Digestive Health - Green Foods: Nature's Fast Food

Green Foods: Nature's Fast Food
by Donna Gates

Vegetables. Nature's most perfect and abundant food source on earth. They are alkaline-forming and rich with the vitamins and minerals needed to heal your body. Raw vegetables are said to be enzyme-rich and are therefore widely believed to be an excellent source of enzymes that aid digestion. However, the digestive systems of many are simply too weak to digest raw vegetables in spite of all their natural enzymes. So though they are good for you, raw vegetables are only as beneficial as your digestive system will allow.

ARE YOU DIGESTING YOUR RAW VEGETABLES?

The issue of vegetable indigestion is far more pervasive than most realize. Digestive distress like gas, bloating, and abdominal pain are common reactions after eating raw vegetables.

Don't misunderstand, raw foods are beneficial and do contain enzymes, but they also contain cellulose, a fiber that is poorly digested by humans. Though fiber has little nutritional value, it is very important for intestinal health and for the formation of a healthy stool. The enzyme needed to digest cellulose is called cellulase and it's produced by intestinal bacteria. But unlike cows and other ruminants, humans simply do not have the enzymes in our bodies necessary to properly digest the fiber in vegetables without taking supplemental enzymes.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution. Fermenting raw vegetables is a key element to improving digestion of not only vegetables, but digestion in general, because the fermentation process breaks down or pre-digests the fiber.

WHAT THE ANCIENTS KNEW ABOUT RAW VEGETABLES

The ancients were well aware that raw vegetables were difficult to digest. In Chinese Medicine, for example, it is well known that raw foods are best eaten by those with strong "digestive fire." A major cause of reduced digestive fire is poorly nourished adrenals and thyroid, taxed by toxins and daily stress. It takes energy to digest foods, but these over-worked glands don't have enough to do the job.

Fermented raw cultured vegetables, like sauerkraut, olives, and pickles, provide important plant enzymes and healthy microflora to populate your inner ecosystem and build your digestive fire. In commercially heated versions of these foods, the lactobacilli and healthful enzymes have been destroyed.

SOME KEY WAYS TO MAKE DIGESTING RAW VEGETABLES EASIER INCLUDE:

Adding fermented foods and drinks to your diet.
Chew your vegetables completely—at least 20 times per bite.
Bake, simmer, sauté, or lightly steam your vegetables to make them more digestible.
Blend your vegetables in a raw vegetable smoothie.

Another very important, yet unrelated, recommendation is a restful night's sleep. When you sleep, your body's natural ability to heal goes to work repairing the wear and tear of daily living. As your body restores itself, your blood becomes slightly acidic, with the goal of returning to a more alkaline state in the morning.

Unfortunately, poor diet and lifestyle inhibit your body's ability to repair itself effectively. Over time, stress and a diet of processed foods make blood even more acidic, setting the stage for illness.

To be truly healthy, your blood must remain slightly alkaline at all times. The more acidic your blood, the higher your risk of weight gain, early aging, infection, and even degenerative diseases.

Vegetables, particularly green vegetables, are the key to alkalinizing. Body Ecology created Vitality SuperGreen to provide all the nutrition of greens, along with nutrients that heal your digestive tract in a drink of fermented green vegetables that tastes good, helps alkalize your system, and provides energy.