Even as a little girl, after I ate a meal (meat, veg and potatoes or a standard sandwich), my stomach would distend. That can't be right.  In America, we have access to everything imaginable.  We aren't limited to what we can grow in our region. It's grown elsewhere and shipped to us.  Not to mention much of what makes up the standard American diet is highly refined, processed food and our portions are humongous.  How often are our stomachs upset after a meal? Who doesn't have an armory of antacids in their home?  I don't think we are meant to eat American for breakfast, Mexican for lunch and Italian for dinner. That's a bit overkill when you think about it, no?

It also made sense to give my system a break and then ease into the day. So, no more coffee in the morning, which is like breaking up with a handsome lover.  It's a bowl of berries or tangerines and later an apple. Just fruit until noon (well, there might be a cup of Roobios tea about nine o'clock).  The idea is that there are three phases to how our bodies take in nutrients: We eat, we absorb, we eliminate. Following natural hygiene (which is such a wondrously bad phrase for this eating regimen), from noon to eight p.m., we eat and digest, from eight p.m. to four a.m., we absorb and from four a.m. to noon we eliminate. It seemed rather intuitive.

I'm just over a week into this. Visiting a restaurant isn't as simple as it once was. The time it takes to prep and put together my breakfast and lunch has more than doubled.  It's a lot of work and a great commitment but, when I open my refrigerator and see such a vibrant spectrum of colors, I know I'm doing the right thing...for me, anyway. There is still my 88% cacao chocolate on the menu and I'll have to figure out how the Guinness chocolate cake will fit in, not to mention cocktails. But, for the month of February, I'll be focusing on creating edible art and making this work long-term. I do feel a difference. And it is one for the better.