One of the leading figures on the subject of conscious eating, Suzanne Powell, an Irish nutrition specialist, gives the keys to finding the diet style that best suits each person in her book “Conscious Eating”.
Suzanne argues that conscious eating means knowing what to eat, how to eat and when to eat.
“Can’t we think well, love well, sleep well, without eating well?
We usually lead a sedentary life in which we do not exercise regularly, eat fast and are not used to taking care of our diet, often we do not know what we eat and how our body digests food.
Therefore, it is essential to know how our organism works, what needs oxygenation, what acidifies, what alkalizes, etc.
The human body meets your oxygenation needs through breathing
The air we breathe contains the oxygen our body needs, but because the human body’s oxygen reserves are almost zero, we need to introduce oxygen into the body all the time.
An adult breathes between twelve and twenty times a minute, while a newborn breathes between forty and sixty times per minute.
With regard to the relationship between acid and basal (alkaline), the degree of alkalinity and acidity is measured using a pH scale (hydrogen potential), where zero is extreme acid and 14 is extreme alkali, being 7 neutral.
The blood must maintain a pH between 7. 40 and 7. 45, that is, slightly basic or alkaline.
Food is one of the main factors influencing the acidification of the body, acidifying foods can cause diseases and it is advisable to avoid them as much as possible.
For example, acidifying foods are: refined sugar and its derivatives, alcohol, tobacco, flour and its derivatives, all foods containing preservatives and dyes, etc.
Foods that help us maintain a slightly alkaline level in the blood include raw vegetables and fruits, dried seeds and fruits, green plants (e. g. aloe vera, algae), etc.
It is essential to be aware of how we eat food, it is not only important to know the difference between eating raw or cooked, but also knowing how to combine food correctly.
Suzanne Powell argues that the way we eat is very important both in daily life and during illness, and that the right combination of food helps digestion.
For example, Suzanne says that if we combine proteins with starches, we also don’t digest properly, because each group of foods requires a specific environment, the protein dissolves in acid while carbohydrates need a more alkaline environment.
Different types of foods should not only be properly combined, but also consumed at times of the day when they are best digested.
It is also important to take into account the season in which we find ourselves and consume the fruits or vegetables that correspond to this season, because although we currently have almost all the fruits and vegetables at our disposal throughout the year, they are treated artificially. .
In the morning, for breakfast, it is advisable to eat seasonal fruit and whole-grain yogurt.
For lunch, salads and carbohydrates are recommended, as well as seasonal fruits, and for dinner, we can combine a salad with meat or fish (protein).
If we are tempted to eat something between hours, it is better that they are nuts, green tea, yogurt, etc.
By knowing what we eat, how we eat, and when we eat, we will help our bodies digest and metabolize food correctly.
It is about being aware of what we eat and knowing how to combine different types of food so that our health and our body benefit from it, always acting under the supervision of a specialist.
“The intelligent man must consider health to be the greatest human blessing. Can food be your medicine?”